How To Control The Aggressive Bulldog Type Poker Players

A bulldog is a non-technical poker term used to describe somebody who wants to dominate a table through aggressive play and (sometimes) intimidation. The term stems from 16^th century English, when bulldogs were used in bull baiting and would have been ferocious, savage and insensitive to pain. Fortunately, for dogs anyway, the aggressive trait in bulldogs has been bred out, and nowadays they are docile and friendly pets. Another, more relevant, fact about bulldogs, is that they rank 77^th out of 79 in dog intelligence – and that is why, when you meet a bulldog at the poker table, he can be a (poker playing) man´s best friend.

The way to distinguish a bulldog from a naturally aggressive player is by the way he arrives at the table. The bulldog will only play in ring games where he can introduce the maximum funds allowable and use that mighty stack of chips as an intimidatory tool against his opponents. He raises pre-flop on every hand irrespective of the quality of his hole cards, and will also use the chat facility for insults and comments on other peoples play. It is worth noting that bulldogs tend to bet large amounts quickly when they hold little, and bet smaller amounts, with more deliberation, when they are trying to draw more players into the pot rather than scare them away. If you are conscious of this characteristic, you can react to his betting accordingly.

Once the bulldog has seen the flop, one of two things will happen. He will continue to bet outrageously when he has nothing or, if he has caught a hand on the flop, will take his time and reduce the size of his bet. The reverse is true if he had good hole cards and blew out on the flop.

Winding up a bulldog poker player is easy and if done to maximum effect will put him on tilt. Whenever possible, match his pre-flop blinds when he is at his most macho, and fold to his bets aimed at entrapment. This will frustrate him and lead to more outrageous bets for you take advantage of. Eventually he will get the picture that you are onto him, but by then, the power of the mighty chip stack will have gone, and your bulldog is now a whimpering mutt.

We do not advocate that you go out looking for bulldogs to tame, because some may get lucky and give you a nasty bite in your wallet. We also mentioned above that bulldogs are not the smartest of animals, so you can assume that once they have licked their battered pride, they will be doing it all over again. However, if you do find yourself up against one, don´t be alarmed – he could just be your best friend.