Tight, aggressive play is the way to go

Play tight

In low limit Texas hold’em it is essential that you play tight and play only the best hands. Because of the generally loose and passive nature of online low limit hold’em games, it is critically important that you tighten up and play only the best starting hands. As stated earlier, you want to look for loose tables with lots of players seeing the flop. The reason so many people are seeing the flop is because they are playing bad hands or playing hands out of position. You are going to invade the game and play tight, aggressive poker.

There can be some contradiction to a play tight philosophy in low limit hold’em however. Often times, because so many players pay to see the flop, some otherwise less playable hands become hands worth having a look at. For example, in middle to late position hands like AX suited and suited connectors will play well if the game is loose and the pots generally large. The important point to note is that you need to drop these hands like a bad date if the flop doesn’t hit. You’re taking on way too many opponents to try and make these hands work in the event the flop misses.

In general it is best to stick to the hands you know work. Play your high premium pairs and high suited and non suited face cards. Don’t get side tracked by trying to make fancy plays with questionable starting hands. Pocket pairs and big face cards are the hands that win big money over the long haul. Suited connectors or other situational hands are only profitable when played correctly and in the right situation. You can beat low limit games without these hands. We are not suggesting this be the strategy you take, but work them into your arsenal with care and only play them in the proper situations. Play your premium hands with aggression and make poor players pay for their mistakes. That is the winning strategy in low limit hold’em.

Be aggressive

The consistent proven strategy for being a winner at pretty much any form of poker is to play tight and aggressive. What this means is that you need to be selective about the hands you play and come out guns a blazin when you enter a pot! There are a few fundamental issues with aggressive play however and it is important you understand them as to avoid them in your game. Aggressive play means that you have to use your money to represent the strength of your hand and to take pots from other players. This is very hard to do when you are playing with scared money. Scared money is money that you are afraid to lose. You might get in trouble or not have enough money to cover a bill or something. You cannot play good aggressive poker if you are playing with money you can’t afford to lose.

Poker is not a game to be playing when you cannot afford to play. Get your finances figured out and then take on poker. The only thing playing poker with scared money is going to do for you is keep right where you’re at financially: in the hole.

With the discipline lesson out of the way, we can move onto the actual art and strategy of playing aggressive poker. There are several reasons why it is beneficial to play aggressive poker:

• Aggressive play thins the playing field. Premium pairs and big face cards generally do best against fewer opponents, so it is best to narrow the field and increase your chances of winning.
• Aggressive play discourages players from chasing long shot draws. This happens in one of two ways. Poor players won’t call because they don’t want to lose any more money or they will call with incorrect odds and pay you off. Good players will usually recognize the poor odds and fold the hands. It is always a good thing when a skilled player folds!
• Aggressive play can build large pots for times when you are playing hands that fair well against many opponents or require a big pot to be worth playing.
• Aggressive play keeps your opponents on edge and forces them to make poor decisions.

One of the most important aspects of aggression is that it eliminates weaker hands from the field. As you know, or may learn, one of the biggest frustrations in low limit poker is having a pair of aces or other premium pair lose to a ridiculous hand that someone played. In these situations you have to ask yourself if you played aggressively enough to force this player out of the hand. Sometimes the answer is yes and there is nothing you can do. The comfort here is that you made the right play and your opponent did not. If your opponent consistently plays this way, they will run out of money fast.

To eliminate and thin the field, it is critical that you are aggressive before the flop. Raise and re raise with the strong premium pairs and big face cards. Punish weak players for playing out of position and with poor hands. When playing against other good opponents you still need to be aggressive, but you need to use more caution. A good player who is playing back at you probably has a good hand. So you need to ask yourself if your hand is good enough. One of the best questions you can ask yourself in a questionable situation against a good player is this:

Would this player be raising and re-raising if they had a hand worse than the one I hold?

If the answer is no, then you may need to step back and consider lying down the hand, or at least take it into account on your post flop play. This is a viable question to ask against a bad player too, but a bad player is more likely to call with poor hands so it may not provide you with the best answer.

Let’s look at a few situations and examples of aggressive play. Make sure to put them to work in you game:

• A raise or a check raise when you have an eight out draw (four to a flush or four to an open ended straight) is a great way to build the pot and throw off  your opponents. It is the ultimate in selective, deceptive aggression.
• Never hesitate to make it four bets to go with pocket aces or kings before the flop.
• Raising with a weak or vulnerable hand is an excellent way to protect it or steal the pot. Example: You hold A7 suited and the flop is T73, a bet or a raise here is an excellent way to protect your nut kicker paired sevens. The non aggressive play here which would be a call, really offers no benefits, whereas the raise at least might thin the field or turn away a long shot draw.
• When you flop a set (three of a kind) play it as though it the last hand of poker you will ever play. Sometimes you will lose, but many professionals will tell you, if you lose with a set and didn’t lose a lot of chips along with it, you probably played it wrong!

Putting it all together: Tight and Aggressive

Hopefully by now you can see why it is so important to be selective in the hands you play and aggressive when you decide to contest for a pot. These two strategies are true winning strategies that the best players in the world abide by. Players in the world who are profitable with another type of playing strategy are few and far between. Tight, aggressive poker players are deadly at the tables. You should aspire to become one yourself and avoid other tight and aggressive players at all costs.

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