Playing an aggressive style of texas holdem poker is what gets a lot of players into big trouble, causing them to lose their entire bankroll before they even know what happened. But that’s because they don’t have a plan. Being aggressive in texas holdem is a key to being a winning poker player. But you have to know how to be aggressive if you[’re going to make it work and win.
Some players are what we call loose-aggressive in their style of play. They may win big occasionally but long term they are not going to be successful texas holdem poker players. Not against top players, anyway.
The loose-aggressive hold em player is aggressive too often to where he’s being more reckless than he is aggressive. And this is what gets him in trouble.
The lose-aggressive poker player will raise and rerais with hands like 2-9 offsuit. While there may be an appropriate time to bluff with a (non) hand like this, the loose-aggressive poker player does this all the time. He may bluff down some pots, but more often than not, he’ll lose big.
So how do you win playing aggressive texas holdem? By playing a tight-aggressive style of texas holdem. Tight-aggressive players don’t play that many hands and they usually have a decent starting hand.
This allows them to play aggressively when they do play, usually forcing other players out of a pot because they know the tight-aggressive player has a hand a lot more often than not. Which also allows for the occasional and effective bluff.
Aggression also means raising when you do play a pot. If you call, you have one way to win a hand and that’s by having a better hand. And yet pocket aces, the top starting hand in texas holdem, still loses 20% of the time.
However, if you raise, which costs you only one more bet, you double the ways you can win the hand. Now the pressure is on your opponent, who must decide whether to call you or fold.
Position also can determine when to be aggressive. Let me use an example of a hand I recently played. I didn’t do anything special but it’s a good example of how aggression can win a hand.
I was on the button (the dealer position). Everyone folded to me, leaving myself and the two blinds after me. I had A-5 offsuit. This is a hand I’d muck 95% of the time.
However, everyone had already folded to me so I decided to play it. Even though it was a non-starting hand, I didn’t just call the big blind. I raised it. Why? If I called, the small blind only had to call half a bet and the big blind would see the flop for free (since the big blind already had one bet in).
Raising would cost me only one more bet and would put the decision to the blinds. I raised and both the small and big blind folded. If I had just called, I would’ve had at least the big blind in the hand and there was a good chance I did not have the better cards.
Understanding the role aggression can play in your texas holdem game will really improve your overall poker results.