Message Board : More Aggressive Play - is that REALLY the difference?

Is aggresive play really the difference?

Well its a start.  But 150 hands is like 3 grains of sand in the Mohave Desert of all the hands you would need to play before the statistics really begin to converge and become truly meaningful.  What you are seeing could be as simple as a others not realizing you have changed your style.  Think about it…if you played against a Semi-Loose/Aggressive/Passive player, who all of a sudden began being very aggresive post-flop, you initial instinct would be "he is hitting his cards because he NEVER bets there unless he does".  I’m not saying your inital analysis is wrong, its probably a first step to really improving your play.

1) If you’re coming in, raise 2 out of 3 times unless you have STRONG reason to believe its just a call

2) bet/Raise on pre-flop, bet/raise post-flop - no freebies

3) Play aggressively on the turn

4) Play the turn with your gut, if a bet/raise will reduce the # of hands that could win the pot then FIRE!

5) While i’m "training" in this new style, I’ve tightened up my Non BB starting hands: (Pairs, AK/AQ/AJ,KQ, suited connectors north of 78, rarely Axs) 

The first thing I would recommend is start studying position more.  Once your opponents realize your play has changed, you will need to more clearly define your playable range more than just non BB hands.  Many of the hands you listed not only play badly out of early positions, but will end up trapping you in large pots as players take advantage of your aggression.  Ed has started to put together an excellant "starting hands" chart on this site.  Its broken among several article, and is not yet complete, I don’t think….start here

http://www.notedpokerauthority.com/articles/building-a-no-limit-holdem-starting-hand-chart-early-position-standards.html

and work through them.

There are many who feel that raising into pots is much preferred to calling.  Your 2/3 estimate of raising to calling is probably not where you will end up as you develop your style, I would imagine if you get comfortable with your various ranges from each position, you will be raising more than that.

Best of luck

Donk and todd -

Thanks for your posts…I really appreciate your input.

"bludgeoning" the table is pretty accurate, I have been making some really dumb plays this week in a effort to revamp my game.  I’ll make a raise when I shouldn’t or over-raise and drive everyone out when I really want a call!  (AA and everyone folds. groan!)  It took me years to develop the habits I’m trying to now avoid, so I know this will take a loooong time.

Positional play is a great place to focus next - thanks for the suggestion.  I’m finding that I have much LESS of a problem folding my BB and in EP because I don’t feel like my stack can only go backwards.  Before this modification I would NEED to catch cards or I would lose lose lose.  Now, since I’m posturing with a more aggressive style it feels like I’m catching better hands. (even though I know that’s not the case)

Example -

I’m in middle position with KQs.  It’s folded to me and I raise to 4x the BB.  I get a frustration call from the BB.  The flop misses me but doesn’t contain any over cards / draws. He checks, I bet and he folds.  It doesn’t seem like much, but those .60 cent hands give me the "room" to stay aggressive.  Then, when I’m dealt QQ or AK my preflop raise and action has more backing because I know I’m dealing from a position of strength.  The cards aren’t necessarily better than any hands I ever played before but it feels like I have a better chance to win.

As for the % of flops I see, I’m a little confused.  According to Poker Tracker my VP$IP flutters between 23-28%.  I assumed that an unraised "call" from the BB didn’t count in the VP$IP that’s why I pegged it at around 30%.

Even though I’m not really capturing all a more aggressive style has to offer it seems to be better that what WAS happening.  This week I’ve won $18 in a .05/.10 NL game on Full Tilt.  I’ll take it! Those of you that play a bigger stakes please hold your laughter. :)  But, I know that I’ll win and lose over the long run so I’m not getting ahead of myself.

I can’t thank you guys enough - this site is great!