The Aggressive Poker Player
April 7, 2008
In poker, aggression can be an effective winning strategy. This true mainly because if you bet often, no on can ever be sure what you have. Earlier, in my article “Playing Fearless at the Poker Tables“, I discussed letting go of your fears while at the poker table. In the case of the aggressive poker player, aggression and fear go hand in hand.
I’m not talking about YOUR fear, I’m talking about THEIR fear.
Having others fear you at the poker table is a major weapon. Hands down, the best way to win a pot is to just have someone give it to you without a fight.
Aggressive is NOT Reckless
Remember that line. It’s the most important thing to know about playing aggressive successfully. The kind of aggression I’m talking about is controlled aggression, not insane outlandish lunacy. Combine this aggression with courage, poker smarts, and instinct and you’ll take down more pots that you commit yourself to than before.
Aggression means making the most of your top hand, taking advantage of the cards given to you and pressing when you sense weakness in a player and their hand. It DOES NOT mean play every hand given to you. It DOES NOT mean playing garbage cards.
It does, however, mean bluffing, semibluffing, buying pots, and trying to dominate the table. The aggressive style of poker play gives you many ways to win and makes other poker players react to you. It makes those ohter players at the table try and guess and this gives them the opportunity to guess wrong.
It’s far better to take the fight to the enemy. Play aggressive poker.