How can I be more aggressive?

[sea]

I started playing limit HE a few months ago, and I need to work on being more aggressive. (I use PokerTracker, and although I'm happy with my VIP (around 20%) and my PFR (around 8%), my total aggression is under 2.)

I normally bet/raise when I think that I have the best hand, and check and call when I'm chasing, I mean to say drawing.
I'll semi-bluff if I have low/medium pair and a draw. And sometimes I'll bet just for no reason, or to get a free card when I'm last to act.
I'm playing micro-limits, so I'm not concerned about being obvious.

Do these seem like decent guidelines? When you pick up a good flush or straight draw on the flop, do you tend to call or bet/raise? Any tips for being more aggressive?

Thanks.

[Aequitas58]

I'm more of a NLHE player... but...

Consider these to start off:

Blind Steals
Raising for Value
Isolating Players
Raising for Free Cards

Do you know what these mean? If you do, then great - these are spots you should definitely consider raising... if you don't, let me know, and I'll elaborate.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

My comments in bold above.

Seems to me that a lot of the aggressiveness in poker comes in trying to take pots down WITHOUT a showdown. If you are almost assured of having to show down the best hand, it becomes more of a drawing game and rather than trying to raise your level of aggression you should focus on getting money in when you have the best hand or good odds to draw to the best hand.

The Lee Jones book on low limit hold'em covers this exclusively and I think it is very useful in isolating the concepts for playing against players who will not "get the hint" when you check raise them or raise for a free card. They will still be happy to bet middle pair even after your flush hits.

As you move up in levels the aggressive moves become indispensible to being a winning player. At micro-limits, the OVERLY aggressive players tend to get either get a lot of good hands and win a lot or lose their buyin in 20 minutes.

[Aequitas58]

How do you know what limit he's playing? I must have missed that in the original post. Some of those moves can definitely work at $2/4 or $3/6.

Now, if he's playing $.50/$1, that's a different story.

[sea]

Thanks - that's an offer I can't refuse!
I think I'm OK for stealing blinds and raising for free cards.
But I'm hazy on raising for value, and I have _no_idea_ what isolating players means.

[Aequitas58]

No problem. I am going out with my girlfriend for a few hours, so I'll be away from the computer. I can responded later on (so check back) ... or if someone wants to elaborate for me, that'll work too.

Either way, stay tuned.

[sea]

Thanks, BlibbityBlabbity - interesting to hear the different strategy recommendations for no fold'em hold'em.

I started with the Lee Jones book, and now I'm working through SSHE (Miller, Sklansky, & Malmuth).
Would you guys say that Lee Jones is good for $.50/1 and SSHE would be more appropriate for $2/4 and $3/6? So far I've noticed two big differences pre-flop: SSHE is really strict about the hands I need to call a PFR, and Lee Jones had me raising a lot more pre-flop - basically anytime I was the first one in and I was going to call anyway. Which do you think is a better strategy, pre-flop?

[sea]

Oh I'm tuned.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

AEQ, In his original post he said "I'm playing micro-limits".

This is a good question....when players here are talking about "microlimit" limit holdem, what are you referring to? I have always assumed that meant the .5/$1 and DOWN (actually I always envisioned .05/.10, .10/.20 or the .02/.04 levels).

Sea, the Lee Jones book is good for .50/$1 and down. Maybe $1/$2 - $3/6 (especially if it is the lowest limit at a site - ex. PokerWorld usually only has a $1/$2 game running which plays like a .25/.50 game). But at a PokerStars that has every level I would say by the time you get to $1/$2 you are out of (or exiting) Lee Jones' territory.

To use TP's post of the levels of a poker player.....

.... IMO, Lee Jones (the book ) is geared for level 1 and maybe level 2 aopponents. Once your opponents start to be thinking on a level three the straightforward play in the Lee Jones book will start to cost you money.

Just my interpretation...

[Aequitas58]

I wasn't away as long as I thought. Here goes.

Raising for Value. Basic terms: You have a good hand, and a raise simply builds the pot. You are raising for value, because you are trying to make the most money out of the hand as possible. This is hand-in-hand with check-raising. I.e.: You have a good hand, and you're raising someone's bet to build the pot up. "Raising for value" isn't hard to understand - you probably just haven't heard it put like that.

Isolating Players. This is a little more difficult. When you raise to isolate, your goal is to "isolate" 1 or 2 players ... in other words, you want to make the action 3-way or heads-up. Your hand stands a better chance of winning against fewer players than it does against a full field, so when you raise to isolate, you are making people fold to 2 bets who would have originally limped. Those limpers might have flopped something to beat you - and when you make them fold, you are essentially freeing up outs.

I hope this isn't too hard to understand. I can't find my cigarettes.

[Zybomb]

To elaborate a little on this sea, its also important to know WHEN to raise for value and WHEN to isolate players. Certain hands you want as much action as possible, so that if you do hit you can be paid off (I.E suited connectors) Other times (Ie a pair of 9s in the hole) You want to isolate, because although you may be ahead preflop, there are tons of overcards and players are going to be holding some of them, you need to isolate against one or two players, and hope overcards dont match up.

If you are on a strong draw, raising for value is a good move. Even if you know you are behind and you fully expect a call from your opponents, this move can be profitable as it builds up a much larger pot if you do it (be sure to be drawing to the nuts or close to, if you use this method)

Another way to increase aggression is to simply bet more frequently. Ive stated this before, ask yourself "If I check and he bets, will I call?" If the answer is yes, most of the time you are better off just leading out (unless you plan on check raising or slowplaying ). One of the worst plays you can do is check call all the way down to the river....Ill give the same example from the APC this year, where Josh Arieh opened with a K5 and was called by someone holding AQ. The flop hit K,Q rag, and Arieh lead out 3 times, and his opponent was content to just call each time, and lost a nice pot because of it.

Also especially in limit, know your players and their looseness. A button blind steal is pointless if the BB will call with any 2 cards. etc

Good Luck

[2Tone]

I'm liking this thread.

Check out
for some reading on this.

Raising for value gets a little complicated, but in short, you are aiming to increase the size of the pot you have a good chance of taking down with other people's money. A better explanation is welcome.

I play a lot of low-limit hold 'em on Party - 2/4 and 3/6 BB tables. As a whole, I'm looking for chances to raise for value and raising for free cards in late positon (or at least, to the best of my understanding of these concepts). The key here is just knowing the math. And the beauty is that you are not counting on your opponents to make any difficult decisions, like say, mucking a marginal hand.

I'm less enthusiastic about trying to isolate players, and stealing blinds. These require that your opponents to actually fold, which you can't count on. Stealing blinds is particularly hazardous and ineffective, as you can’t discount the possibility of getting three-bet pre-flop by an opponent holding anything from KK to AceX.

As a whole, I find the key to success at these tables is to play pretty rudimentary poker, being extremely selective about starting hand requirements in early position, and betting the hell out of premium hands that hit, and hoping other players come along for the ride - they often do.

I might be limiting my win rate by not playing more craftily and/or aggressively, but I suspect all I'm doing is limiting my variance.

5/10 and up online and B&M are often an entirely different story.

[Talking Poker]

Quick and dirty advice that kinda fits in to this thread:

If you have a drawing hand, you want a lot of people in the pot (so you'll have the correct odds to draw later on). If you have a power hand, you want as few opponents as possible (so it has a better chance of holding up).

[sea]

Wow, I'm overwhelmed!

Thanks for all the tips, explanations, and 2Tone's article. I expect to be back re-reading this info frequently.

It seems that I've already been attempting to isolate players; now I'll definitely start raising for value with my strong draws. Soon the fish will scatter when I sit down...or whatever it is that fish do when they're scared...

[SirFWALGMan]

I bet if you REALLY look at your hands you find yourself calling when your not sure alot? That really knocks down aggression. Anyways, a 2 aggression is not bad at all.