Agression ?

[joslin]

I try to play the hands recomended at this site - works faily well - but it seems to me that I lack in the betting circus.

How are you supposed to play agressive without beeing overagressive ?

And how do you make sure that even though you only play good hands, you don't play them to fishy ?

I can see myself loosing money - and I don't like it (although still in kindergarten)

[Jay67s]

You should read some of the books recommended here, if you playing limit -- you should read the small stakes hold em book by miller/sklansky.

Playing after the flop is as important (if not more) than the preflop plays.

[eeeee]

I used to read about aggression, then hit the tables to practice. It looked a little something like this:

• I'm gonna make you pay with my 45s this time, no matter how much you raise. I've won two hands with crap, and gritting my teeth will make you fold!

That, thankfully, is not aggression. Aggression is merely the preference for betting or raising rather than checking or calling. It does not preclude smart folding, either. It doesn't mean you have to play many hands. It doesn't even mean you have to over-bet.

You can find much info on betting in these forums. As mentioned over and over in these forums, betting gives you two ways to win -- the fold, and (maybe) with your cards. Betting does good things. Betting puts pressure on the opponent. Betting buys you information. Betting can make other player change their practiced game.

Now, what are the right times to bet? Bet when you have a "made" hand. Sometimes bet when the other players before you are acting weak with minimum or no bets. Sometimes bet when you are on a draw to disguise your draw and to get a free card. Obviously, bet when others make it worth it to you with pot odds. Occasionally (seldom) bet with crummy cards (and occassionally don't bet with great ones [slow play].) Sometimes bet with a scary flop in a raised pot (all-of-a-suit, or a crummy pair on the board -- sometimes a min-bet works here.

Aggression fits best with tighter play. If you are playing with weaker grouped hands regularly, and earlier in the circle than recommended, then persistent aggression will be an eventual invitation for someone to take your money.

Aggression fits best with position. You can be aggressive from the SB or UTG, but it doesn't pay the same as aggression from the CutOff or Button, and frequently can lose you money.

Aggression has favorite "victims." Better poker players will adjust their game to your obvious aggression, employing the check-raise, the smooth call, and tighter play -- watch out for them and pick on others at the table. To obscure your identity, be aggressive in spurts. Change your game according to what cards they've seen you play lately and play the opposite. Loose cards? play only group 0, 1, 2 for a while, and play them hard, because you'll get callers. Had monster hands? Are they folding to you now? Loosen up your starting-hand requirements.

Perhaps avoid betting (or even getting into the hand) when you are early in position, or when two or more folks are fairly interested in playing their hand, or when you have lately been showing down folks with weaker-but-lucky hands (and they've been watching,) or just to mix it up.

How much to bet? Of course it depends. Pot-sized bets discourage callers, but if you always make pot-sized bets, someone else will catch on. If there is more than two people in the hand, sometimes pot-sized won't even be enough to discourage everyone in the hand because of pot-odds. Sometimes 1/2-pot, 2/3 pot, or min-bet can be appropriate -- all sized bets are tracked in Poker Trackr as aggression.

• Aggression is merely betting.
  Betting is your primary tool in poker.
  No methods in poker work well long-term if they become predictable or overused.

I'm no expert, and I may not have this down perfectly, but I think I'd get some agreement here from others in the forum. Good luck.

[joslin]

Had monster hands? Are they folding to you now? Loosen up your starting-hand requirements.

Thank you - felt like good advice last post -made things clearer, maybe I don't have problems with underagression then ...

This perticular quote gave me