A Follow Up to the Treatise on Aggression
It's obviously required reading to read my prior post to understand what I'm about to type. I got commentary on forums, and in my inbox about the last post varying from intense praise at capturing the nature of aggression in Limit Holdem to commentary saying that I was a chip-spewing maniac fool.
This may help those people understand why I play the way I do...
The example I used was that you have AK in MP. The player to your right limps, you raise, and the button, BB, and original limper all call. 4 players see the flop of J-7-3 rainbow. There are 8.5 SB in the pot. I bet or raised without hesitation in this hand. Why does this work for me?
I am a tight player, VP$IP around 16-17%, and a PFR around 9%. This goes a long way with players who understand table image. Regardless, this works for me because:
I'll use a quote from a favorite movie of mine--
This applies here because when you make this bet, you need to Act as if you have the stone cold nuts. Why? Because against non-calling station opponents, you DO have the stone cold nuts until something tells you otherwise. You will run into traps this way, but remember--most flops miss most hands. Over the long run, which is a damn long time, this play will yield you more pots than it will lose you.
I can't state this enough, however--do not try these moves against a player who will just call you down with middle or bottom pair or some other crap holding. If your read, either through observation or PokerAce HUD or GameTIme Plus, tells you that you are facing a guy who doesn't know where his fold button is, you need to be far more conservative. Aggressive, yet conservative. The farthest I would take this against a calling station or weak/tight player is to bet/raise the flop, bet the turn (and fold to most turn raises), and check-fold the river if you miss.
At first look, this looks weak/tight on my part, but remember, sometimes when you take this line you'll have AK, and other times you'll have JJ. It is important to this playing style that when you have a monster hand (like a set) and you take this direct line, that you show your hand down, even if your opponent folds. The next time, perhaps you'll have AK, and this monster you showed down will be in the opponent's mind, and he'll lay down a non-nut hand a little easier when he knows you straight play your monster hands. This also helps later on, as you decide to raise with T8s from UTG and everyone folds to you--remember, it's all about varying your play.
Maybe I made my last post more clear, maybe I made it more muddled. I just hope I made it useful for everyone.
Best of luck at the tables!
This may help those people understand why I play the way I do...
The example I used was that you have AK in MP. The player to your right limps, you raise, and the button, BB, and original limper all call. 4 players see the flop of J-7-3 rainbow. There are 8.5 SB in the pot. I bet or raised without hesitation in this hand. Why does this work for me?
I am a tight player, VP$IP around 16-17%, and a PFR around 9%. This goes a long way with players who understand table image. Regardless, this works for me because:
I play AK here the same way I play JJ.
I'll use a quote from a favorite movie of mine--
There's an important phrase that we use here, and think it's time that you all learned it. Act as if. You understand what that means? Act as if you are the fucking President of this firm. Act as if you got a 9" cock. Okay? Act as if.
This applies here because when you make this bet, you need to Act as if you have the stone cold nuts. Why? Because against non-calling station opponents, you DO have the stone cold nuts until something tells you otherwise. You will run into traps this way, but remember--most flops miss most hands. Over the long run, which is a damn long time, this play will yield you more pots than it will lose you.
I can't state this enough, however--do not try these moves against a player who will just call you down with middle or bottom pair or some other crap holding. If your read, either through observation or PokerAce HUD or GameTIme Plus, tells you that you are facing a guy who doesn't know where his fold button is, you need to be far more conservative. Aggressive, yet conservative. The farthest I would take this against a calling station or weak/tight player is to bet/raise the flop, bet the turn (and fold to most turn raises), and check-fold the river if you miss.
At first look, this looks weak/tight on my part, but remember, sometimes when you take this line you'll have AK, and other times you'll have JJ. It is important to this playing style that when you have a monster hand (like a set) and you take this direct line, that you show your hand down, even if your opponent folds. The next time, perhaps you'll have AK, and this monster you showed down will be in the opponent's mind, and he'll lay down a non-nut hand a little easier when he knows you straight play your monster hands. This also helps later on, as you decide to raise with T8s from UTG and everyone folds to you--remember, it's all about varying your play.
Maybe I made my last post more clear, maybe I made it more muddled. I just hope I made it useful for everyone.
Best of luck at the tables!
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