SHERMSTICK
Cardschat Elite
Silver Level
Hello All:
In my opinion the style where everyone should be gear'ed toward's, but let's see what Roy say's.
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE
OK, so now we're to the PREFERRED playing style
for no-limit Texas Holdem... and that's
tight-aggressive.
Tight-aggressive players choose their starting
hands wisely. They rarely "limp-in". Instead, they
usually either FOLD or RAISE before the flop.
After the flop, they'll make aggressive bets if
they've got a hand or if they raised pre-flop.
The reason a tight-aggressive playing style is so
effective is because you only risk chips when
you've got a good hand. But when you DO risk
chips, you risk a LOT of them... so it only takes
a couple wins to build a nice-sized stack.
This is the playing style used and recommended by
just about every professional card player.
It's often referred to as "aggressively smart" or
"selective aggression".
Now, the DOWNSIDE of a tight-aggressive style is
that it's often easy to read. This style can often
build a tight table image... and when that
happens, your opponents won't give you action for
your big hands.
So how do you solve this problem?
The solution is to INTENTIONALLY establish a LOOSE
table image... by carefully choosing times in the
game to play like a "manic".
For example... once in awhile... show a bluff.
Especially near the beginning of the game. You'll
want to do this when you sense weakness and have
good positioning-- just as you'd do with any good
bluff.
Let's say you pick up 8-7 clubs on the button and
three players limp-in. You raise 7x the big blind
and everyone folds.
That's when you flip over your suited-connectors
and say, "C'mon guys, I just KNOW someone had my
eight high beat..."
A move like this is usually enough... depending on
the table... to get you action for your big hands
later.
That way when you pick up K-K on the button a bit
later... and make the SAME pre-flop raise of 7x
the big blind, you get a caller or two.
A huge advantage of playing tight-aggressive is
that many of your opponents won't distinguish
between LOOSE and AGGRESSIVE.
As we discussed, "loose" is related to which hands
you'll play... and "aggressive" is related to
betting.
If you raise aggressively with strong hands... and
then mix it up with the occasional well-timed
bluff... you'll be able to throw your opponents
off and keep them guessing every step of the way.
Of course, as you know, there are many "degrees" in between these four main
playing styles...
Even though you should use TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE as
your main style, you must be able "shift gears" and mix up your approach
throughout the game...
that way you don't become predictable.
More importantly, you must learn WHEN to shift
gears... HOW to vary your playing style... and
special "tricks" you can use to FOOL your
opponents without risking too many chips.
When you learn skills like these, you'll be able
to CONSISTENTLY win at Texas Holdem poker-- at
virtually any level-- and immediately raise your
"poker profits".
Info from Roy
SHERMSTICK
In my opinion the style where everyone should be gear'ed toward's, but let's see what Roy say's.
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE
OK, so now we're to the PREFERRED playing style
for no-limit Texas Holdem... and that's
tight-aggressive.
Tight-aggressive players choose their starting
hands wisely. They rarely "limp-in". Instead, they
usually either FOLD or RAISE before the flop.
After the flop, they'll make aggressive bets if
they've got a hand or if they raised pre-flop.
The reason a tight-aggressive playing style is so
effective is because you only risk chips when
you've got a good hand. But when you DO risk
chips, you risk a LOT of them... so it only takes
a couple wins to build a nice-sized stack.
This is the playing style used and recommended by
just about every professional card player.
It's often referred to as "aggressively smart" or
"selective aggression".
Now, the DOWNSIDE of a tight-aggressive style is
that it's often easy to read. This style can often
build a tight table image... and when that
happens, your opponents won't give you action for
your big hands.
So how do you solve this problem?
The solution is to INTENTIONALLY establish a LOOSE
table image... by carefully choosing times in the
game to play like a "manic".
For example... once in awhile... show a bluff.
Especially near the beginning of the game. You'll
want to do this when you sense weakness and have
good positioning-- just as you'd do with any good
bluff.
Let's say you pick up 8-7 clubs on the button and
three players limp-in. You raise 7x the big blind
and everyone folds.
That's when you flip over your suited-connectors
and say, "C'mon guys, I just KNOW someone had my
eight high beat..."
A move like this is usually enough... depending on
the table... to get you action for your big hands
later.
That way when you pick up K-K on the button a bit
later... and make the SAME pre-flop raise of 7x
the big blind, you get a caller or two.
A huge advantage of playing tight-aggressive is
that many of your opponents won't distinguish
between LOOSE and AGGRESSIVE.
As we discussed, "loose" is related to which hands
you'll play... and "aggressive" is related to
betting.
If you raise aggressively with strong hands... and
then mix it up with the occasional well-timed
bluff... you'll be able to throw your opponents
off and keep them guessing every step of the way.
Of course, as you know, there are many "degrees" in between these four main
playing styles...
Even though you should use TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE as
your main style, you must be able "shift gears" and mix up your approach
throughout the game...
that way you don't become predictable.
More importantly, you must learn WHEN to shift
gears... HOW to vary your playing style... and
special "tricks" you can use to FOOL your
opponents without risking too many chips.
When you learn skills like these, you'll be able
to CONSISTENTLY win at Texas Holdem poker-- at
virtually any level-- and immediately raise your
"poker profits".
Info from Roy
SHERMSTICK