Top 4 Strategies when Playing Against Aggressive Poker Players
Have you ever found yourself being run over by aggressive poker players, prompting you to make fold after fold? Take note that without a strategic game plan, you may end up making ineffective hero-calls and bluffs, and eventually, force you to make more expensive mistakes.
Amateur poker players often rely on patience and a stronger hand to win against aggressive poker players. But the truth is, there are far more effective strategies that can beat this type of opponent who often depends on bluffing and excessive re-raising.
To help you beat aggressive poker players, Capitol Casino has shared the following strategies:
Get trappy
Trapping them implies making yourself quite unpredictable. For this reason, don’t always re-raise every time you get a good hand. The general rule of thumb is to sometimes call with an exceptionally great hand.
Being trappy gives them a false sense of confidence, prompting them to continue bluffing after the flop. Once they are deep in your trap, you get to decide to catch them with a check/raise or further continue pushing them into your snare.
For example, imagine that an aggressive opponent three-bets you from the big blind as you raise from the small blind with QQ. Instead of continuously blowing them off their hand, you may want to add some flat calls too. With this technique, you have the option to check/raise or check/call, depending on the board texture.
Tighten up
Another powerful technique to beat aggressive poker players is called tightening up in which you need to play with a smaller number of hands than what you would typically play with.
If you have an aggressive and talented opponent on your left, you’re at a significant disadvantage because they can observe every move you do following the flop, plus they go last for most hands.
To preclude the aggressive player on your left from re-raising and bluffing, it’s ideal to tighten up and play with fewer hands. This approach also gives you a unique advantage when you decide to enter the pot. As a result, you get to enjoy more options–i.e., greater possibility to make strong hands like two pairs, top pairs, trips, etc.– should you decide to go against them.
Bluff re-raise
To make your tighten-up technique more potent, it’s ideal that you complement it with a bluff re-raise.
If there’s an aggressive poker player who raises after you enter the pot with a decent but not necessarily strong hand, the bluff re-raise approach can work wonders because it signals them that you’re as hostile as them while at the same time increasing your range.
With a bluff re-raise technique, aggressive players will likely take the hint and back down unless they have a notably strong hand.
As with most techniques, you should never over-use the bluff re-raise lest you make yourself predictable to your opponents. The ideal approach is to only utilize it when you’re dealing with very strong hands, thus allowing you to trick the aggressive players.
Leave the table
When a player has a direct position on you or the one on your left is exceptionally talented, acknowledge that they are in a more advantageous position than you. In these scenarios, you may want to consider leaving the table.
Dealing with Aggressive Poker Players
You might assume that the cash primarily comes from aggressive players who continuously re-raise each hand. But the truth is, the weak players who commit major mistakes are the ones who “give” the cash.
If you’re looking for a great Sacramento poker room that offers premium customer service, exciting table games, and an amazing dining experience, visit Capitol Casino at 411 N 16th St., Sacramento, California, 95811.
Capitol Casino operates 24/7 and holds daily and weekly tournaments that attract amateur and professional poker players in Sacramento and the surrounding area. For additional information, contact them at 916.446.0700 or email INFO@CAPITOL-CASINO.COM.