Rules of Texas Hold em         

THE BASICS

Aggressive play in texas holdem is the strategy you are aiming for, but why is aggressive play the right kind of poker play, how does aggressive play win you tournaments and when is playing poker aggressively the wrong thing to do?

The best way to play aggressively is to do so in a selective way.  There is a thin line between being too aggressive and being so reckless that you play like a maniac.  This is where you need to be cleverly aggressive.  

What do we mean by this?  Well an aggressive player will raise pre flop bets more than his cards would warrant.  If the flop turns out to be disastrous , a reckless player will continue on regardless but the clever player will get out without losing too much money knowing that he'll more than make up for it with his aggressive play.

Here's a number of reason's why smart aggressive play is the right kind of play for holdem:

• If an aggressive player is sitting with 8 other conservative players he will steal the blind a good 50% of the time, possibly more.
•  If you play too conservatively, no one will call your raise as they know you have a great hand. If you play too recklessly, the other players will soon cotton on and call your bluff and you'll end up loosing the stack you've just built up.   If you employ smart aggressive play, other players will never know when you are bluffing and when you have a monster hand. You will receive much  more action than the conservative player but not so much that you'll lose your stack as the reckless poker player would.  
• You'll intimidate the other players. The more you raise fear in the other players, the more you'll put them off their game and they'll make bad calls.

  So how do you become the smart aggressive player in texas holdem?

Its fairly simple and mainly involves following all the basic texas holdem rules found earlier in this site.  Lets look at how they apply to the smart aggressive player.

Smart aggressive players watch the table and get a feel for the level of raise they need to force others out of the pot.  They know to use position to their best advantage and which players to push a continuation bet on and which players to fold against.

Smart aggressive players know that they have to bet aggressively right from the early stages of a tournament, before others know that they often bluff.

To make good aggressive play you need to vary your game sufficiently so that other players can't work out the kind of hand you have by the kind of bet you make.

Smart aggressive players know that they have to push their premium hands exactly the same as they would their bluffs. There is no bigger giveaway than when an aggressive player suddenly slow plays a hand.

Betting aggressively before the flop will narrow the field to the players with the premium hands  and those who play recklessly.

Clever aggressive players see enough action that they never become pot committed through the boredom of waiting for a premium hand.

Aggressive play pays off really well in the latter stages of a tournament where players are holding out to get into the money stakes.  Then more than ever you are faced with the greatest number of conservative players and maniacs. Both players are easy to read and easy to beat.

  When aggressive play in texas holdem is the wrong thing to do:

You shouldn't play aggressively out of position unless you have a great hand.
 
Aggressive play may have little value in online freerolls and very low stakes holdem where you can be up against  other ultra aggressive players  and players who think nothing of going all in.  If the tournament is one the progresses slowly then you'll have to reign in your aggressive play until the idiots are a bit thinner on the ground.  

Aggressive play will also have less value in rapid turbo tournaments where the blinds raise so fast that luck will have a much greater effect on the outcome than an aggressive strategy.

Selected hands will warrant a more conservative approach.  If you have the nut flush for example, and your opponent has a pair of kings, trips or other good hand, then  you don't want to uncharacteristically slow play the hand and possibly tip him off, but you don't want to make too aggressive a re-raise either.  How you handle this one will entirely depend on the opponent you are up against. If you can feign uncertainty in any way, either through your betting or gestures (if you're in a live game) then this will help you reel him in.

Aggressive play will not work if you have the smallest stack at the table. For aggressive play to work best you need to be ahead.  Players need to fear that you could easily make a bet that will cost them all their chips.  If you are short stacked don't try to steal blinds as it won't take much consideration for another player to call you.  The only time to play aggressive when you are behind is when you sense no one else has a hand. In this case you should go all in and hope for the best.

When should you be super aggressive?

Super aggressive play is warranted in a heads up holdem game.  The best strategy for heads up holdem is to bet, bet bet.  In most heads up holdem games neither player will make a pair with the board, for this reason aggressive intimidating play is the best way to win at heads up hold em.