Against Aggressive ..

Hey guys, I play with my friends at home and i`m having real trouble surviving everytime we play. We usually play 8 people, and i`m probably the tightest player there.. 6 guys are very aggressive, playing almost all cards, raising a lot it is very hard for me to play with them since i`m a very tight/neutral player. Can you guys give me some tips? Somehow when I try to play aggressive they still outplay me.. Is there a book or something that can change my thinking and play more aggressive? After reading Harrington my game became pretty tight..maybe i misunderstood the book or something? lol

Tight but aggressive is what you want to be. Play less hands than them, get into pots with better hands than them, then hit them hard.

If you keep missing and they keep pushing you around, then you'll just have to grow some balls and fight back. and if you happen to fight back when they happen to have a hand, then that's just tough, but you've just got to be a bit braver.

thanks man , that's what i figure, problem is when you get burned few times like i did trying to fight back when they get the better hand i start playing even tighter..lol.. maybe i`m just too emotional lol. I need to learn how to relax and just play..

If they are really loose and aggressive, stealing all the small pots, the best way to counter it is win a few big pots. If they shut down to resistance, you need to be re-raising them a lot. If they'll play big pots with a wide range of hands, you just need to be patient and wait on a hand and let them play a big pot with you when you have a monster. Now if they are actually good players they may be able to read you on when you're simply stealing or when you're just waiting for a hand.

Good LAG players (Loose Agressive) are one of the toughest types of players to play against. They're in a ton of pots, always raising at you, but when they reach showdown they've almost always got the best hand. From the sound of it these players aren't really good though, they're just extremely loose.

Hey Zach..

They are not that great, but they are very loose. Most of them enter each pot. But since they know me that i`m very tight and they see me play a hand they start to be cautious or all fold depending on the raise.. So yes i can use that to advantage and steal pots from time to time making them think i do have a strong hand when i really dont. But i cant do that too often cause they`ll catch on to me.. And if i dont do it to often most of the time blinds eat me. So i`m kind of stuck...

well from what you said, the biggest thing would be to switch the neutral to agressive.

if they are becoming cautious when you play a hand, use it to your advantage. when you do enter a pot, push your weight around. Im not saying play with stupid cards but the biggest thing that has helped me is playing the players. if they know they can push you out when you have the best hand then take the chance, make them prove they deserve your money. check raises and 3 bets are great ways to get them to back off an respect you. it sounds like you have a very tight table image, so use it. punish them for their bluffs and if they hit then you cant do anything about it. but loosening up a little will show them that you can play too, and aren't afraid to put your money in the pot.

As a loose player myself, what I hate most is *aggressive* tight players who aren't intimidated by my raising. And the number one place I hate aggression is preflop, which is where players with tighter hand selection have a bigger edge on me. Don't be afraid of the loose players preflop, and play right back at them strongly when you have a hand.

So if you want to punish your loose friends, start re-raising a lot more preflop. Since their raising range is probably very loose, you want to be re-raising them with a wide range as well. AJ+, KQs, and 99+. And use their aggression to your advantage. Start check/raising them, or limp/3-betting from early position preflop. If they're betting more often than they should be, use this to your advantage.

I cant play with them anymore lol, i get so annoyed.. They play all type of hands, even 72 93 J3 type of hands and they raise with them, worst thing is i can never figure out when are they actually having good hands... I did figure out one.. He stops raising as much when he has good cards and starts checking more trying to trap others. Bot other 5 of them are just unpredictable.. Problem is that we play rebuy and they go even more crazy going all in with nothing most of the time.. I tend to fold most of my hands since i play tight and i`m not involved in that many pots. Once i get in they tend to be coutious. I think i need to increase the amount of hands i play. I was also thinking to just push them all in with strong to medium hands in withing the rebuy time. This way i can double up or nothing since most of them call with suited connectors and stuff like that. Is that a good idea?

Trap, Trap Trap. Slowplay the nuts. make small bets with strong hands and crank it up on later streets. Play very tight preflop except on the button. If you do this you should at least hold your own