Poker has become one of the most-played games of all-time. There’s a much greater diversity of poker players playing against you. Aggressive poker players are among the rivals you might encounter. Learn how to play against and possibly beat them.
HOW TO DEFINE AN AGGRESIVE PLAYER IN POKER?
In poker terms, aggression refers to a strategy, not a personality trait. It’s considered an effective tactic when playing online poker games. Moves like opens and raises are generally considered aggressive plays, while checks and calls are passive. There’s even a scientific formula based on this to help you work out a player’s aggression levels.
It stands to reason that aggressive poker players take risks by consistently using opens, raises, and will check raise, too. They often use these moves as bluffing tactics to win more money with weak hands. This makes it difficult to determine the strength of their hand by their behaviour alone. This is often frustrating for the player to the right of them, who might find themselves folding unnecessarily or making fundamental mistakes like badly-timed bluffs and ineffective hero calls.
TYPES OF AGGRESIVE PLAYERS IN POKER
To make things even more complicated, there are also different ways players harness these strategies. It is good to understand the main types of aggresive poker players in order to learn how to beat aggressive poker players. These include:
LOOSE AGGRESSIVE POKER PLAYERS
Skilled players use LAG tactics to excellent effect, especially in Texas hold ’em. The LAG opponent is the most difficult player to read, as they play aggressively with a huge variety of hands. They tend to raise and reraise pre-flop.
A LAG player will bluff a lot and constantly put their opponents under pressure. On the extreme end are players who raise without any reason. These players usually overplay their hands, and you’ll eventually prevail against them.
Loose aggressive/passive players are more conservative. While they do play many hands, they’re more likely to fold on the flop or turn.
TIGHT AGGRESSIVE POKER PLAYERS
Unlike LAG players, tight-aggressive players are selective and don’t play pots as much. They focus only on the best starting hands and play their cards strongly.
They’re usually patient, waiting for the best chances to strike, although they’re not afraid of betting. This style of play is frequently an effective one, regardless of the betting structure or game variation.
For this reason, other players often refer to TAG players as ‘sharks’ and will avoid clashing with them, as they could have a strong hand when they indulge in aggressive moves.
POT STABBERS
Pot stabbers are both aggressive and passive. They’ll usually take one stab at the pot and then give up. They could continuation bet every time, but only bet the turn when they have a good hand. If you play position against this type of player, you should manage to take pots away from them.
SOLID PLAYERS
Solid players know when to slow down and when to apply pressure. They’re generally winning poker players, with skill and experience, and it’s tempting to avoid playing against them. If you’re in a marginal spot against these players, it’s often better to look for a more profitable spot.
7 WAYS TO DEAL WITH AGGRESIVE PLAYERS IN POKER
Regardless of the type of aggressive style you encounter, you can learn how to beat them. These are the best tips to help you get started:
1. DEFINE THEIR LIKELY HAND RANGE
Pay attention to how a player behaves, and you will soon identify their likely hand range. They’ll likely play the top 10 to 15% of all hands if they’re a standard tight-aggressive poker player. If a tight player reraises you pre-flop, they’ve probably got a good hand. A ‘nit’ who acts aggressively will always have a big hand since they play an extremely narrow betting range.
Loose-aggressive players play a lot of hands from any position. They’ll bluff most of the time and bet on most flops. This makes it much harder to read these players as they could raise holding any two cards. As the game progresses, you’ll figure out how far they’re prepared to go to move you off your hand.
2. PLAY TO THEIR WEAKNESS
While dealing with aggressive punters seems like a handful, trust and believe they will have weaknesses. Trapping, also known as ‘sandbagging’, is a strategy that involves using a player’s major weakness against them. Aggressive players usually have a hard time controlling their aggressive style. If they think the other players around the table have weaker hands, they’ll simply continue reraising and bluffing a lot of the time to end as the player with the best hand once they get to the river.
No matter how tempting it is to reraise against players like this when you think you have a strong hand, you must refrain from doing this. Instead, you should call every now and again. Slow playing encourages them to continue their charade for as long as possible. Then, you can swoop in at the last minute with a big bet that forces them to either release their hand or call for all their chips.
3. TIGHTEN UP YOUR GAME
If you have an aggressive player to your left, you’re at a distinct disadvantage. They get to go last for most hands and see what you do after the flop.
Tightening up is the best way to deal with this situation. This means playing a smaller number of hands than you usually would. This way, they’re prevented from reraising you or bluffing and gain a range advantage when you decide to enter the pot. You will have more options to choose from and a stronger calling range than they will.
4. USE BLUFF RE-RAISE TACTICS
One way to fight fire with fire against aggressive players is to bluff re-raise them after you’ve entered the pot with a fair hand. This signals that you will not back down easily and increases your range of play. They’ll usually back down at this challenge unless they have a very strong hand.
That said, you should never bluff re-raise too often. It works best when you’re playing with a premium hand. This will make them believe that you only bluff re-raise when you have something to show for it.
5. SEMI-BLUFF AFTER THE FLOP
This strategy works best when you choose to play hands like combos or straight downs. These aren’t the strongest hands in town, but they do let you play fast.
Semi-bluffing after the flop opens up more ways for you to win. For example, you might win by leaving your opponent no choice but to fold, or by making the strongest hand afterward.
Since your opponent probably doesn’t have strong hands every round, semi-bluffing works very well against aggressive types.
It doesn’t make sense to overuse this tactic, or your rival will soon figure out what you’re up to and call you down.
6. OPEN UP YOUR RANGE
Although this counteracts tightening your game, it can work well in some scenarios. For example, if you’ve been playing tight, the savvy, aggressive player will know you’ve got a big hand if you suddenly start value betting. Opening your betting range can prevent this.
If you’re playing against a LAG player, hands like K-Q, middle pocket pairs, and A-J offsuit have a high value. The same hands are weak against a tight-aggressive player.
This method depends on the unique situation you find yourself in at the table, as well as the behaviour of the LAG at every phase of the game. The point is to increase your flexibility when playing against a LAG and to observe their every move, both before and after the flop.
Here is a hand example from No Limit Hold ‘em:
- The blinds are 25/50.
- You and your opponent each have 2,500 in chips.
- Your opponent is seated to your right and have been aggressive from the start, raising 3x the big blind every time it folds to them in late position.
- Pre-flop, you are on the button.
Suppose the LAG has just raised to 150. The blinds have about 1,500 chips, and are playing conservatively. You hold an ace of spades and a 10 of diamonds — a strong hand likely to be ahead of the raising range, like, for example, a low-suited connector.
- The flop: Deals an ace of clubs, three of diamonds, and nine of hearts, with 375 in the pot. The LAG might have an ace plus a higher card, but you must call and wait until the turn.
- The turn: Deals a seven of spades and the LAG checks. There are 2,100 left in your stack and 875 in the pot. An aggressive player could check-raise here and put you in a bad position. With low blinds and limited information available, it’s best to check while you’re in a good spot. It will control the size of the pot and might go either way — a bluff on the river or calling on the river bet with a worse hand.
- The river: Deals a seven of clubs, and your opponent bets 500. There’s a good chance he’s trying to bluff you, as there were no significant draws. You call, and the LAG presents a king and a jack of clubs — a pure bluff. You have the best hand, and you win.
7. QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD
It’s true that quitting won’t win you any big pots, but it is sometimes the best alternative. Sometimes, it’s simply not worth it to play against an aggressive player who has a direct position on you to your left.
Some of the world’s best poker players, like world record holder Stu Ungar, are famous for their aggressive style. This punter won 16 of his 34 live tournaments and was runner-up 16 times.
Naturally, you can’t quit if you’re engaged in a high-stakes tournament against these kinds of aggressive players, where you have more to lose by backing out of the event. It can work in your favour if you’re playing low-stakes online poker or for enjoyment rather than profit. If the player to your left is exceptionally skilled and highly aggressive, your enjoyment could evaporate due to the stress of trying to predict their next move.
Weigh the benefits of your position during the game against the costs and decide whether it’s worth continuing, especially if you’re up against a very aggressive player who has a positional advantage over you.
You don’t want to be in a drawn-out back-and-forth struggle only to lose in the long run. Don’t let your ego dictate your poker strategy; you can always play on another day.
SUMMARY
You can often profit against an aggressive recreational poker player, as they’re the ones putting a lot of money in the pot. All you need to focus on is maximising the situation by making a few exploitative adjustments to your game and sitting tight until their game falls apart.
The best way to practise your tactics against aggressive players is by indulging in live online poker. If you’re not up to the challenge yet, you can start with regular online poker until you’re familiar with these tactics. Online poker offers versatile enjoyment for both committed poker players and those who are only in it to play poker for a bit of fun. Sign up and try it out today at EnergyCasino.