When I was coaching, most of my learners at the micro would eventually ask me: “How do I play against Nits Preflop?”
Nits can be difficult for Tight Aggressive (TAG) players. Because of their strong ranges, they show up with stronger hands at showdown. It often feels like you can’t 4bet a nit without getting shoved on with QQ+ AK.
In this article, I’ll summarize 2 key strategies for playing against Nits. These should bump up your winrate and make you happy to see that 10 VPIP /7 PFR sucker sitting at your table.
How to play against Nits Preflop: Steal, steal, steal!
When you find yourself out of position against a nit, the best way to make a ton of money against them is to steal their BB and SB excessively. The best way to know whether or not you should steal is to have the stats “Fold BB to Steal”, “Fold SB to Steal” on your HUD.
If you’re on the SB, BU or CO against a player with 10/7 stats folding 70% to steals, you can effectively open every single hand just to steal his blinds.
Let me show you some math. Imagine you’re on the SB against a player who folds 70% BB to steals. Just to prove a point, you are going to insta-fold every single hand that reaches a flop.
You open to 3x, which is an extra 2.5x over your SB. s70% of the time, you win his BB and your dead SB, a total of 1.5BB. 30% of the time, you lose your 2.5x that you invested to steal.
The math works out like this:
Win% * Win Amount – Lose% * Lose Amount = Net Profit of play
0.7 * (+1.5) – 0.3 * (2.5) = +0.3 bb
EVERY time you make this play, assuming you will fold and give up on EVERY flop, you are winning 0.3 bb with every steal attempt. If you make one extra steal attempt every 5 orbits, you will increase your winrate a huge 1 BB/100 just by following this technique.
How to play against Nits Preflop: Use 3bets and 4bets wisely
I want to say outright – if a nit 3bets, you should never 4bet them as a bluff. They won’t fold. Most nits have 3-4% 3bet stats which represents JJ+, AK. What is the best way to exploit these players?
4bet AA, maybe KK, and flat everything else! This way you guarantee you get your AA in against a monstrously strong stackoff range, and play your strong pairs against much weaker ranges.
However, many nits will open 20-25% on the button or SB, and then fold everything except 5% to a 3bet. Against these players, you can make money bluff 3betting in position.
Let me show you the math:
SB nit has a 25% opening range on the SB, but is too scared to continue with anything weaker than 88+, AQo+ (5.43%) to a 3bet.
This player will continue only 22% (5.9/24.6) of the time, and so will fold to your 3bet 78% of the time. When he folds, you win 1 (your BB), + 3 (his raise) = 4. When he 4bets you or flats, like before, you give up immediately and lose 8bb (your raise amount of 9bb minus your BB)
The math works out like this:
Win% * Win Amount – Lose% * Lose Amount = Net Profit of play
0.78 * (+4) – 0.22 * (8) = +1.36 bb.
Ridiculous. Everytime you make a 3bet here, even if you give up EVERY SINGE TIME your opponent continues, you make 1.36bb. If you can do this once every 5-10 rotations, you will increase your winrate massively.
How to play against nits preflop: Conclusion
Whether or not you believe it, players this nitty are everywhere. In fact, chances are one of YOUR biggest leaks is that you are too tight on your blinds.
Look for the appropriate player types and make these steal/resteal moves to increase your winrate significantly and punish those nits for waiting for big hands.
