Are You Aggressive Enough?

By HHA

Many poker players that play at limit Hold'em get the wrong idea about how to play since they follow every rule in the "how to play" books available. These resources should teach you the basics about poker, counting outs, and pot odds and the most important basic lesson: don't play to many hands. But what they won't teach you is when to pick the right time to be aggressive. You will learn how to play in a "tight-weak" way and that will improve your game, but you will lose money in the long run instead of pulling all the chips to your stack.

Raising to Increase Pot Equity

If you are a fan of poker on TV you have already seen the percentages beside the player's hand on the screen. These are called Pot Equity and consist of the player's chances to win the hand taking into account the cards at the table. You can raise to improve your pot equity; this is almost an intuitive response. But you have to know the concept well before you start using this strategy or you can get into a really poor situation with you chips.

Raising for Value

If you have the correct Pot odds then you can call the bet on a draw, but sometimes it is better to raise. If you are in a late position and you have medium pot odds facing 4 players, then after a raise 2 of the players call, it is better to raise instead of calling to increase the cost to enter in the pot. Some players will fold putting you in the last position, increasing you pot odds since there are less players involved in the hand. If you have a flush or a straight flush in the flop it’s recommended to raise rather than to just conform to a share of the bets. You can buy a free river card if you are in the last position and this could be of great advantage.

Check-Raising for the Free Card

This situation is very rare, but if you happen to get this opportunity you should use it. You may be familiar with a raise in the late position to get a free card later, but in early positions you can try to check-raise if certain conditions arise. If you happen to be the small blind and only you and the big blind reach the flop, you have the best chance to use this play. You have to get a reasonable hand dealt (like ATo or A9o), and if the big blind checks after you have a miss in the flop there is a big chance the big blind has missed the flop too. If you check your opponent will see weakness and will try to steal the pot, so be aggressive and make a raise. If he happens to do a re-raise you are in trouble, so avoid losing more chips and fold, but it is more likely that he calls, then you can see the turn and raise. This will grant you a free river card, since you have become the aggressor and he will fear a second raise. Remember that you need to have reasonable outs to play like this.

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