Posted Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:12 pm GMT by MrDarling
everyone says you need to be aggressive to be a winning poker player. But what exactly does it mean?
I know it doesn't necessary mean you need to be a maniac and raise with any 2 cars like most internet players think.
It also doesn't have to mean that you always bet when you ahead. Sometimes you want to let someone try to make a move or think he has the best hand.
Does it mean you play your draws aggressively? Well, then you simply make the pot bigger when you might not even get it.
So what does being aggressive actually mean?
Being a peace lover - tree hugger I have no aggressive bone in me so I have to fake it.
Thanks
Danny
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Posted Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:24 pm GMT by tame_deuces
It's more about selective aggression. Having the ability to be aggressive is a key element in poker, but apply it at the wrong places and it will cost you alot of money.
I guess in it's simplest form you can say it is not being afraid to bet when
1.) It's probable you have the best hand.
2.) It's probable some else will lay down the best hand.
Or to say it simply, one who bets when it is profitable to do so even if he might lose in this particular instance.
These should not be misunderstood with certainties. That's the problem for many poker players I think, they valuebet an OP and bump into a set and are convinced they played the hand wrong or they bluff with a shove in a 75BB pot and get called and get gunshy and won't do it again, so they lose a very valuable aggression factor.
I guess you know that guy (and almost every poker player has _that_ guy) at your table who always seems to raise when you got nothing, who shoves when you-rebluff and who C/R the turn on a scary board and you're never quite sure where you got him...it's like its 50/50 if he beats you or is bluffing...that guy displays good poker aggression.
Posted Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:42 pm GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
"Aggressive" in the general sense just means that you bet and raise much more frequently than you check and call.
However, you could be tight-aggressive, folding most of your marginal hands but playing strong hands very aggressively (betting and raising a lot), or you could be loose-aggressive, playing many more hands and pouncing on weakness.
Aggression does not mean being a maniac. However, almost all winning Poker players bet and raise much more often than they check and call when involved in a hand.
Posted Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:35 pm GMT by mindgame
Last post was good, but just to keep it simple. Aggression means that you raise or fold, as a general rule. Calling is a sin to be avoided. Aggression means you put your opponents under pressure or you aren't in against them.
Here's an example of the classic "passive" play. Guy's looking for the flush with his JTs. He pays until he hits it, but when he does he just calls on the river because there are 3 other (possible) flushes out there which would beat his. The aggressive player is NEVER going to pay to hit a hand he won't bet or raise with. What's the sense of putting money in the pot (when behind) for a hand that's not worth a raise? That's crazy--it's the most glaring mistake I see second- and third-rate players commit. If, when you hit your hand, you aren't going to raise with it, you shouldn't be drawing to it.
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