Poker Essays
Fixed
Limit Hold'em Strategy - Playing in Tight Aggressive
Games
By Pokershopping.com
June 2006
One of the things you need to know
in Hold'em is when a game is good and when it is not.
When someone refers to a "good" Hold'em game they
mean one in which you are likely to play much better
than your opponents, a game you can get control of
to extract more bets and win more pots than your opponents
do.
There are four different types of
games you can encounter, based on the different dimensions
of poker playing styles.
Loose players are players who
aren't afraid to put poker
chips in the pot with less than premium hands.
They generally play more hands than they should for
longer than they should.
Tight players won't put chips
in unless they think they have the best of it, and
probably won't continue with hands that require they
do a lot of "gambling" to win, such as weak flush
or straight draws.
Passive players don't like
to put many chips in after the flop until they are
sure they have the best hand, and are more prone to
check and call than to bet and raise.
Aggressive players will bet
most hands they play. They prefer to bet and raise
to try to put pressure on their opponents to fold.
Players fall somewhere along the tight-loose
and passive-aggressive spectra. The most profitable
games tend to be loose passive games, where players
are putting many chips into a pot with marginal hands
and not aggressively pursuing that pot. Conversely,
the toughest game to beat is a tight aggressive game.
Tight aggressive is the ideal style
for success in poker. If you play mostly premium hands
but sometimes weaker hands to throw off your opponents
and bet all of your hands aggressively, putting pressure
on your opponents on every street, you will maximize
your poker earning potential. If you find yourself
sitting in a game like this, your best bet is really
to get up and find another game. If you cannot do
this, you will have to play your best poker to survive.
Be aware that these players will usually play good
poker
cards, but will sometimes mix in suited connectors
or even random cards to vary their play and deceive
you about the strength of their hand. Do not be afraid
to get involved in a pot with these players, but be
confident when you do.
You must learn to read your opponents
and get an idea when they have a real hand or when
they are betting simply to pressure you. You must
also play aggressively back at them, raising and re-raising
when necessary. To repeat, avoid this game if at all
possible. If this is the only game in town, stay focused
and disciplined. If you don't win, you may at least
learn a thing or two that you can use to profitable
advantage in better games!
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