Winning poker players attack with a capital ≥A≤

By David McClary

A great deal can be learned from watching poker on television. Many people also find it entertaining. It is important, however, to use caution when applying television moves to your game. Only a small fraction of any tournament makes the final television cut. Since the slow-plays and traps provide much more drama (and opportunities to carry action through a commercial break) a casual observer may assume that great players win most of their money with these deceptive techniques. In reality, winning players attack and they attack often.

In many of his writings, Doyle Brunson talks about Power Poker. The goal of Power Poker is to win every dollar at the table. This is primarily done by swinging your chips like a bat. While the occasional trap will keep your opponents off balance, the real money is made by being a bully. Aggressive play will give you control of the table by making all but the best opponents play your game instead of you playing theirs.

The best way to start on the attacking path is by committing to raising early. Develop a reputation as a person who usually raises before the flop in holdem or on the door card in stud. Once this reputation has been established it will bear fruit in many ways.

As with other poker strategies, aggressive play begins with starting hands. At some point every player starts playing too many hands. An easy way to trim down the hands you play is to try to only play hands that are worth a raise. This can lead to some long stretches when the deck is cold but you need to ask yourself, do you like fishing or do you like catching fish? If you play poker to win money then the action of being in most of the pots has to take a back seat.

After committing to raising most pots when entering a hand you next need to consider what your raise will do. In a small structured game you can count on several players calling your raise. A re-raise may also be common. Since more players will stay in to see subsequent cards, the big starting hands you are now playing have less value. In this situation you need to use the raise totake control so that you will lose fewer chips when opponents hit their hand and you donπt.

In a big limit or no-limit game you can use an early raise to push most people out. This will cause you to play against fewer people in a hand. You can also expect that the people in the hand have cards worth calling a raise. Make sure it is a good raise though. Doubling the big blind in no-limit is just throwing good money after bad. You should raise four to five times the big blind. This is enough to keep people honest without committing future bets to the pot automatically.

As the hand develops your next question is ≥Can I win right now?≤ If you feel you can take down the pot then try to win now. Along with raising on the deal you need to be prepared to raise on the flop or fourth street. In structured games this is when the bets are at the smaller size. Things to consider include: 1) The number of players in the pot, 2) If they will fold to your raise, 3) Possible hands they may draw to, and 4) Future bets it may cost to win. In no limit games you also must pay careful attention to chip position since what a person does with a small part of their stack vs. their very last chip are usually different.

Now if you played every single hand this way you would end up only winning blinds and antes. The beauty of being a bully is how you can disguise a softer play. Once opponents label you as a tight yet aggressive player you can pick up many pots when opponents miss. In smaller games it also becomes easier to get opponents to fold good but not great hands. Occasionally you will get called down. When this happens, it can be good investment to show your weak hand. Poor players may think you are just crazy instead of aggressive.

The last benefit of the aggressive style is that it turns the Call into a weapon. Good no-limit players use this to win towers of chips. If your opponent sees you as an aggressive player then they wonπt know what to think when you simply call a raise. Are you drawing or are you sandbagging? This is a very powerful position for you as you get a great deal of information from your opponent and give little in return.

The last piece of the puzzle is learning to fold. Some players canπt understand raising a pot and then folding in the next round. You must be willing to fold a pot you have raised as soon as you feel you canπt win. Opponents that were forced out of a pot by your raise only to see you fold wonπt soon forget it. If youπre lucky the cards they folded will hit and you might tempt them into a bad call in the near future.

I hope you find bullying profitable. If you sprinkle in the occasional soft play all but the best opponents should be off balance almost as soon as you sit down.