Which table is tougher for you: Aggressive or Tight?

Sos1l

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I’m curious what most players struggle with more.
For me, an aggressive table feels harder because it forces you to defend wider and take high-variance spots. But on a tight table, it’s also tricky to extract value and avoid falling asleep.

Which one gives you more trouble — facing constant aggression or waiting forever for someone to play back?
 
yomarianob

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I think an aggresive table is tougher. I'm thinking of shortstack scenarios, where many people re-jam to your opens, those are tough tables for me.

A tight table may be boring, but easier to play.
 
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GrannySmit77

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The problem is agressive players occasionally get lucky. You try to trap with GTO hands and sometimes they river 2 pair. And when they have a hand nobody believes them, so they pick up chips. Either way, once you have a big stack on the final table you're supposed to play agressive. How else are you going to get all the chips?
 
dannystanks

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Definitely the aggressive table is tougher. Well if they are really good, smart aggressive players. If they are not very good aggressive players that’s a different story. But I do love playing against really good players.
 
Sos1l

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yomarianob said:
I think an aggresive table is tougher. I'm thinking of shortstack scenarios, where many people re-jam to your opens, those are tough tables for me.

A tight table may be boring, but easier to play.
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Yes, I hate it too. when you open AJs+ or TT JJ QQ and you get a reraise or a shove that puts you in a difficult situation, you can’t fold and calling can be a blunder
 
Sos1l

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GrannySmit77 said:
The problem is agressive players occasionally get lucky. You try to trap with GTO hands and sometimes they river 2 pair. And when they have a hand nobody believes them, so they pick up chips. Either way, once you have a big stack on the final table you're supposed to play agressive. How else are you going to get all the chips?
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You're right. An aggressive reg always plays with the same bets so that you don't understand where the bluff is and where the really strong hand is. sometimes they're bluffing They randomly serve two pair or higher, and since you also have a decent hand, you call and at showdown you see that he was lucky and his semi-bluff gutshot came through. Meanwhile, there's nothing left of your stack )
 
Sos1l

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dannystanks said:
Definitely the aggressive table is tougher. Well if they are really good, smart aggressive players. If they are not very good aggressive players that’s a different story. But I do love playing against really good players.
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Me too. When the opponent plays childishly, I get frustrated with him. But when the opponent is a worthy player and you yourself concentrate on playing to the maximum in order to show your best game and not disgrace yourself.
 
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Aggressive play style is seen as superior for a reason... it puts opponents in tougher positions. For me personally, if it's unskilled aggressive players, it's annoying because you have to stay disciplined and calm. If it's good aggressive payers, it's tough because you are in a pond with sharks. Tight tables can be tough too as you barely get paid on your good hands, but at least you get to steal way more.
 
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Mario7

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IMO, the question is not precise enough and allows any answer depending on interpretation. The players can be aggressive and tight at the same time.
See:
Opposite to Agressive is Passive.
Opposite to Tight is Loose.
 
Mag_P1e

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Of course, facing aggressive opponents is more challenging, as they're much harder to understand and structure/systematize. With "nits", however, it's completely different—it's the easiest game in life: if players calls the turn, their weakest hand is a draw, or second pair (never third pair) which gives a clear picture of their range, etc.
 
Omar.Imrane

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Honestly, each type of table has its own problems. An aggressive table is more exhausting because you feel forced to defend and get into spots you didn’t really want to play. One wrong decision can cost you a big chunk of your stack really fast.
But a tight table is a different kind of struggle… it feels like time is frozen, and it’s hard to build a stack because everyone is playing ABC poker and nobody gives you value even when you have a strong hand.

For me? I think the aggressive table is a bit tougher, because it forces you to make hard decisions under pressure. A tight table is boring, yes, but at least it’s easier to control
 
thwenth1983

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Claro! Aqui está apenas o texto em inglês, pronto para copiar e colar:



Good morning, everyone. A conservative table is definitely the hardest one, especially on the final table. There are some tables where people only play for value. And that makes things tough, because you stay on the FT for a long time and nobody busts.


The blinds keep going up and up, and soon everyone is short. It has already happened to me to stay over an hour on a final table without a single player busting. More than an hour playing and nobody was knocked out. It was unbelievable on WPT Global.


Then people say, “Oh, if everyone is only playing value, you should grab some blockers, like an Ax or a Kx, and try to steal the blinds.” But the problem is: the players also have value hands. And that ends up hurting your tournament. It hurts your profit, because you’re taking unnecessary risks.


You’re there among the top stacks — second, third — everyone is more or less even. Then you misplay one small hand, lose a pot you shouldn’t, and boom… you drop to ninth or eighth, or even get eliminated.


So that’s something I learned: in micro stakes and freerolls, you just have to play for value.


 
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wushibala

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It’s hard for me to play at an aggressive table. To survive there, you need to get good cards often, otherwise you just get crushed. But at a tight table, I can wait patiently for the right moment.
 
Mantinhoo

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For me it’s definitely the hyper-aggressive tables. When everyone is constantly 3-betting and applying pressure, you’re forced into marginal spots much more often, and the variance can get pretty brutal. Tight tables can be boring, but at least you can control the pace and pick your value spots. Against nonstop aggression, one mistake costs a lot more.
 
ninocabral

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the aggressive table will always be more difficult even if there are only recreational players, just the fact that they play aggressively makes it difficult to play
 
havingfun

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Personally the aggressive tables are more uncomfortable to play at. I prefer playing against tight players
 
KeyPatience

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Any table is tough as long as you don’t play it well!
 
chicbulls2

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Depens which kind of players are playing, good players but aggressive or bad players
 
Dushka

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Apparently aggressive, although sometimes they are difficult to get along with.
 
martinoni

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None of them... my lack of ability is to make a bluff
 
fernandofcp

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Without a doubt, playing aggressively at the table is more difficult for me, provided that aggressive players have good technique and strategy. However, there is no single answer, as the difficulty depends on each player's playing style and their ability to adapt. Therefore, I believe that, in general, an aggressive game is considered more difficult for most players, especially beginners.
 
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