Hey, poker playas!

In the quest for finding the right formula to play poker. People will either go aggressive, to ultra-aggressive. 

That would always be what most poker pros would advise. but then you find yourself in a losing streak and you are left wondering why?

here is a look at some of the theories behind being aggresive. 

Percentages.

Whenever you play on a table. the chance of you getting a good hand is not that huge. and depending on your range. 

The chance for you to have a good flop that matches your hand is even lower.

But it also means that their chances and your chances are even lower.

That is why poker hand charts are good as they clearly give you an idea of what chance your opponent has a better hand than you depending on their position.

So forget your hand for just a second.  let assume 3 the same positions. You are the button, everyone else folds. The chance the small blind and big blind have a hand they could call with is small. but it could happen. but another time and another time. the odds are actually in your favor.

That being said. if you keep doing that. the chance of you chipping away their chips one after one is high.

Hence when you play aggressively. you are favorably at good odds.

Assuming they call. the chance of them having a favorable flop once again is small. like for everyone else.

key factors

So you should play aggressively most of the time? the answer is no. 

The number of chips on the table

This is actually a key factor, especially in tournaments where all players start with the same stack. The more chips you have the more you can push people as you have chips you can risk. However, in tournaments especially on freeze out. if both stacks are the same. it will not be in your favor. Most of the time it would be a showdown of strength. 

How strong or weak the table is.

The idea is to force the weak players out and the normal players to come in. Ideally, the players who you want to call are the ones you can outplay. but if you are pushing things too much and no one is calling then you are just earning the blinds. You want to push the weak players out and keep gaining more chips.

Your chip advantage.

The more chips you have the more you can take risks. however, times have changed. the chance you’re the only one playing aggressively nowadays is small. So even if you have a good stack. it does not mean you should keep going after everyone. You should start picking your opponent and key positions. 

The game you are playing. 

Most poker is online now due to the pandemic. so depending on what you play. it can affect the game. Micro tournaments and freeroll tournaments are the ones you should be careful of. 

One of the biggest problems is double-rebuy and add-on. just when you thought you are the chip leaders. suddenly you are just an average stack. 

Especially true in the country you live in. As one country might find a buy-in to be already high in one country. it can still be considered micro to some.

The self-grinder

Years ago. there was this player who was a real grinder. not to say he was not that good. he was good.

The tournament started with 3,000 chips and grinded the players and was up by 25k. He was raising 80% of his hand and was hitting it left and right.

But the problem was rebuy was 6,000 chips and you can double rebuy. and players were catching his game already.

in a few swift hands, he was out. the player he busted came back and double re-buy as it was cheap. The guy he busted became the hunter. calling with every hand. at first, he even busted the player out again. As he earlier hit was lucky like gutshots. the odds reverse themselves. and all the chips went to the player he busted earlier.

Even though he tried to make a comeback. but as players were on to his game. His aggressive style stops working as the key element of fear to be busted out was gone.

Learn to shift gears is the key

There is no one style that is perfect. there would always be flaws. If there was really a perfect formula then everyone would have been a winner.

But knowing those gears will improve your game. learn to read books and read charts.

stay safe poker players