How to became more aggressive player?

izmoroc

izmoroc

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I have been playing for about 5 years, time to time.
Micro-limits tournys and cash+zoom or freerolls of NLH and PL Omaha.
I'm not too bad in tournaments (MTT and 1TT), almost always get in money, because of patience and tight strategy. But cash games.... are awfull(
Now I understand I never do 3-bets or all-ins, but I can bluff (after I won and opened a couple of good hands).

What advice can you give me to start playing more aggressive?

Thanks!)
 
FoxMS

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I believe that aggressive play is only suitable for experienced players who have good experience and skills. Aggressive play is always more risky and can lead to greater losses.
 
MrPokerVerse

MrPokerVerse

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Look for the best opportunity to take risks.
 
D

DS3

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It is difficult to learn.

I just made a point (again) about how difficult it is to 'flip a switch' and play in a different manner -in this case becoming more aggressive. It comes naturally to some and not to others. I am tight as a player and like to play sensibly so at times I get run over. I am slowly trying to work out of this mode and yet like you I regularly cash - but I do not belief I max out my game.

The goal is to start develop that aggressive muscle, and you have to exercise patience. If like most here you play some amount of free rolls, use these to broaden your range, vary bet sizing and play hands in an unfamiliar manner. Take yourself out of your comfort zone.

Then anticipate it is going to be difficult. You will get caught in compromised positions and pot fights with belligerent players. Obviously a greater percentage of hands are going to fail. However, if you do not extend yourself regularly you are never going to find out whether you can play a broader game or not.

I have days when I want to retreat into my poker shell...but for now I content myself with the fact that if there is no financial downside to the experimentation then stick with it for the foreseeable future. I still want to see if I can find a comfort zone playing more hands with a broader range in a more aggressive style.
 
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Airles17

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Watching videos of toneios is very good, reading some materials is a great option and of course ... always practice!
 
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gryphon3005

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Good question....adding aggression to our game is something we all struggle with. I think the best approach is to first realize that your tendency to take a passive route to conserve chips is not just a mental decision...it's also an emotional decision. D53 mentioned your comfort zone. We all prefer to stay there so when a dicey situation arises we find it easier to fold. We feel better because our fear subsided once we made the decision.

So, changing your game requires an emotional reset. I try to make it easier to do that by slowing down. When it's my time to act I wait and try to think clearly. I try to review the details...position, stack sizes, what range do I have for the opponent who just raised me? Doing a slow think helps to calm the anxiety a bit so I have a chance to finally remind myself I wanted to be aggressive and, yes, this situation is a perfect place to try.

But.....I have found that once I am successful it is very easy to find your emotions swinging the other way. My play worked. my confidence is way up and, yes, now I am a poker god :) If I fall into that trap someone at the table will remind me I am mortal by taking a chunk out of my stack. So...it's a balancing act between your emotional state and your mind when it's time to make a decision. It takes work and constant vigilance. Hope thus helps....good luck at the tables.
 
MishkaZL

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I think your style of play depends on your temperament. Personally for me, aggressive play is quite difficult and risky, so I prefer to be patient and play with strong cards.
 
izmoroc

izmoroc

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Good question....adding aggression to our game is something we all struggle with. I think the best approach is to first realize that your tendency to take a passive route to conserve chips is not just a mental decision...it's also an emotional decision. D53 mentioned your comfort zone. We all prefer to stay there so when a dicey situation arises we find it easier to fold. We feel better because our fear subsided once we made the decision.

So, changing your game requires an emotional reset. I try to make it easier to do that by slowing down. When it's my time to act I wait and try to think clearly. I try to review the details...position, stack sizes, what range do I have for the opponent who just raised me? Doing a slow think helps to calm the anxiety a bit so I have a chance to finally remind myself I wanted to be aggressive and, yes, this situation is a perfect place to try.

But.....I have found that once I am successful it is very easy to find your emotions swinging the other way. My play worked. my confidence is way up and, yes, now I am a poker god :) If I fall into that trap someone at the table will remind me I am mortal by taking a chunk out of my stack. So...it's a balancing act between your emotional state and your mind when it's time to make a decision. It takes work and constant vigilance. Hope thus helps....good luck at the tables.

Thank You so much!!
I think it's the best full answer I wanted.

After making this post and seeing replies (about 3-bet and squeeze) I've watched few videos and I think now I see my mistakes.

But You reply is the best!
Thank You!:)
 
throughstruggle

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I have been playing for about 5 years, time to time.
Micro-limits tournys and cash+zoom or freerolls of NLH and PL Omaha.
I'm not too bad in tournaments (MTT and 1TT), almost always get in money, because of patience and tight strategy. But cash games.... are awfull(
Now I understand I never do 3-bets or all-ins, but I can bluff (after I won and opened a couple of good hands).

What advice can you give me to start playing more aggressive?

Thanks!)
Start at least by always playing preflop 3bet with certain hands (you can make a chart of hands) and always bet continuation on the flop. And look what comes of it.
 
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Wellingtonaakkk

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I play poker for over five years without frequency but without very long stops, I learned that there are hours to be aggressive and hours passive. you have time to be aggressive so you don't get bad with an opponent of KK, AA, AK and you start behind in an all-in. But it is important to be aggressive in the fight for blinds.
 
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gichka97

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I have been playing for about 5 years, time to time.
Micro-limits tournys and cash+zoom or freerolls of NLH and PL Omaha.
I'm not too bad in tournaments (MTT and 1TT), almost always get in money, because of patience and tight strategy. But cash games.... are awfull(
Now I understand I never do 3-bets or all-ins, but I can bluff (after I won and opened a couple of good hands).

What advice can you give me to start playing more aggressive?

Thanks!)

I had the same problem at the beginning, when I started to play poker and the decision, which made to start more aggressive is to watch some broadcasts related to poker and in which are playing professional players. From that I learnt a lot about, because in the first years I have played very passively and was waiting only for strong hands and we all know that with passive play, the chance of the success is not guaranteed. As a personal advice to you I can tell you to start to be aggressive before the flop with some big bets, especially when the players until you have folded the hand. Try to be aggressive pre-flop and then continue to be on the flop, too. There are people, who are afraid of big bets and raises. Try to control the situation from the very beginning. This is a good tip I think.
 
ASMautoneJr

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analyze the position when you receive high cards! , always write down villain information, and calculate the stack to see if it is worth the risk with these cards!
 
nimburkx

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Most of the time its depends on who is your opponents and when tight player calling its kinda bad chance to play aggressively with him cause your going to lose most of the times play aggressive only when you have met few conditions when you got more chips than others and when you have to play with strong hand aggressive and also mostly use your aggressive play against big blind to steal pot/
 
lattedank

lattedank

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be a rich guy or a woman so you can be aggresive all day long lmao. But seriously tho, I have the same problem like you. I see people writing on forums that you should play tight but if you do play tight, you're always short stacked.(maybe not always but majority of the time)
 
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