Aggression

All good poker players play actively. Some are merely aggressive, others are very aggressive, and some are superaggressive. One thing you won't hear people saying about a world champion is: "Boy, is he good – he really creates problems for his opponents by being cautious at just the right time."



In poker, as in life, if you want to be successful, you have to make things happen for yourself. This is done by taking the initiative in pots: betting and raising rather than checking and calling. Of course, virtually all poker players understand this; it is just that the better players actually put it into practice in appropriate situations, whereas the weaker players don't.



I recently have been coaching some players who play hold'em online at the $5-$10 and $10-$20 levels and are moderately successful. They are serious, studious players (they probably wouldn't want coaching if they weren't), and typically have pretty decent preflop standards and play competently post-flop. The biggest weakness they have in their games (and most likely why they come unglued at $15-$30 and higher) is lack of aggression at key moments. Here is a typical example:



Our hero is in middle position in an eighthanded $10-$20 hold'em game. The button is MrFish, a very terrible player who plays far too many hands, plays them very passively, and pays off too much. The big blind is MrTricky, who, although no superstar, is a decent player who likes to mix things up and make plays.



Our hero has the A K and opens with a raise. MrFish calls (as he invariably does) and MrTricky lobs in $10 more to see the flop. There are three players and $60 in the pot. The flop comes 10 7 3. MrTricky now bets out. Our hero surveys the situation. He has two overcards, giving (probably) six direct outs, and he knows he can add on a little more for the backdoor possibilities. The pot is offering 7-to-1, so he concludes that this is an easy call and that is indeed his play. MrFish also calls.



There are three players and $90 in the pot. The turn brings the 4 (10 7 3 4) and MrTricky now checks. Our hero has now picked up a flush draw to go with his overcards, and knowing that he really ought to be aggressive, he now bets. Both players call. The river brings the 5 (10 7 3 4 5). MrTricky checks, as do our hero and MrFish. For a moment, our hero's hopes are raised as MrTricky turns up the 9 8 for a busted straight draw. Unfortunately, MrFish turns over the A 5 and takes the pot with his pair of fives. Of course, MrFish played horribly and was undeservedly rewarded.



Surveying the wreckage, our hero can see that he was a big favorite on the turn and is no doubt annoyed at this silly drawout. However, he has only himself to blame. The big blunder came on the flop. After MrTricky led out, our hero saw that he had enough of a hand to call and looked no further. MrFish then called with his A 5 and went on to win. MrFish's call looks awful, and in some ways it is. If MrTricky has paired the 10 or the 7, MrFish's hand is completely dominated, as pairing either of his cards is no good and he is reduced to some vague backdoor long shots. However, as the cards lie, MrFish (perhaps surprisingly) actually has a 15 percent chance to win the pot after this flop (his pot odds are 8-to-1), so his call is OK. Of course, his preflop call of two bets cold with A-5 suited leaves a lot to be desired. Anyway, discussing whether MrFish's play is merely bad or very bad is really neither here nor there. The point of MrFish is that he is there to play badly and give you his money. Your job is to make sure that you take it, and this is what our hero completely failed to do.



What he should have done, of course, is raise on the flop. Now, MrFish's pot odds are reduced to 4-to-1, and unless he has a pair or a proper draw, any call he makes is awful. Even he would probably muck his A-5 at this point. Of course, the reason our hero doesn't consider this is that he is slightly thrown by MrTricky leading out, is worried that he is up against a pair, and wants to get a cheap look at the turn. However, for a strong player, a raise on the flop is almost a no-brainer. There are so many advantages:



1. The flop has numerous drawing possibilities, as there is a two-flush and the 10-7-3 combination is reasonably connected. MrTricky may well be pushing a draw here, so our hero could easily have the best hand at this point.



2. However, even if MrTricky does have a pair with, say, the 8 7, our hero is still 28 percent likely to improve to the winning hand by the river, and easily has value for the raise.



3. The raise creates a strong possibility that he will be able to take a free card on the turn, should he wish to do so.



4. If MrFish has missed the flop, the raise will get him out or oblige him to make a very bad call.



Here is another example: This time, our hero is playing in an eighthanded $10-$20 hold'em game and is in the big blind. The small blind is a fairly loose, passive player who plays sensibly enough but rarely causes any trouble. The first six players all fold, and now the small blind calls by putting in $5. Our hero, who has been looking at the exciting 5 2, is surprised to find himself still in the pot, and he checks. The flop is the Q Q 9, and the small blind checks}



Naturally, our hero checks it back, and the turn brings the 5 (Q Q 9 5). Now, the small blind bets. There is $40 in the pot and it is $20 to our hero.



He now wakes up and starts thinking about the hand. Why has the small blind suddenly bet out on the 5 when his previous play has been so passive? He sees various possiblities:



1. He could have paired the 5. In that case, the pot is likely to be split.



2. He might have a couple of random hearts and is making a play for the pot by semibluffing with a flush draw.



3. Our hero remembers that he too has not exactly been ferociously active in the pot and the small blind may be on a stone-cold steal.



4. He might have been slow-playing a big hand.



Once he has thought this through, he decides that his hand is well worth a call. He even considers raising (he knows that you must play poker aggressively, after all), but the pot is small and he decides that this is probably over the top with his rather feeble holding. He doesn't see a lot wrong with calling.



The river brings the 6 (Q Q 9 5 6) and the small blind again bets. Now, there is nothing to think about. Our hero calls and is rather frustrated when the small blind shows the 7 6 and beats his pair of fives with a pair of sixes. The small blind had picked up a gutshot-straight draw on the turn and was making a reasonable play for the pot. He got lucky on the river, but I believe he deserved it, as he was the only player who made any sort of play for the pot.



Our hero is now a bit cross and senses that this hand – much like the previous one – somehow slipped through his fingers. Thinking it through, he begins to suspect that he should have raised on the turn. He actually had the best hand at that point, and a raise probably would have gotten the small blind to fold, as he would have been scared that our hero was slow-playing a queen (or even a 9) and he had nowhere near the right pot odds to chase the gutshot.



Well, maybe he should have raised the turn, but in a sense I think it is all rather irrelevant. The real error occurred much earlier in the hand. First, let's rewind and consider the preflop play.



When you are involved in heads-up or shorthanded battles, the dynamics of play between the blinds can become quite complex. For example, the small blind might limp quite often with some very decent hands in order to "protect" limps at other stages with much weaker holdings. However, in a random ring game, a limp from a passive small blind almost certainly means what it says: "I have a pretty feeble hand, but I would like a cheap look at the flop, please – if you don't mind." However, this is not a dinner party, it's a poker game, and you should mind. You should charge the small blind an extra bet to look at the flop with anything but the very worst hands. Sometimes when you raise here, he notices that he is out of position, reconsiders his piece of junk, and folds immediately. Needless to say, this is a great result.



Having said that, the 5 2 does indeed fall squarely into the category of "the very worst hands," and although I would not criticize a raise here, the hand is so awful that it is quite reasonable to check.



Now, the flop comes Q Q 9 and the small blind checks. Our hero is looking down at 5 high and checks it back. Stop! This check is a big, big error. The small blind is a passive player, he has limped in preflop, and now he has checked the flop.



So, what does he have? In all likelihood, absolute zilch, and it is most unlikely that he can call a bet here. A $10 bet here stands to take down a $20 pot, and thus has to succeed 33 percent of the time to break even. I would suggest that a bet here has about a 75 percent to 80 percent chance of taking down the pot at once. Of course, the small blind may well understand that you are on a steal with no hand, but what can he do about it – call you down with 7 high? A trickier opponent might raise back, attempting a re-steal, but we know that the small blind is passive and is not likely to go to war over a $20 pot. He will dump his hand and move on, and you will be $20 better off. It's not much, but it is one big bet, and many players are happy to earn that over an hour. Here, you have made it in 30 seconds by the simple virtue of not being asleep.



The reason you make money in poker is that your opponents make more mistakes than you do. You might make a few errors, but they make many; you might make small errors, but they make big ones. If you are constantly checking and calling, they can't make many mistakes. If you bet and raise, they will make more mistakes, and the mistakes they make will be big ones rather than small ones. Take the initiative and get the money.

Byron Jacobs is the author of How Good is Your Limit Hold'em? with Jim Brier. It is available through bookshops and at www.dandbpoker.com. Byron may be contacted at [email protected].