tag style question

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tacochip2600

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I get tight but aggressive style. Now when this is said, do you think it means being aggressive on middle and lower paired hands or is it just being aggressive on say top pair mid kicker? I'm talking 6 max low limits 5nl-25nl. Also does TAG style still work these days on a site like bovada. Is poker beatable without bluffing? sorry there is so many questions in one post.
 
Sil3ntness

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Yeah there are a lot of questions in that post. I'll tell you what's really important though in poker... POSITION!

Yesterday I was up against a nitty TAG and I raised him from the dealer spot with 2 7 off suit. He flat called my raise. So I see the flop and he checks so I fire a 2/3 pot size bet. I still have 7 high... and they check the turn so I fire another 2/3 size pot. No river card was needed. I took the preflop money & made some value bet money on the flop with 2 7 off suit (7 high).

Several times I have won with 2 7 off suit, but the reason is because of aggression and position. If the villain/opponent is passive, you can take advantage of that and represent a hand that they can't call you with. If they 3 bet you or re-raise you on the flop just happily fold. Hell, you can even pretend like you're going in tank mode before you fold your garbage hand.

Just mix it up. If you play too tight, people will not give you as much action when you pick up premium hands. So sometimes all you will pick up is the small & big blind in cash games when you're holding QQ/KK/AA. It's always a crappy feeling, but least you didn't get cracked. However, you're hoping that someone calls with a hand that is dominated so you can get more value from your premium hands.
 
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jdihzy

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Yeah there are a lot of questions in that post. I'll tell you what's really important though in poker... POSITION!

Yesterday I was up against a nitty TAG and I raised him from the dealer spot with 2 7 off suit. He flat called my raise. So I see the flop and he checks so I fire a 2/3 pot size bet. I still have 7 high... and they check the turn so I fire another 2/3 size pot. No river card was needed. I took the preflop money & made some value bet money on the flop with 2 7 off suit (7 high).

Several times I have won with 2 7 off suit, but the reason is because of aggression and position. If the villain/opponent is passive, you can take advantage of that and represent a hand that they can't call you with. If they 3 bet you or re-raise you on the flop just happily fold. Hell, you can even pretend like you're going in tank mode before you fold your garbage hand.

Just mix it up. If you play too tight, people will not give you as much action when you pick up premium hands. So sometimes all you will pick up is the small & big blind in cash games when you're holding QQ/KK/AA. It's always a crappy feeling, but least you didn't get cracked. However, you're hoping that someone calls with a hand that is dominated so you can get more value from your premium hands.

I'd say more, i'd say Poker is a game of situations and you had position, the perfect enemy and you HAD that information on him.
If he was a calling station you wouldn't even get in with that 27o pre-flop would you?
Probably not, you'd rather wait for cards because if he's calling anyway, you want to get paid the river and you want do extract the max value, instead of having your bluff called by pair of sixes.

@op
And this is the reason we play tight, there is a purpose in this, we just don't play tight because "poker works like that", it doesn't...

We raise with AQo expecting to hit top pair against a 8 or T who thinks he's good and make him pay for it.
Our intention with raising ATs from MP is to get called by combo's by JT, QT, KT, flush draws, str8 draws (ATs often hit nuts against those)...

While ofc avoiding these situations ourselves....

By playing tight you're almost ahead of everyone most of the time.
 
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GWU73

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Tag is a good place to start. Adjust as needed to exploit people. When in doubt bet.
 
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hffjd2000

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I think TAG is the safest especially those who are starting out yet.
 
Sil3ntness

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I'd say more, i'd say Poker is a game of situations and you had position, the perfect enemy and you HAD that information on him.
If he was a calling station you wouldn't even get in with that 27o pre-flop would you?
Probably not, you'd rather wait for cards because if he's calling anyway, you want to get paid the river and you want do extract the max value, instead of having your bluff called by pair of sixes.

@op
And this is the reason we play tight, there is a purpose in this, we just don't play tight because "poker works like that", it doesn't...

We raise with AQo expecting to hit top pair against a 8 or T who thinks he's good and make him pay for it.
Our intention with raising ATs from MP is to get called by combo's by JT, QT, KT, flush draws, str8 draws (ATs often hit nuts against those)...

While ofc avoiding these situations ourselves....

By playing tight you're almost ahead of everyone most of the time.

Yeah my fault. I agree TAG is good for beginners. I think LAG is fun & more exciting for people that can bob and weave their way through the flop/turn/river while maximizing their gains & minimizing their losses. Which would be more suited for the experienced post flop players.
 
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veltins

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Tag is the best style for the biginner.. there is not doubt about it.. dont fancy Play lag style if u just started to Play the gamle..
 
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BeardedMalarkey

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I get tight but aggressive style. Now when this is said, do you think it means being aggressive on middle and lower paired hands or is it just being aggressive on say top pair mid kicker? I'm talking 6 max low limits 5nl-25nl. Also does TAG style still work these days on a site like bovada. Is poker beatable without bluffing? sorry there is so many questions in one post.

Being TAG can be reduced to two basic concepts: developing a range you play within relative to position, and c-betting a lot. Raising UTG with AQs UTG and then checking flops you don't connect to isn't taggy, it's tight-passive.

TAG almost certainly works on bovada, I've been grinding 10nl on that site for a while and there are so many bad players on bovada, I've found it effective.

Poker is not beatable without bluffing, but the hard part is figuring out when your hands are bluffs or not. If you raise with AQs UTG, get two calls, and the board peels T74r and you c-bet, is that a bluff? Not if your opponents have no pair, or weaker aces, or small pairs where their equity doesn't make continuing a +ev decision.
 
Makwa

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I agree, c bet almost always in position, particularly at bovada where nobody tracks yer style... often c-bet OOP also, depending on flop (if dry, or really scary)...
 
Ducbim

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TAG is a good strategy against Loose Passive players (fish) because fish like to call your big bet with many marginal hands. Few years ago you can make a decent profit by just playing tight. However things have changed now as players are getting better at basic poker. Thus you have to mix up your game to make you hands unpredictable. Some pros state that this is the era of loose aggressive and small ball style, not TAG anymore.
 
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