Contending With and Defending Against Super Aggressors

In today's changing tournament scene, a "new breed" of players has evolved. In my last column, I profiled them as Super Aggressors. They are the ones who constantly put a lot of pressure on their opponents, and they pick up lots of pots that are "up for sale" when their more conservative opponents show weakness. Super Aggressors are always firing away at these "ownerless" pots, and they're winning a fair number of them because although their opponents know they're probably stealing, they don't have enough of a hand themselves to contest the pot. Super Aggressors also are willing to check-raise with nothing - which is not only hard to do, but requires immense skill. Although this kamikaze style often will cause the Super Aggressor to crash and burn early in a tournament, it also can help him amass lots of chips if some of his hands hold up.

Modern players who fit this aggressive profile include John Juanda, Men Nguyen, Layne Flack, Daniel Negreanu, David Pham, An Tran, and Phil Ivey. These men are the standard bearers of the new breed of tournament poker players. They play lots of off-the-wall hands and have a great feel for the game. "Are these players for real?" you ask. Yes, they are. But not everyone can play like they do and get the results that they get. They not only are superaggressive, they are very skillful tournament pros. One example of a younger player who I think is a budding superstar, and who plays a little more conservatively than his same-age peers, is Allen Cunningham. He doesn't have the raise-raise-raise, superaggressive style; he is aggressive, but he isn't recklessly aggressive. He picks his spots carefully when he decides to play superaggressively. Allen has a lot of control and has gotten consistently good results over the past few years.

The style of the older, traditional players actually makes it easier for these younger, superaggressive players to be successful with their fast style of play. In fact, some of them don't have a lot of respect for the older champions because they think they can run over their more seasoned opponents. One reason is that the player who fits the Cautious Conservative profile is easier to read with his "A-B-C" style of traditional tournament play than the Super Aggressor, who has opened up his game, making him unpredictable and harder to read.

So, how can we "traditionalists" adjust our play to contend with "the new kids on the block"? One thing you can do is call people down with less strength than you ordinarily would, especially when you're putting them on a hand like A-K and think they're betting with overcards only. For example, suppose you have two tens and one overcard comes on the flop. If a player keeps firing at you, you might simply call him down. Another play you can make is a check-raise with second pair, particularly when the game is shorthanded. In the past I didn't do that, but these days I do, and quite often I have the best hand.

Since I am known as a conservative, more traditional tournament player, I decided it was time to begin to practice refining my style of play to better compete in today's more aggressive tournament milieu. I'm not too old to be willing to make some adjustments in my play and change my game around if it means getting better tournament results. In particular, I have been experimenting by playing online hold'em in $15-$30 shorthanded games. I've been playing a much more aggressive style than I am accustomed to playing, and although I've had some big swings, for the most part I have made a lot of money by opening up my game and playing a very fast style. I look for certain players and for shorthanded games, things that I never used to do. I will deliberately try to find a threehanded or fourhanded game, and I'll even start a game heads up. I've also been trying to profile other online players in an effort to get a line on everybody's play, especially the weaker players. For example, I look for certain players who I know are fast and loose and try to get position on them, and avoid the players who I know are tough and have been very successful in shorthanded games.

Here's the bottom line: If you can't beat 'em, try joining 'em. There's a reason why some of these "new breed" tournament players with their superaggressive styles are successful. Yes, they crash and burn more often than not, but when they get there, they get there with chips - and they know how to win. Some may have only a few wins and lots of early-out finishes, but those wins are worth a lot. "Can today's Super Aggressors sustain their good results over the long haul?" you may wonder. The answer is not clear-cut. They've had lots of success the last few years, now let's see where they are 10 years from now.

If you are successful defending against and contending with Super Aggressors, I'm sure we'll meet in the winner's circle one day soon.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier are the authors of Championship Hold'em, one of the three books in their "Championship" series. Their fourth book, Championship Tournament Hands, will be published soon. For more information, visit www.pokerbooks.com.