Definition of bully
On the poker table as in life, the bully is an intimidator. A person who wants to intimidate by any means to gain status, money, force and threats is a bully. In poker, the bully will be more successful if the players around him are passive. A bully can operate in cash games as well as in tournaments and sit 'n' gos (in all forms of poker), but a classic place where he can excel is in tournaments, near the bubble. Imagine a big tournament with huge payouts (the WSOP perhaps). There are 110 players left in the tournament and 100 spots will be paid. The rest will go home empty handed. The bully will then get to work.
What characterises a bully?
A bully is a player who plays too many hands, systematically raises, 3-bets, steals blinds, bluffs and almost always bets. For a bully to be successful, his opponents must be passive and willing to take it. In the example above, the players are playing for a large amount of money. Some of them will not want to go home empty-handed, so they will be intimidated by the bully. The bully exploits the fear of his opponents. He is also known as the boss of the table.
