LuckyAcesPoker Strategy – Taming Aggressive Players
Written by Elen Garth
Fri, 14 Mar 2008
Category poker
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There are a lot of people playing poker at Lucky Aces Poker (the author of this article). This means that a player is going to encounter a lot of different people at the tables. A large percentage of people in the sport of poker are hardwired for a certain style, so to be successful it is important to note that not every style is going to work against every type of player. A big piece of the puzzle is learning to recognize a player’s type, and adjusting your game accordingly.
In the game of online poker, aggressive players are extremely common. These are the type who sees a higher percentage of flops, bet and raise often. Someone facing an aggressive player in a cash game can play them in one of two ways. A player can either match the aggression or find a way to subvert it.
Matching the aggression can be a fun way to play; you see a lot of flops and there is an entertaining amount of drama at the flop, but the problem with matching aggression is that it means you are consistently charging into battle with low quality hands. The end result of this strategy is that luck plays a pivotal role in who wins a hand. Experienced players as well as top pros all agree that they actively attempt to minimize luck as a factor when playing a hand.
When playing against an aggressive player the best strategy is to start off as their polar opposite, be conservative. Only see flops when your hole cards give you a commanding head start, and fold quickly if the flop doesn’t help you out.
The result of this strategy is that when you get cards that make you the legitimate frontrunner for the pot, the aggressive players will give you a lot of action and feed money into the pot. When you are working from a position of strength, then you can match their aggression. Not only will you be winning money, but you will also be conditioning your opponents in a manner not unlike how Pavlov trained his dog.
Eventually when you start showing aggression, the aggressive players at the table will fold. In their mind, your forceful action means that you have a powerful hand. At this point you can start bluffing with some confidence that your well trained opponents will fold whenever you act like a bully at the table.
Your taming of the aggressive player is a temporary situation at best. Eventually they will figure out what you are doing to them and start calling, bettering, and raising when you play a hand. You will combat this by going back into your conservative shell and only playing when you have strong cards.
The key is to always be doing the opposite of what they are doing. This will keep them off balance enough to the point where putting you on a hand is difficult and trying to predict your behavior is a daunting task.
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