Aggressive Poker Players – Being the Aggressor
Today more than ever before it is vital that poker players be aggressive in their approach. You will often hear announcers during televised poker tournaments discussing the relentless aggression of the new internet players. The internet has allowed for faster paced games which have in turn created more aggressive playing styles. Aggression is completely different than recklessness. The fine line between aggression and recklessness has caused many players to experience frequent and devastating downswings. Aggression will allow for steady profits while recklessness will destroy a bankroll.
Poker Strategy – Using Aggression
Aggression is what separates most winning poker players from losing poker players. Passive players tend to hang around just waiting for a good hand; aggressive players take advantage of these passive players time and time again. The passive nature of some players will result in them not even caring when they are being abused. Since some players don’t care that they are bleeding money it is in your best interest to keep the blood flow steady. It is better to win $20 over 100 hands than it is to win $20 over 200 hands, or even worse, lose $20 over 1000 hands. Aggressive players fight for the limped pots and try to capture dead money the split second it becomes available. This is something that many players don’t realize; small pots will far outweigh big pots over the long run. People naturally remember the $100 pots that they win, but they disregard the 300 50 cent pots they lost prior to it. If you ask any solid regular where the majority of their winnings come from they will tell you that it is from consistent play. No good player sits around just hoping to luckbox their way to riches. It just doesn’t work like that. You have to be fighting for each and every little pot that you can.
Reckless Agression
The reckless players take a smart aggressive player’s style and multiply it by ten. It is very important that you fight for the small pots, but you have to know when to give up and how to pick your spots. If an aggressive player goes after six of ten small pots and wins four of them he will earn much more than the player who goes after eight but wins only four. The two additional pots that the reckless player tried to win will be the difference in earnings between an aggressive and reckless style. Recklessness can also stem from an honest attempt at being aggressive. It can be hard to tell when you cross the line. The best way to find the right amount of aggression will always be experience. Over time it will become easier to see when a play was made with an aggressive mindset vs. a play made with a reckless mindset. When you are making pre flop raises to try and steal the blinds from late position you are being aggressive, when you try and steal those same blinds from early position you are being reckless.
Summary
Recklessness will lose any amount of money that is earned through smart aggression. If you feel like you are starting to spew your chips a bit too much it is possible that you have gone from aggressive to reckless. It is better to start as a passive player and work your way up to becoming an aggressive player than it is to start off as a reckless player who has to learn how to play aggressively.