Being More Aggressive in Poker
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
A concept many beginners struggle with is how to be the aggressor in a pot. By taking control and driving the action in the pot, you force other poker players to make a play, and put them to a decision. They can no longer just take a card off; they must pay to see the flop, turn or river. By putting them to this decision, you give them the opportunity to make a mistake. By keeping your opponents guessing is to whether you are strong or weak by always making them pay to go further in pots that you play, you will project an image of strength, and will find yourself winning far more than when you play passively.
As far as poker styles go, the most commonly known winning style is tight aggressive play. Tight aggressive players enter pots with a variety of hands, but always back up their pre-flop raises with strong post-flop play. This can involve relentless continuation betting, as well as timely check-raises and powerful situational all-in pushes. This type of poker player is one that other players fear when they enter a pot, because they know they will not have an easy time taking the pot from them. Tight aggressive players do not have to be excessively wild, but they are consistent with their play, and are excellent at situational decision-making. More often than not, they will come up with the correct play for any given post-flop condition. Modeling your play after a solid tight aggressive player will yield strong results in the long run.
A great initial step to becoming more aggressive is to completely remove the pre-flop limp from your game. If you are going to enter a pot, raise it. Only play when you can open raise, or are strong enough to re-raise another player who opened in front. By limiting yourself to these options, you will only be playing very strong hands, and will have a higher probability at success, and learning the tight aggressive style. Once you master this type of play in a full ring game, you can start peppering in raises with weaker holdings to mix up your game, and playing tight aggressive in shorthanded or heads up situations.
Aggression is the key to victory in any battle. You may find yourself up against another assertive opponent, and you will have to learn to apply concepts of effective pot control and slow play, but mostly ways to mix up your play to keep another aggressive opponent on the defensive. Leading the way and putting people to decisions is the way to produce large victories in poker, and by applying concepts of tight aggression, you will find yourself on the winning end of many of the pots you play.