range of hands to play tight aggressive on

[nick1611]

ive been trying to play tight aggressive recently because apparrently thats what most good players do, but when i try it i always seem to miss the cards when i get things like AK AQ and get my continuation bets re-raised and then i end up getting forced to go all in with ace rags and things like that

could any of you please give me some advice on improving my tight-aggressive play

 

[bob_tiger]

Well first off im going to have to disagree with you on your first sentence. There are great players that play loose and still win.
Second its not always about what kind of cards you play its how you play them. AK is overrated a lot of people think if they got AK they must win and don't know how to fold it. AK is a good hand pre flop but it doesnt mean u will always win.
Third i think if you wanna be tight aggresive play cards like pp suited connectors and cards like AK AQ AJ, try not to play A rag unless its suited and even then be careful. And last thing...why don't you post some hands either in this thread or open a new thread post some hands that you played so i can see how you play them and maybe i can help you more.

 

[nick1611]

ok il get some on here when i figgure out how to and also i do fold AK and i hate people who dont but then hit on the turn/river after going all in.

and i dont know what your talking about when you say 'there are great players that play lose and still win'

 

[bob_tiger]

ok il get some on here when i figgure out how to and also i do fold AK and i hate people who dont but then hit on the turn/river after going all in.

and i dont know what your talking about when you say 'there are great players that play lose and still win'

ok here is an example....Daniel Negranu and Phil Ivey, have you watched these guys? they like to play hands and win small pots in the beginning instead of doing the all in bingo. I'm not saying its impossible to win while playing tight aggresive ( this goes for tourneys) but i prefer loose aggresive because I would rather build up a big stack early on or lose instead of either just hitting itm or bubbling. I think that is the biggest problem with tight aggresive players, they play tight and then there is a point where they just have to go all in with a hand like AQ and lose to a hand like 10J, and then they spent over and hour just to win couple of dollars instead of making the final table. while loose aggresive player will either lose at the beginning or go deep.

 

[bob_tiger]

i would like to add something else to this....honestly it doesn't matter how tight or how loose you play, good players always know how to adjust to their table. if they table is full of tight players then you should be little more aggresive. if the table is full of loose donks then tighten up and bust them. you see what im saying?

 

[reglardave]

Regardless of how you classify anyone, no one plays all one style all the time. You'll see even BTs examples, Daniel and Ivey, go tight aggressive in certain situations. Even Gus Hansen will adopt a TAG style periodically. The tightest playerts will bluff, and play marginal cards if it's to their advantage. Designations like TAG and LAG are basic starting guidelines, nothong more.

 

[bob_tiger]

Regardless of how you classify anyone, no one plays all one style all the time. You'll see even BTs examples, Daniel and Ivey, go tight aggressive in certain situations. Even Gus Hansen will adopt a TAG style periodically. The tightest playerts will bluff, and play marginal cards if it's to their advantage. Designations like TAG and LAG are basic starting guidelines, nothong more.

well this is kind of what i said in my last post, you just explained a little better than me. I admit it, I suck at explaining stuff. and i agree with this 100% because no matter how loose or how tight you are, you have to learn to adjust to the cards you are getting and to the table. right on the money dave, good job.

 

[OzExorcist]

Even Gus Hansen will adopt a TAG style periodically

True dat - I was shocked when I found out he won the Aussie Millions with pocket aces... it just seemed so, I dunno, un-Gus

As for playing TAG / LAG / whatever... it's really more than a starting hand thing. You need to take into account position, stack sizes, the level of the blinds vs stack sizes, the style of the other players, and a bunch of other stuff.

In particular, the hands you play and the way you play them can depend a lot on your position and the action in the hand so far. JJ on the button vs just the blinds and one limper is probably a great hand. JJ in third position against a raise under the gun and with a couple of known aggressive players behind you probably isn't a great hand.

Harrington on Hold 'em has a whole lot of material on these topics, mostly as it applies to the TAG style. I'm crunching through it at the moment.

BTW - when you say you've been trying to play TAG recently, does that mean you've been playing a different style previously?

 

[nick1611]

ive been playing loose aggressive and just been getting too many bad beats.

 

[oluaris]

bad beats are part of the game...
LAG or TAG, you'll get them...
even when you played right... hence, the name...

 

[nick1611]

i know that but i bet alot and get called before the river when if i wasnt being so aggressive i wouldve been able to fold it on the river

 

[joosebuck]

position is what you need to look at. open up from button/co/hijack; tighten up from mp on.

 

[Blazing_Saddler]

I play fairly tight, I think it is a good way to start off, although sometimes I am still trying to shake it off.

I think the important things are, which have been mentioned.

Position, Always important, you can play lesser hands in position than out of position, then if your AK misses, well if it is checked to you, there is a fair chance you can take the pot down, don't take that as read though for god sake, just an example.

Don't go calling raises with AQ, AJ, or worse, it just isn't profitable, and most of all, don't think any hand pre flop is a certainty, You play AA badly enough, it can lose you more than it wins you

 

[herpel05]

for me it also makes a huge differnce playing online and in person, online some of my best hands that i like to be aggresive just never seem to hit for me, i seem to never lose with Q-9, but online it does nothing ever so im torn on what to be aggresive with.

 

[Kennyseven]

I recently did a study on playing styles. What I found out is that tag players do particularly well in cash games but they do not fair well in tourny play. Lag players seem to do alot better in tourneys and so so in cash games.

 

[petey88]

Try not to build a big pot pre-flop with AK especially when you have lots of chips back. This way you donr become commited. And when making a continuation bet think about the player your doing it against if they are a calling station or playing tight.

 

[vanquish]

LAG wins.