Aggressive poker

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I've read lots of threads on this site where people have been advised to play more 'aggressively', but what exactly do people mean by playing aggressively.

Does it mean you increase the range of hands you enter pots with. Or is it sticking to your normal range but making bigger sized bets. Or is it that you will try to bluff more. Or is it that you play more pots out of position. Or is it a combination of all of these.
By playing aggressively i've valways just thought of it as making bigger sized pot bets but I suppose everyone could have their own way of playing aggressively.
 
quick

quick

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Depends on a ton of variables such as game type (NL, Limit, Omaha, some other variant), full ring, 6 max, short handed, Zone/Zoom, or heads up. Is it cash, SitNGo or MTT? Is it live or online? What are the stakes?

Once all that's figured out then it's a matter of feeling out the table you're at then determining what the table flow and dynamics are like. How big are people betting pre flop? How deep are stacks? Are there already aggro players at the table?

There's differences too in terms of aggression. Are we looking at TAG (tight aggressive) or LAG( loose aggressive) opponents? Or are they total maniacs? A lot of people will say tight if right and a tight aggressive style at least for me is generally been a huge help for me to play for value. Tight aggressive to me is someone who sticks generally to premium hands pre flop, hits big hands and value bets them against maniacs, LAGs, and passive fish. Loose aggressive folks tend to open wider ranges, bet out more on missed flops, and basically try to bully and steal. They also tend to do best in position rather than out of position in most cases I think.

So there's a ton of information one needs before answering your questions.

For what it's worth I think tight aggressive is generally a winning style. Every LAG i've met (at least at live 1/2) generally tries to run over the wrong people (like me who is generally someone who is perfectly ok letting go of hands early to LAGs to get info for later) and eventually gets in way over their heads in a board they're crushed on or tries to steal a pot from someone who isn't aware of whatever bluff they're running.

Sorry if my response is a bit all over the place, just came in from like a 10 hour live session. Others will probably offer more concise responses. But it may help for you to clarify things like game type and stakes.
 
Jean le Grand

Jean le Grand

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For me playing agressive is not just a matter of bluffing more or betting more to scare people. You must understand when to play tight and when to play agressive. For example: Instead of limping with a good hand, you can raise preflop. When you are in position and the ones before you check, you can bet pot asuming the flop did not help them, even when you did not hit the flop either.
 
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