- How To Play Loose Aggressive Poker
- Loose Aggressive Poker Strategy
- Good Loose Aggressive Poker Strategy For Free
Apr 08, 2017 In this video we will be talking more about when it's not good to get aggressive and some of the ways that the mindless misapplication of aggressive play can do damage to your bankroll. A good LAG plays loose -aggressive poker because his opponents have a tendency to play too tight and too face-up in certain spots. For example, the average TAG will have a tendency to always play aggressively with his premium holdings and never slowplay. Jul 19, 2015 Loose-aggressive, or LAG, play is characterized by playing lots of hands—including some bad ones—and then betting frequently post-flop. Poker Strategy With Ed Miller: Why LAGs Win. Jun 22, 2015 Like most things in poker, don’t force it. If a LAG strategy isn’t going to work for you, either because you are still growing your skillset or because the table isn’t right for itdon’t force it! Just keep working on your ability to find good spots, to take good spots, and to play more hands so you can grow your winrate. Indeed, throughout the lessons on Pokerology we’ve taught the value of playing an aggressive style of poker – which is important if you want to be a winning poker player. While being aggressive is more profitable, many players do not understand how to change gears and their aggressive poker play becomes predictable.
Good Loose Aggressive Poker Strategy, Slott I Skottland B! The aggressive 3b’rs will ruin your flow at good loose aggressive poker strategy the table, show other people that reno tahoe poker tournaments you aren’t invincible (which then creates a table dynamic where even 12/10 nitTAGs are trying to 3ball you), and put you in tough spots. Jul 19, 2015 Loose-aggressive, or LAG, play is characterized by playing lots of hands—including some bad ones—and then betting frequently post-flop. Poker Strategy With Ed Miller: Why LAGs Win.
You're a solid player, winning at the $1/$2 level in your nearby card room. You play a disciplined, tight-aggressive game. You know well how your starting cards are likely to stack up against those of your opponents, and you understand how to be aggressive in the right spots.
You've learned to read your opponents fairly well, and can often separate out the aggressive moves that mean true strength from those desperation moves that mean weakness. You're able to average about $20 an hour, chiefly by being careful, taking advantage of your bad opponents' many mistakes, and staying away from the other good players in the room when they are in a hand. Perhaps your greatest skill is game selection, ably steering yourself into those games with the worst players and the fewest good opponents.
But you're bothered by the profit-depleting rake of 10% up to $5 a hand, with another $1 going to the bad beat jackpot and yet another buck when you win and tip the dealer. Best free slot games. Though these charges seem relatively insignificant at the time, you're good enough and thoughtful enough to realize they really cut into your bottom line in the long run. So you've sought out and helped cultivate a home game.
But the game is giving you fits, primarily because of one guy — Stewart.
Stewart is known by many other names. Some call him a table bully. Others say he's a maniac. Still others label him a LAG — a loose-aggressive player. And that he surely is. He's hyper-aggressive. He's also excellent, in a way, as he seems to win a lot — at least when he doesn't go bust.
Your game in the public poker room is generally well-controlled, with you waiting patiently, picking your spots, and pushing your advantages when you have them. But you find that Stewart disrupts your home game. In that game, you aren't the guy that others fear. You don't set the pace of the game. Stewart does those things. And he does them to you.
You find yourself off-kilter, rarely winning. You hate to admit it, but Stewart is making you think about abandoning the game and heading back to the casino, even with its big rake.
Is there anything you can do about this situation, short of figuring out a way of getting Stewart out of the game? That's the challenge for this column — to figure out how to beat the loose-aggressive player, or at least how to beat the game in which he's playing.
Here are five steps to take when Stewart — or someone like Stewart — becomes part of your home game.
1. Recognize the Problem
First and foremost, make yourself aware of what Stewart is doing to the game. A table bully is a problem for many sedate, thoughtful, good players in that the bully's involvement changes the nature of the game from the typical contest many are used to playing. Aggression, higher stakes, and bigger decisions tend to frustrate players who bet chiefly based on the absolute value of their hands.
Players can be dazzled by the constant flinging of chips and lose sight of what's most important. Similarly, players who are risk averse can be intimidated by what amounts to an increase in stakes as variance increases with a loose-aggressive player in the game.
2. Conquer Your Fear with Clear Thinking
The best way to overcome any trepidation about playing with Stewart is to strive to think clinically and objectively about his actions. You have to forget about the money by thinking clearly about what his aggression signifies.
A steady stream of bets necessarily means the starting standards of the bully are much lower than yours, and that his typical standards for raising and reraising are similarly lower. This means, generally, he has a much wider range than you have, which in turn means his average hand is going to be worse than your hand would have to be in a similar situation. This is exploitable.
3. Embrace the Variance
In such a situation, you must be willing to play more hands than you previously had by recognizing opportunities to take advantage of Stewart's weaker range. An uber-aggressive player in the game is going to make the pots bigger and the swings bigger — if you play as I suggest. Prepare for this both psychologically and financially.
If you can't handle the bigger swings, you can alter your optimal strategy by limiting losses with a shorter buy-in. Short buy-ins are a perfect counter-weight to anxiety over losses. You know, going in, that your stack will be limited, allowing you to call the large bets from your opponent (or to make your own large bets) without risking a huge percentage of your bankroll. You won't be able to maximize your wins by utilizing a short buy-in strategy, but by minimizing your losses you may put yourself on better footing psychologically, while also neutralizing many of the advantages that a LAG player might otherwise have over you.
But you must be ready to call bets before the flop when you judge your range to be stronger than the bully's, or when you otherwise think you might be able to exploit his wild style in later rounds.
4. Isolate the Bully with Your Own Aggression
It's not enough to be willing just to 'go along for the ride' against a very aggressive opponent. You must also concern yourself with the other players around the table. Ideally, you want to isolate your aggressive opponent with your own aggression.
Imagine a hand where you have and your maniac opponent raises in front of you. If you call along — as your nervous gut might encourage you to do — you may be enticing others, who also know the wild proclivity of your opponent to call behind you, attracted as they are to the pot you have enlarged by your presence.
You don't want that. You prefer going heads-up against wild Stewart, especially when you have a hand that may be only slightly better than his typical range. So raise him to lock out others who will be intimidated not by his bet but by your raise. True, they may have a stronger hands and might snap you off. But it is more likely if you call and let them call behind, they'll overtake your hand after the flop.
5. Remain Aware of the Other Players
Finally (at least for the purposes of this relatively brief article), don't let the bully's actions blind you to what the other players are doing. There's a tendency to become so focused on the bully that you fail to account for the strength of others in the hand. Keep in mind that others are allowed to have strong hands as well. In multi-way pots it's not enough just to beat the bully, you must beat the other players as well.
Conclusion
There are of course many other steps you can take to win in a game with a loose-aggressive player. Most are very hand specific and involve figuring out ways of exploiting your opponent based on the range of hands you think he is on in different situations. But we'll save that for another column.
For now, though, try these five steps and start beating the Stewart who has been acting the bully in your home game.
Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.
Photo: 'all in, tapis,' VICTOR VIC CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Without a shadow of a doubt, the most difficult player to combat at the cash game tables or in tournaments is one who plays a loose-aggressive poker strategy and plays it well.
A good loose-aggressive player, or LAG, at your table is a constant thorn in your side. Such players will frequently raise and three-bet preflop, fire more than their fair share of continuation bets, are not afraid to barrel on all three streets, and will pounce on any sign of weakness.
When no-limit hold’em was first becoming mainstream, there were very few people who knew how to play loose-aggressive poker, or at least were willing to do so. I vividly remember reading an older strategy book when I first discovered poker and seeing a section that said to proceed with extreme caution if you had been reraised, even if you held a hand as strong as pocket kings!
This may have been solid advice in the days of passive poker (played both loose and tight), but with so many players adopting a loose-aggressive poker strategy these days, you would be burning money by playing as advised by that particular book.
What is Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy?
As its name suggests, a loose-aggressive poker strategy sees players loosen up their starting hand requirements (they play quite a lot of hands, often 30% or more that are dealt to them) and they play them aggressively (by coming out betting and raising).
However, not all LAGs are created equal. Bad LAGs are often reckless and will never find a fold, but LAG players who know the nuances of how to play loose-aggressive poker well almost always know where they stand in a hand and will fold to resistance. The former can be frustrating to play against, but the latter can decimate your stack and bankroll if you are not careful.
Loose-Aggressive Poker: Starting Hands
Some LAGs will play literally any two cards dealt to them and rely on their aggression or postflop skill to outmaneuver their opponents once the community cards come into play. If you are looking to start playing with a loose-aggressive poker strategy, it is advised to have some structure to your starting hand requirements.
We mentioned earlier than LAGs play a lot of hands, often 30% or more that they are dealt. Thirty-three percent of hands is a range that would include:
- 22-AA
- 54s+
- 75s++
- K8o+
- K4s+
- A2o+
- A2s+
As you can see, 33% represents a lot of hands, which is where some of the strength of a LAG style stems from — you have a difficult time knowing if such players are strong or weak preflop and whether they are betting with a pair, set, draw, or on a bluff after the flop.
How to Combat a Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy
You have probably gathered by now that taking on those who know how to play loose-aggressive poker can lead to stressful situations at the tables, but that is not to mean that they are unbeatable. You just need to adapt your own style to combat theirs and use their LAG style against them.
First, when playing against LAG players give more consideration to your own starting hand requirements. Finding yourself out of position against LAG players is a nightmare, but even having position on them while holding a weak hand can be equally as difficult.
A hand such as may be a perfectly legitimate hand to open with from the button, but if there is a good loose-aggressive player in the big blind who has been three-betting you all session, it is probably best not to raise here as a steal because you are likely to be playing in a bloated pot with a weak hand against someone who is not going to let you see a cheap showdown.
Second, when up against a LAG consider slowplaying your strong hands both before and after the flop. Players who are starting to get out of line with how frequently they three-bet you are likely to fold to a four-bet because their reraising range is so wide. This gives you the perfect opportunity to simply call a three-bet with strong pairs such as aces, kings, or queens. While you should not make a habit of this, it is a good play to have in your arsenal when taking on someone playing a solid loose-aggressive poker strategy.
Furthermore, you can extend this slowplaying to postflop, too. LAGs will often make a continuation-bet and at least another bet on the turn (barreling), yet put the brakes on when they face strong resistance. Instead of check-raising or raising a hand as strong as a set, let your loose-aggressive opponents have a little more rope with which to hang themselves.
Also think about using an opponent’s loose-aggressive range of starting hands against them by bluffing them. A couple of paragraphs ago we advocated slowplaying big hands preflop, yet you can also four-bet bluff a habitual three-bettor — especially if you have a tighter image — because they will give you credit for a strong hand and they are more likely to be holding something less than stellar.
How To Play Loose Aggressive Poker
Likewise, the occasional check-raise bluff on later streets can work wonders if your loose-aggressive opponent has shown to be capable of giving up on a hand when facing aggression.
Conclusion
Loose Aggressive Poker Strategy
Like all moves in poker, do not overuse any of the tips mentioned above. If you do, you will become much easier to read, and someone will eventually call your bluff. Once players with a solid loose-aggressive poker strategy figure out what you are trying to do against them, they will target you and make your time at the tables most uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, learn how to play a LAG style yourself and you can be the one making things less comfortable for others at the tables.
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Good Loose Aggressive Poker Strategy For Free
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