Texas Holdem Poker

da$h · Guest

: I play on-line and have come against a very aggressive type of player who will raise every hand and every re-raise on most occaisions. This becomes patterned play where everybody folds and the blinds get soaked up. I like the style but find it hard to play against, usually dipping out. What's the recommended style of play here? thanx

webmaster · Site Admin Joined: Nov 26, 2003 Posts: 668

Interesting question Dash, thanks.

Aggression is often the sign of a good player but it has to be controlled and based on the circumstances. The reason it often works is that most of the time the "nut" hand or even a hand close to the best is not actually there at all. Aggressive play signals to everyone that this person has the best hand and is prepared to stake that claim with cash. If they play like this most hands then it's only a matter of time until you take this type of player out in a NL game. Sit tight until you are dealt a very good starting hand (AA, KK, QQ or AK) and then slow play it. The persistant raiser will often bet into you. Wait a while to look unsure of your hand and simply call (or re-raise if you think your hand may be outdrawn). An aggressive player will bluff twice and its then time to overraise if you feel you have the best hand.

There are a number of differences between novice players and good players (I may add a section on the left). One of these is the ability to fire two bets when bluffing. Most new players can't do it and when faced with agressive betting (which statistically has to include a lot of bluffing) then feel intimidated and fold. Most often players of this style are found on the $5/$10 limit games or higher.

So, sit tight then take his money !

You may also want to try his strategy occasionally. If you always call or fold, a raise from you really will convey strength. Picking up a few pots in this way is helpful for the bank balance but also can catch people out if your bluff is followed up by a good hand (as people will think you are bluffing if you raise consecutive hands).

Hope that helps.

Dash · Guest

Sounds like good advice, however, these hands are quite rare and when the flop comes and you hit nothing, after calling whatever raise from mr.aggression, there seems to be no hold up. E.g you have AK and the bet comes, you call. Flop is out and you don't hit followed by more raising and so on... This can be costly only to lose out on a lucky pair on the river, i saw it the other day time and time again. Like i say, great style but hard to deal with. Thanx

webmaster · Site Admin Joined: Nov 26, 2003 Posts: 668

I know - it's a good style of play but is difficult to do. Helps no end if you don't actually care whether you win or lose because you have to be prepared to go all in and lose on a stone cold bluff to play like this. The only way to play against it is to overraise allin (and I bet he'll fold) or to wait for a good hand and slow play a trap. Both are likely to work. Most of the time he'll have nothing but always has a chance to draw. Most players will fold to aggressive bets which he relies on to make money (at least as much as his next loss to a good hand).

Once a table dominance is established your opponent will probably have more chips than the other players so can lose an all in. The strategy is all about testing to see if you can be bullied out of pots before the showdown and most players can be as they usually do not have good hands and are not prepared to go all in with a significant risk of losing to a draw.

I find it hard to play agressive but actually seek out players like this. My preferred style is to look for the high pot tables (high pot relative to the game stake) and slow play good hands when I get them. Be patient and don't be frustrated into a hand you'll regret.

Carroll · Newbie Joined: Sep 30, 2006 Posts: 2

You should be wary of minimum raises at other stages of a hand, as well. Say you raised pre-flop with A-K and one player called. You hit top pair top kicker on a K-8-4 board. You bet out the size of the pot and your opponent min-raises you. At this point, you need to be very concerned that your opponent has hit a set. You have to wonder why he'd be raising an amount that almost begs for your call.

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