Well, after a hand of my own and one of kennyg's, where we both described our opponents as stations (and the play of the hand had some un-station-ish aspects), I thought I'd give my "definition" of what a calling station actually is.

There's one player whom I always think of when I use this term. His style had 2 characteristics that I thought were just the "paradigm" of a calling station: 1) He'd call any bet on any draw, 2) He'd bet big when he made his hand.

And I guess one might add: 3) Call a raise with any 2 cards close together (63o is worth calling) or any 2 suited.

Now, the thing is, in reality, even a "station" usually isn't quite this station-ish. And even this guy once actually check-raised me!!! He called my raise with T8o, flop came T8rag, and I had JJ. In this case, I did see him flinch when it came to him (he was sitting to my right), so I guess I should have known something was up. But I made my continuation bet anyway, and, bang... check-raise. That was really the only time I saw him play out of character, however. Pot-sized bet? call with straight or flush draw ALWAYS. Hand looks like a winner? Bet strong, raise, etc.

All very straightforward and predictable. And, if there's a flush or a straight out there and they bet, then believe it!

There are lots of players who have some station in them, however, but most have a few tricks as well. I wish I could characterize these guys a bit better (any suggestions?), but I thought I'd at least start by giving my example might at least be a good start. Any suggestions on defining nuances here would be much appreciated, however. There are definitely lots of station-ish players who throw you a little trickiness here and there.

Whenever I find a calling station I always write one of three notes, depending on how I found out about it:

"CALLING STATION DO NOT BLUFF"
or
"CALLING STATION RESPECT HIS BETS"
or
"CALLING STATION LOVES HIS [bottom pair/flush draw/whatever]"

I think that's basically the same as Alex's 3 rules.


In response to the original post: I don't know that I've ever seen a calling station who ALWAYS calls. They will bet and raise sometimes. But when they do, they always always always have a solid made hand. That's what's wonderful about identifying them: insanely easy to read. So yeah if a calling station check-raises that's the biggest marker you can get saying "fold." Forget "I only have to win this with my TPTK 1 time in 8 to make it a good call" -- you're not winning against him with that hand, just fold.


Also, to my way of thinking, a calling station with some tricks in him is no longer a calling station. If he has a flush draw out of position and does ANYTHING other than check/call, then he needs a new classification.