how do you judge best time to be aggressive

margatemaf

As some of you are aware i was a guest last night and in the primo, for the first hour i had one playable hand really 3 hands in and won with jacks. The rest of the hands were either complete rubbish or so marginal it did not warrant calling the raise. I got knocked out with AK and the error i made i am fully aware of. 

My question to you guys is that i play tight waiting for the premium hands but i am still struggling as to know when to get stuck in be a bit aggressive win some more chips and retreat to being tight. I hope this makes sense i know what i mean lol i just feel there must of been times last night rather than play my standard game i needed to be a bit more aggressive ......

ACESOVER8s

As is the answer to all Poker Questions "It' depends on the situation" lol

There's a saying that does the rounds, If it's good enough to call then it's good enough to raise! i can't really comment on optimal poker strategy theories as i know you have all the books and are ploughing your way through them but heres my take on it.

If your gonna play it, then when possible take the betting lead (obvious exceptions could be set hunting in an unraised multi player pot with small pair etc)

Don't always C - Bet the flop but vary and try it on the turn sometimes.

Don't make the mistake of thinking everybody's bluffing and they never have a hand. I think there is far less bluffing at lower levels than people assume there is
 
If your gonna use aggression to try and build a stack (as your original comment says you were card dead) then you have to play in position.

3 bet pre-flop if you have managed to establish a good table image and you think your opponent is of a good enough quality to lay the hand down.

But to be honest these are all throw away comments without knowing the table. The best piece of advice I can give is sit tight at the beggining and take note of the pre-flop raisers and folders. Get into the habbit of trying to assign a hand to the raisers or callers on your table and on the few showdowns where they have to (or decide to) show re-evalutate what you put them on against what they had. By studying the table you will get to know who you can raise into with air, who is a calling station and will pay you when your betting with premium etc etc.

I'm no expert but these are the things that helped me become a little more consistant.

BADBOY985

TRY RAILING A FEW OF THE MORE SUCSEFULL PLAYERS AND WATCH HOW AND WHEN THEY MAKE THERE BETS.
HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO BE ON PHIL21s TABLE FOR THE OPENING TABLE OF THE POSTERS FREEROLL THE OTHER NIGHT AND AS MENTIONED BY ANOUTHER POSTER HE OWNED THE LOT OF US FOR THE FIRST HOUR. I DONT KNOW THE DESTINATION FOR YOUR FIVE YEAR PLAN BUT PLAYING WITH NO DECENT CARDS IS A VERY DIFFICULT SKILL TO MASTER.

margatemaf

both bits of sound advice! and will take on board too! badboy 5 year plan is to be a pro poker player it's that simple. I love the game, the excitement, the challenge of physcology, needing to have the bottle to do things in certain situations! All my mates are ripping me at the minute about it, but they have all said you usually hit your targets when they are set and are wishing me luck at the same time. Who knows what will happen, will i or won't i make it i don't know. 

But this place is going to make it a lot easier for me to reach the target, the only drawback is i do prefer my live game:) so how learning online is going to conflict i don't know, but i'll work it out as i go.

Anyways thanks for the advice gonna try it all out an see where it takes me

ACESOVER8s

In Response to Re: how do you judge best time to be aggressive:

both bits of sound advice! and will take on board too! badboy 5 year plan is to be a pro poker player it's that simple. I love the game, the excitement, the challenge of physcology, needing to have the bottle to do things in certain situations! All my mates are ripping me at the minute about it, but they have all said you usually hit your targets when they are set and are wishing me luck at the same time. Who knows what will happen, will i or won't i make it i don't know.  But this place is going to make it a lot easier for me to reach the target, the only drawback is i do prefer my live game:) so how learning online is going to conflict i don't know, but i'll work it out as i go. Anyways thanks for the advice gonna try it all out an see where it takes me
Posted by margatemaf

Margate, the link i sent you should post out an invite to e-mail now. If your plan is to go pro on a 5 year plan then i wish you all the best. Many players like me sit and dream of playing the game for a living but in truth the amount of things you need to takeinto consideraton such as roll size, contingency roll, first few months of Living expenses, average hourly earnings, varience of the levels you are playing at etc is all a bit much for me (i have a whle bunch of kids and could never save up the required amount lol). As per the PM i sent you i think you will find this extreamly interesting if your goal is to go pro because i have never seen a set up where this is the main objective for the players playing there.

margatemaf

In Response to Re: how do you judge best time to be aggressive:

In Response to Re: how do you judge best time to be aggressive : Margate, the link i sent you should post out an invite to e-mail now. If your plan is to go pro on a 5 year plan then i wish you all the best. Many players like me sit and dream of playing the game for a living but in truth the amount of things you need to takeinto consideraton such as roll size, contingency roll, first few months of Living expenses, average hourly earnings, varience of the levels you are playing at etc is all a bit much for me (i have a whle bunch of kids and could never save up the required amount lol). As per the PM i sent you i think you will find this extreamly interesting if your goal is to go pro because i have never seen a set up where this is the main objective for the players playing there.
Posted by ACESOVER8s

Saving as we speak buddy! it's just one of them things i guess. i will either get there or i wont. But be sure i will give it my best shot! will let you know my thoughts etc via pm later on and thanks for the heads up!!

byrdy89

I see where your coming from margatmaf  but i agree with badboy985 look to three bet pots more often to the weaker player or play marginal hands in position if u think u can take the pot down on the flop or later streets off passive players

Torryladd

Hi Margate,

I am still on L Plates but I am working on position at moment and I asked for and received a lot of gd advice in Strategy.

I have the same problem wondering when to be aggressive and often fizzle out near the bubble as i,m so short stacked, position play is certainly helping me.

apollo_11

I just use my judgement when deciding when to be aggressive.
Most of the time it works, but I have have occasions when it goes horrible wrong, as most players probably have.
I play tight for the first few rounds and check out the opposition, and then once I am happy with how they play , I can then think about making the occasional move.
If I do get a big hand in the early round, I still play it strong as I don't like the players who fish for the flush or straits.
I always make them pay for the cards and try not to give them the odds to call.
I would much rather take down the pot early than be beaten on the river by the fish.

apollo_11

When I played on the Sunday show, I also only had 3 playably hands in the first 30 mins.
I min raised with A's UTG and every one folded and the very next hand I had pocket 10's in the BB and every one folded to me. Some times it just isn't your night.
I then went out with A 10 all in when down to 6 BB's.

Talon

  In my opinion it is an impossible question for anyone to answer but yourself. This is because everything depends upon your own style of play. I prefer to sit back and wait for the hands and then be very aggressive, whilst others prefer the full on aggression approach. Neither is wrong. You just need to find your style and go with it. 

  However this only works in early and middle stages of tournaments. Towards the end of a tourny it is all about aggression.

  To help you find your style i would suggest trying your hands at different tournament structures to see which one suits you best and therefore defines your playing style.  It could be anything from the speed tournys to the much slower deep stacks. This will help you realise your own playing style and then you will know when to be aggressive during the tournys.
 
 Sorry i didnt answer your question but i hope this helps

mr_mbro

hi
Position, relative chip stacks, time in tourney, how you are feeling
just a few any more anyone?
col

diablo_pez

After 5 beers imo