The Benefits of Aggression (Day 2 Course Discussion)

[king11682]

Seeing the day 2 class, I think I am a more passive than aggressive player. I have to change that from being a passive player to an aggressive player to be successful. Starting in preflop and so increase the stack.

 

[PsychoVas]

Sometimes the two first lessons is all you need to win. Aggressive play in position is really difficult to confront. In the example hand, if it were me playing it, the villain would probably have had 89s...

 

[karmakoumas]

Pair of As

When i begin playing poker and have a pair of As in hand.
i used to play neutral or passive thinking that's the good idea because too much player will not fold and finally i will win a big pot.
But with more playing time i understand that is a completely false way to play.
i loose with this way too much pair of As hand, and then i begin to raise every pair of As hand in the pre-flop and i find that i m winning more hand.
After that i definitely become an aggressive player .
Finally, with this video i understand that i was in the good road of poker

:ciao::ciao:

 

[eberetta1]

Soo hate playing against aggressive players. With great risk, comes great reward.

 

[baea808]

This course is very interesting. As a beginner recreational player, it's very important to have some concepts lain down in such simple manner (e.g. aggression is (bets + raises) ratio to calls).

As said earlier in this topic, I too thought I played aggressively - until this video.

I particularly enjoyed the bit when Collin said that "Calls" are the only passive move (as opposed to checks or folds).

Learning a lot. Digesting information and taking notes. Thanks for sharing this great course!

 

[wstclair777]

I enjoyed the day 2 lesson, thanks again for doing this. Aggression is something that I constantly have to work on when playing live poker, I'm just naturally not an aggressive person so, It doesn't feel right. It's not really a problem online, I think because I'm more disconnected from it.

 

[Collin Moshman]

Thanks a lot Baea, and I agree it's very interesting that poker only has one passive play

Thanks wst, we appreciate that!

 

[cferdi]

Selective Aggressision

I find this interesting, but I'm also finding that these days about 80% of the table in tourneys are all playing aggressive; not saying they are all playing well, but there can be about 5-7 on a 9 ring table all trying to out-aggro each other, with few willing to lay down anything so this isn't working most of the time.

I admit I play micro stakes and freerolls, and maybe it changes at higher stakes (above $3) but I manage to make the money fairly frequently, even so. I'm sure this will be covered later, but I think many players these days read so much about aggressive play and think this means 'every hand' or 'every second hand' or 'never fold just get more aggressive', they are not choosing their moments and combining their aggression with all the other tools i.e strong starting hand, position, other players style, table personality, chip stack, etc.

Great article none the less, and good to know there is a 'neutral' and not just aggressive vs. passive.

 

[Katie Dozier]

I find this interesting, but I'm also finding that these days about 80% of the table in tourneys are all playing aggressive; not saying they are all playing well, but there can be about 5-7 on a 9 ring table all trying to out-aggro each other, with few willing to lay down anything so this isn't working most of the time.

I admit I play micro stakes and FreeRolls, and maybe it changes at higher stakes (above $3) but I manage to make the money fairly frequently, even so. I'm sure this will be covered later, but I think many players these days read so much about aggressive play and think this means 'every hand' or 'every second hand' or 'never fold just get more aggressive', they are not choosing their moments and combining their aggression with all the other tools i.e strong starting hand, position, other players style, table personality, chip stack, etc.

Great article none the less, and good to know there is a 'neutral' and not just aggressive vs. passive.

It certainly can be a slippery slope when it comes to being aggressive as it is definitely true that some players are overly so— which is particularly apparent in free rolls sometimes! However, the mantra of being an aggressive player overall is still super important, as is not crossing that line into being a maniac (unless the situation calls for that too which is sometimes does of course)!

 

[Maxi1980]

Hello everyone, first of all I want to thank you for creating this course, it will help me to clarify ideas and implement concepts that I did not know before, such as playing aggressive pre flop, none on the flop, passive turn and aggressive on the river. Thank you very much again and I will see the third video

 

[belizebum]

Enjoying this course. Today I have a few freerolls to play and will use the aggression factor for more practice. And the great question " What doesnt he want me to do??" Although I have thrown those small feeler bets out and was waiting for someone to come over the top...lol. Would that be aggressive?

 

[Tero]

I have a question about a big stack play.
I understand that in the later stages and close to bubble big stack's pressure towards smaller stacks is wise and lucrative.

But what would you say Katie or Collin, how the big stack should control himself in the early stages, if the big stack has already tripled his size but everyone else still has over 100 BBs?

 

[Collin Moshman]

Enjoying this course. Today I have a few freerolls to play and will use the aggression factor for more practice. And the great question " What doesnt he want me to do??" Although I have thrown those small feeler bets out and was waiting for someone to come over the top...lol. Would that be aggressive?

Glad you liked that question!

Any bet is inherently an aggressive action, but sometimes creativity also comes into play. Making a fake "weak bet" that's small for an aggro player to bluff-raise can definitely work very well sometimes with the right read

 

[Collin Moshman]

I have a question about a big stack play.
I understand that in the later stages and close to bubble big stack's pressure towards smaller stacks is wise and lucrative.

But what would you say Katie or Collin, how the big stack should control himself in the early stages, if the big stack has already tripled his size but everyone else still has over 100 BBs?

You shouldn't adjust your play much if it's still far from the money. Simply play good deep-stacked poker whether you have 100bb and the chip leader has 300bb or it's the other way around. Having a big stack is the most important at the final table or any spot where there's a lot of risk aversion.

 

[M13A13]

There are many benefits to being aggressive in poker, controlling the action, increasing profits, making the enemy run, and even being able to bluff.
The aggressive game must be cautious and well calculated so as not to lose.

 

[whiskers77]

Interesting, so far I was never thinking or aware of, that there are neutral actions. Somehow I always considered them to be passive actions. Thank you for the explanation and the video!

 

[BentleyBoy]

A great day two guys, Thankyou.

Having read the comments above I think it is important to remember that day two isn’t the only input on the course and there is a lot more to come, so making decisions based solely on what is learned in day two is an error of judgement. Day two is simply part of the whole course and must be taken in that context.

Looking forward to the rest of he course.

Thanks

BB

 

[venycyos]

KJo Hand: From your reading I understood that you thought you were winning. I also understood that we are talking about aggression, I believe that a smaller bet would also be aggression. Let's ask the question, wouldn't it be interesting to bet less on the river to take a bigger pot or lose a smaller pot if the villain called?

 

[acidburnfx]

This line of aggression can sometimes work on certain players. When the 10 hits on the river and you overbet, your KJ seems to be representing a stronger hand and then makes your opponent fold. It is important to remember that aggressiveness is different from irresponsibility.

 

[jesusdemaria]

The benefits of aggression

All in preflop with AA hands KK QQ JJ 1010 are correct?
Aggression should apply to all types of play? Cash tables, tournaments, sit & go, it costs me a lot to be aggressive, when I do it they make me 3bet and I do all in and they always beat me with weak hands.
Maybe it's because I don't know how to fold strong hands.

 

[partz]

interesting. but i kinda play different. i dont do much hands until bubble then if it happen to get still few blinds i play aggressive each good card. it depends of my opponents ofc but when im into big tourneys this kinda work the best for me. each hand aggressive i dont pay rises only if i have a strong hand and when i rise i defend my card until the end xD

funny thing some guys might learn our strategies from this kind of questions haha

 

[Katie Dozier]

A great day two guys, Thankyou.

Having read the comments above I think it is important to remember that day two isn’t the only input on the course and there is a lot more to come, so making decisions based solely on what is learned in day two is an error of judgement. Day two is simply part of the whole course and must be taken in that context.

Looking forward to the rest of he course.

Thanks

BB

Thanks very much, and I appreciate the point you made in your post! Being aggressive generally is a very important aspect of being a winning poker player, however this does not mean we should be aggressive all the time. Thanks for putting that into context

KJo Hand: From your reading I understood that you thought you were winning. I also understood that we are talking about aggression, I believe that a smaller bet would also be aggression. Let's ask the question, wouldn't it be interesting to bet less on the river to take a bigger pot or lose a smaller pot if the villain called?

Yes, a smaller bet would still fall into the category of being an aggressive action. Betting smaller, perhaps in the form of making a blocking bet, does present the slight complication that it is more likely you're raised than when you make a more standard sized bet. Of course this won't always happen but it is certainly something important to keep in mind--particularly in spots where we are looking to get some value from our hand but ideally want to avoid being raised.

 

[Katie Dozier]

Aggression should apply to all types of play? Cash tables, tournaments, sit & go, it costs me a lot to be aggressive, when I do it they make me 3bet and I do all in and they always beat me with weak hands.
Maybe it's because I don't know how to fold strong hands.

Yes, being an aggressive player is important to all types of poker. It can feel tough to get 3-bet a lot, but therein lies another opportunity to adjust to our opponents and outplay them

If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out our course Ebook here: https://www.cardschat.com/become-a-winning-poker-player/ I feel that reading it may influence how you feel about aggression in general.

 

[venycyos]

Thanks very much, and I appreciate the point you made in your post! Being aggressive generally is a very important aspect of being a winning poker player, however this does not mean we should be aggressive all the time. Thanks for putting that into context



Yes, a smaller bet would still fall into the category of being an aggressive action. Betting smaller, perhaps in the form of making a blocking bet, does present the slight complication that it is more likely you're raised than when you make a more standard sized bet. Of course this won't always happen but it is certainly something important to keep in mind--particularly in spots where we are looking to get some value from our hand but ideally want to avoid being raised.

Thanks I understood the point of the biggest bet to avoid the villain's jokes.

 

[redboy23]

Day 1 - Chapter 2

It is very important to distinguish when a player is passive, neutral or aggressive. Today in the freeroll, I had a very tough time playing against villain to the point where I started making bad decisions; I folded winning hands to aggression and stayed out of hands that I would have won if I got the chance to limp in.

Response to video question:

Pre-flop - aggressive (bet)
Post flop - neutral (check)
Turn - passive (call)
River - aggressive (raise)

So far this is great fun and informative.