In poker there are different types of players. In my opinion one of the most difficult players to play against is aggressive players. Aggressive players will generally make big bets, raise preflop and will often re-raise your raise.
They can be difficult to play against and some tournaments may feel impossible to win if your playing against an aggressive player. Here is how I like to play when playing against an aggressive player.
Be patient – Often an aggressive will get over confident and make a mistake which will result in them going broke in a ring game or busting a tournament.
Take notes – Whenever the aggressive player has to show their hand at showdown make a note of what they’re playing. Use this knowledge to your advantage when you get a good hand to play. Also note how much they are betting and raising.
Don’t get frustrated – Don’t get frustrated if an aggressive player is beating you every hand. Don’t show your emotion and let the aggressive player know your frustrated. Be calm and wait for a good hand to try and win your chips back. Don’t let your emotions cause you to make bad decisions that will allow the aggressive player to win more chips of yours.
Be aggressive when you have a strong hand – If you are dealt a strong hand preflop let’s say pocket Aces for example don’t be afraid to be aggressive against the aggressive player. Don’t be afraid to put pressure on him and if possible put the aggressive player in a position where the player has to go all in or fold. I find this works a bit better if I’ve mostly been playing tight throughout the game / tournament.
What is your strategy for playing against aggressive players?
I agree with the must be patient against a agro player … but saying that leads to where I disagree when u get a strong hand you need to remain patient Not aggressive and give them the the rope to hang themselves … One must try to Max out your strong hands and make hay while the Sun is shining on you
My strategy against aggressive players, as with everything in poker, just depends. If they are bluffing too much (like a maniac) then you don’t need to become more aggressive in return, just call down lighter. If a player is heavily weighted towards bluffs you can make hero calls profitably with hands as bad as bottom pair, ace high, or even worse (see the “amazing hand between top players” thread for an example). You can tighten up a bit preflop so that you can pick your spot and then let them bluff off postflop, but if they’re a good player they can exploit this adjustment easily (though not many maniacs here will).
On the other hand, if the “aggressive player” is somewhat balanced and is exploiting passive play, then just don’t play passively. Just by opening a reasonable range (which very few players here do) you can preempt constantly facing raises by not limping and opening first. Many of the better players here have developed all kinds of tendencies based around exploiting the passivity of the player pool. For example, I had been opening 25% of hands from EP in 6max to 3.5x (and too wide from all positions) because I just expect that nobody ever 3bets light and nobody else will open more than ~10% of hands. It’s super easy to adjust to my “aggression” by 3betting more and opening a normal range when the opportunity presents itself. This will notify other better players that you are a thinking player, so they will be less inclined to put you under pressure (though they still will if you struggle postflop), it will put you in fewer tricky spots postflop by not playing passively preflop, and taking the initiative gives you a huge advantage over passive opponents.
LOL … What the heck … I kept it plain and simple for the big picture … This is why I don’t ever answer any questions on here b/c players that think that just b/c they have a big bank can come in and fill the page with a bunch of nonsense that the Average player has no time to relate too … SMH
You talking about me? It’s two short paragraphs. Call light and don’t play passively. There I summarized it for you.
It took me a couple of minutes to type that on my phone. I’m not referring to any data, just experience, so it doesn’t require time. Those numbers are just basic poker knowledge from watching a video 7 years ago. Sorry for trying to discuss poker.
Goat and Joe, I look to both of you for pokerly brilliant posts! I hope no slings and arrows will silence either one of you. I agree with the strategy of trying to reel in the aggressives. If I can slow play and get them to go all in, I’ll be vindicated for all that patience, waiting for the right hand. Payback feels glorious!
You didn’t need to summarize it for me bud … I had answered the question and u felt like popping in and adding ur 2 cents (with a bunch of mumbo jumbo if u ask me) … Why? … Like I said that is why The Goat Doesn’t ever answer questions b/c Players like u come in and try to add a bunch of crap in … Don’t mean to be rude but if I was the “Average” Player I would love to hear from The Goat Check out my resume … Bank Accounts mean squat
So, you answered the question, so the thread was over and nobody else should post? My post was in no way directed at you or your response, just adding my 2 cents. I thought that was the point of this thread. It was a question about how we play.
IMO if you’re interested enough in poker strategy to read this forum or post, I think it would be good to be open to new ideas. I’m not trying to be condescending in my posts and I genuinely apologize if it comes out that way. There are much better resources for learning than my posts, so I’m not just trying to explain things. I just put out my intuitive reaction to a given post because it helps me see if my thoughts are logical and if they don’t make sense other people can tell me, so I can learn.
There are a lot of types of aggressive players, and for each a lot of counter strategies that people often apply. With a number of more aggressive players, by definition, their range has more bluffs, and so if you raise them at some point, that will mostly fold out the bluffs, and leave you against the stronger part of their range. As a result, raising with value (post flop) is often not as good as just calling, but conversely, you can extend your bluffing range, as you’ll get more folds in general than you would from someone betting mostly value.
Lol ok, I’m sorry that you are so insecure. It’s interesting how you can both be certain that whatever your understanding of the strategy is is the same as mine (so I might as well not comment) and yet you didn’t understand what I said. Basically I tried to provide reasoning and specifics for what I said. It’s not filler or wanting to hear myself speak. This forum often has very little discussion of poker strategy, and you’re trying to shut it down because my 2 paragraph response was too long and convoluted? That is the same kind of blocked thinking that causes me to explain myself too much because people will just be like ‘nuh-uh’. If you weren’t interested you didn’t have to respond.
a check is a good bet in any poker game…for sure when playing a bingo player…I’ll never understand preflopping in a no limit hi lo game???..holdem has ruined hi lo…I know hi lo is suppose to be played with a declare…can’t do that on replay obviously…but it’s a great betting game, but tv holdem ruined it.
Im not as conversed as your self and probably 90% of players as Im an absolute green behind the ears player but I find if im patient and stay in control of my emotions against an aggressive player or even a bad beat then the majority of times i will get an hand i can build my stack with
The opnly thing I know for certain is in this game patience is a virtue
I absolutely agree - this happened to me this morning and I won. I had 3 of a kind
the the people betting against me had one pair. But very aggressive players really
take the fun out of playing!
I agree with your 1) be patient, 2) don’t get frustrated and 3) be aggressive when you have a strong hand.
I haven’t taken notes on them because when I’m facing an aggressive player as you described, they are usually bluffing most of the time and it’s best for me to fold and be patient until I have number 3.
I kind of like it when there is a very aggressive player(s) at the table because it provides me a chance to double up.
Huh? I mean he wasn’t talking about your post but just specifically at the forum thread. There is no maximum amount of words on a post if you don’t have the time to read it (although it was only two paragraphs) then don’t. I’m not sure what the complaint is.
