A calling station is a player who frequently calls bets but rarely raises or folds. They stay in pots with weak and marginal hands just to reach showdown. Calling stations appear in nearly every Teen Patti table, and failing to adjust your strategy against them will cost you many chips.
You can spot a calling station easily. They enter many pots, call most bets, and almost never fold medium or weak hands. They do not bluff often, and they rarely raise unless they hold a very strong hand. Their main goal is to see the three-card showdown, regardless of pot odds or the strength of their own cards.
The biggest mistake players make against calling stations is frequent bluffing. Calling stations love to call bets down to showdown. Even if your bluff is well executed, they will call with weak high cards or small pairs. Bluffs almost never succeed against this type of player, so you should cut bluffs completely when playing against calling stations.
Instead of bluffing, focus on value betting. When you hold strong hands such as colour, sequence, pure sequence or trail, make steady value bets. Calling stations will happily call your bets with weaker hands, paying you off and building the pot for you. Moderate bet sizes work best. Huge over-bets may scare them away, while smaller bets keep them calling.
Avoid slow-playing too much against calling stations. Since they already plan to call, you should start value betting early to build the pot. If you only check and call, you miss opportunities to add chips while they are willing to call.
Be careful with marginal hands against calling stations. Do not call their bets with medium holdings. They will keep calling to showdown, and your marginal hand will lose more often than it wins. Only continue with strong hands.
Calling stations are one of the most profitable player types to face, but only if you change your strategy. Stop bluffing, value bet your strong hands, and fold your weak and marginal holdings. This simple adjustment lets you take advantage of their habit of calling too much.