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In the game of Hold ‘em, especially No Limit, aggression is
usually rewarded. By being
aggressive, you are putting
your opponent in an
uncomfortable situation and
forcing him to either make a
hand or make a bluff. You take
over control of the pot and
put yourself in the driver’s
seat.
And yet, for as much good as aggression can do, I still see far
too many players either being
too aggressive or misusing
aggression altogether.
Aggression is one of the
biggest tools a poker player
has, but it needs to be used
wisely at all times.
For instance, I see a lot of young players getting out of line
and being overly aggressive
with hands like A-Q and A-J.
They put in huge raises with
these hands thinking they’re
making a smart move, but
really they’re just scaring
the dead money away. There are
so many bad players in
tournaments these days that
there’s just no excuse for
not being patient –
eventually these players will
make a mistake and ship you a
lot of chips. There’s no
need to risk such a large
portion of your stack with a
hand like that.
Many newer players are guilty of misusing aggression. They see
their favorite player on TV
pulling off a huge bluff or
dominating their table with
aggression, and they want to
follow suit. The problem is
that these newer players
really have no idea how to be
aggressive. You can’t just
be randomly aggressive and
hope to take control of the
action; your aggression needs
to be calculated.
Knowing when to be aggressive is something that comes with time
and experience. If you lack
that knowledge and have no
feel for the game you’re
playing, that aggression is
going to come back to haunt
you.
I would advise all newer players not to focus their game on
aggression at first. You want
to start out by playing solid,
ABC poker. Focus on the basics
and, when you have those down,
you can start thinking about
bringing aggression into your
game.
Being aggressive in poker is a very fine art. Watching a player like Phil
Ivey at the poker table can be
every bit as awe inspiring as
looking at a Picasso. But
players like Ivey have honed
their aggression over time,
using their experience at the
tables to shape the way they
play. Put in your time at the
tables, and you too may one
day paint a masterpiece. |
