Poker is one of the most rewarding and entertaining table games in casinos. Many movies and shows have depicted the thrill of playing poker. What they fail to reveal is the strategy behind every move in the game.
This game has evolved a lot and seasoned players have shared educational resources quite often. Now, many people think the aggressive style is the best to beat the opponent in this game. You will spot many aggressive gamblers while playing poker online.
Aggressive style poker is indeed quite helpful, but here you will learn how to beat an aggressive player. You can’t stick to just one style in this game if you want to win a big amount. Learn how to craft better observational skills to spot and beat aggressive poker players!
Types of Aggressive Players in Poker:
You are going to find three types of aggressive players in this game, which are as follows:
- The Tight-Aggressive (TAG)
- The Loose-Aggressive (LAG)
- The Loose Aggressive/Passive
You might be familiar with tight-aggressive and loose-aggressive players if you have been playing poker for a while. Let’s be familiar with these two types of aggressive players:
Tight-Aggressive or TAG players:
This type’s players do not involve in too many pots. You can call them selective because they only bet with strong hands. Once such a player spots premium cards, he will bet strongly to gain an upper hand.
Such players remain patient until they spot the best chance to strike. They never afraid of staking money and therefore they are also known as “sharks” in the game. This poker playing style is quite beneficial.
A highly skilled poker opponent always avoids slashing with TAG players. You should also do the same because they most probably hold top-tier cards when betting aggressively.
Loose-Aggressive or LAG players:
LAGs are known to raise or re-raise many types of hands pre-flop. They do not hesitate in betting time and again. Even some seasoned poker players find it tough to read LAGs because of their choice of hands.
Some seasoned players use this style of play in no-limit hold ’em to be a dominant opponent in the game. These players use chips like weapons to pressure opponents and win the game. A loose-aggressive player will bluff quite often and it is daunting to catch his bluff.
You can still deal with LAGs, but there are some maniacs. They are the toughest opponents you may find in poker. They tend to raise and re-raise without even assessing the board. You can take advantage of such players in a long game, but you have to walk in their shoes with a lot of chips.
Loose Aggressive/Passive:
It is a pretty rare breed of poker players to find in a game. These players frequently raise many hands pre-flop. However, they give up on the turn or flop. They test both tight-aggressive and tight-passive styles to gain the money in the pot. These players like to show some aggression, but they are not completely committed to this style!
Avoid Putting Your Opponent in a Category without Observation!
Now, you are familiar with the type of aggressive players and three aggressive poker styles. However, you should not put opponents into defined categories. You have to focus on the spectrum of hands opponents are playing. Thus, you can assess the degree of aggression.
Once you know how aggressive your opponent can be, you can plan your poker tactics accordingly. Here you can learn some tactics to use the opponent’s aggression against him!
How to Define the Hand Range of Aggressive Opponents?
It is quite important to define the range of an aggressive opponent. It should be your first move when playing poker against an aggressive player.
Suppose the opponent is tight-aggressive, try to reveal how tight his range is. Is he a ‘nit? This range type always includes a big hand because aggressive players’ range is quite narrow. If the opponent is a standard tight-aggressive, he will play only top 10-15% hands!
Poker becomes more complex when you are playing against a loose-aggressive player. He is going to bet on most flops. The bluff percentage will be pretty high in the game. However, it is tough to decide the type of loose-aggressive player your opponent is.
It is quite a wide category and players choose to play their hands differently. Some opponents can go too far to move your hands. Therefore, it becomes quite daunting to assess their range!
Reveal the Degree of Aggression:
You should be aware that your opponent can either play aggressively with value hands or with bluffing hands. The opponent might raise pre-flop from late position or play continuation bets throughout the game. He will quit on the turn and his aggression will vanish.
An overly aggressive opponent can triple barrel as a bluff until the river card dealt. This degree of aggression can trouble most of your opponents.
Most poker players nowadays 3-bet pre-flop frequently. Some players 3-bet light and some opponents 4-bet light or even 5-bet light. You have to assess those opponents carefully. Focus on their betting tendencies to learn how far they can go to take off your hand.
Continue reading to reveal some commonly seen aggression from aggressive poker players:
Pot Stabbers:
These players are pretty aggressive, but sometimes they also behave passively. They most likely take one stab at the pot and after it, they may most likely give up. These players may continuation until they check the hand on the turn. They will continue betting only if they got a hand.
Every seasoned poker player will recommend you to get in a pot with pot stabbers. You should play position with such opponents. It will profit you a lot and you will take the pot away from such opponents with some basic tactics.
Solid Players:
A solid player is someone, who does not miss an opportunity to apply pressure. Such players understand when they should apply breaks! Most winners are solid players, who take away most pots.
As a beginner or newbie, you would never like to sit against such poker players. You should not give up if you spot a solid player on the table. Know your position and if it is a marginal spot, avoid testing your poker skills. Wait for a more profitable opportunity and then move forward.
Spewtard/Legtard/Spew Monkey, etc.:
People use all these names to address this type’s opponents in a poker game. These players are known to take aggression to a whole new level! You cannot call them bad poker players, but these people can go high on power.
Spewtards do not stop testing you. They have the potential to build a huge stake against you if you play scared. You can use this kind of players to earn a huge amount of money. You have to assess the hand range of this type’s opponents or get a strong hand. They do not know how to put on breaks and you can take advantage of this tendency!
Poker Strategies to Use against Aggressive Opponents:
You are completely familiar with different kinds of aggressive players now! Let’s find out some tactics to use against these players to beat them.
Let your aggressive opponent bet for you:
You should allow your aggressive opponent to take a lead. It will reveal whether they got a strong hand or not. You should not waste your energy in blowing them off their hand. Let them fill the pot and continue bluffing so that you can gain a huge pot.
Pretend to be weaker:
You have to pretend to be weaker in order to trap an aggressive opponent. Continue the game with small bets and check-in certain positions. Bluff whenever necessary and you should also check the river with a monster hand.
The opponent will know you are scared and they would certainly place a big bet to beat you. Suppose you got a strong hand and the aggressive opponent is trapped, you are going to make a huge profit. This tactic always works when your opponent is betting strongly.
Expand your value range:
It is almost the opposite of what most pros suggest you try. However, if the opponent is an aggressive player, do not wait until the nuts go against them. It cannot happen too frequently and the opponent will find that you got a strong hand.
It is the right time to open up your value range to tackle that aggressive opponent in an aggressive way. You have to assess who is the opponent and predict the range of his hands.
Suppose you got hands like king-queen, ace-jack offsuit, king-jack, or middle pocket pairs, use them against loose aggressive players. Do not trust such hands when you are sitting against a tight-aggressive player.
Conclusion:
Aggressive players offer some great opportunities to make money. All you need to do is categorize them and use the best tactic to beat them. Follow the guide shared in this post to beat an aggressive opponent calmly. These tactics will allow you to trap the most aggressive players in online poker.
