Types of Plays: Aggressive Plays
Aggressive play is the single most recommended (and prolific) playing style of all. Aggressive play involves a push toward betting, raising, and even folding as opposed to just calling a bet. Strategically, aggressive play is generally seen as superior to playing passively. By betting and raising strong hands, you encourage your opponents to fold which increase your chances at winning. It also makes the pots you win larger.
Many first-time poker players find themselves confused when they try to define aggressive play. Aggressive play is not about playing fast and loose with your money or to play many hands. Players who play like that are known as “Maniacs” and/or “Loose players.”
Aggressive play basically means that you generally raise (or fold) instead of calling, and you bet as opposed to checking. In other words, you make a definitive action. Instead of betting the minimum, you raise the bet. Your intent is to get more money into the pot. Many players adopt the term “Tight-Aggressive” to specify the difference being knowing when to push and when to back off. There’s a poker saying that goes, “Tight is right.” Be a tight player and you’ll do all right.
An aggressive (or tight-aggressive) player will wager more, therefore they need to be more selective in their hands to minimize their chances at loses. It’s okay to lose more hands as long as you win the big pots at the end of the game. Any good player would rather win one $100.00 pot instead of three $25.00 pots.
Now again, it must be reiterated that bluffing is a form of aggressive play. It is a definitive action, and has a clear result. The player who folds most hopeless hands is indeed an aggressive player.
Like all other poker plays and theories, aggressive play is a tool for certain situations. The poker masters will use Aggressive play with the same sense of comfort as when they play Defensive. Just as you know when to use a hammer or a screwdriver, you’ll soon know when to play aggressive verses passive. Like that famous saying goes, “You’ll know when to hold em, and know when to fold em.”
