A good poker strategy incorporates both patience and aggressiveness. Knowing when to sit back and when to charge ahead can be difficult to grasp, especially for players just starting out. Generally, the best teacher is experience. However, she can charge a hefty fee. To provide more insight concerning proper, aggressive play, we have created a quick and dirty cheat sheet.
Be Aggressive in Spurts: Attempting to pile drive through a game, generally isn’t a very good strategy. Sure, there are some people who seem to get away with it, but most don’t. It is generally better to measure ones aggressiveness. Make a few bold moods and then back off. If you play at the same speed the entire time, the other players will begin to read you and anticipate your moves. This is the last thing you want to happen.
Chill Out… At First: It is often a good plan to let those players who come out of the gate aggressively to force each other out. Sit back and watch them even if you have a good hand. This is especially true when participating in low stake tournaments.
Know When to Be Aggressive: This is extremely important. It is vital that a player knows when to be aggressive. A good time to be so is when every player who has gone before you has folded. An aggressive raise can be very effective.
Consider Chip Stack: It is generally not a good idea to be aggressive when you have a low chip stack in relation to most of the other players. The one time when this might be an exception is when a player is desperate. If they are involved in tournament play and are at risk of being eliminated, an all-or-nothing approach is sometimes required.
Consider Position: Where one is seated at the table will have an affect on how they should approach the game. Those who must go first, may not be able to afford to act aggressively, especially in the beginning rounds, though sometimes raising out of position can be an effective strategy. Generally, however, it is safer for those whose turn is later in the round to play more aggressively.