Hi,
For about 12 months now, I’ve been playing Holdem. Well, in live games, I can actually say what kind or type of opponents I have, weak, tight, aggressive/loose, etc. But when it comes to myself I’m quite not sure. I believe that when I play, I play really tight however once someone call me a tight passive player.
I can’t believe I’m a tight passive one as I always thought I was a tight aggressive player. I don’t know if I just don’t realize it at all, but I’ve never played a passive game, I don’t also pretend to be a pro and actually very open to suggestions, advices, tips, etc.
Any tips on becoming a tight aggressive rather than passive? Your help will be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Drew
Drew,
A lot depends on how much you are betting and raising etc. Do you check a lot when you miss the flop with your big hands? Do you only raise when you have the nuts? Do you not play position? If you can answer yes to any of these, then you are a passive player.
Being tight and aggressive means getting strong hands and then betting them strongly. Betting out, check raising, using the occasional semi bluff, and value betting are all skills that tight aggressive players have.
Hello,
I’ve been playing Poker seriously for more or less 5 months now. Honestly I don’t know if I’m already a good poker player or what though I actually grew up with people who loves poker very much and have a play-money bankroll of over $66000. By the way, I’ve been into $25/$50 No Limit online.
As of now I’m bothered about how concerned should I be about misses. For an instance, this morning, I had A,10 off suit and was in middle position. Guy before me then raised with a huge amount and I folded. I thought A,10 off wasn’t strong enough to call. After a while, some players called behind me. Flop then came and brought A-A-10. I was surprised and hurt then, I would have flopped the nuts. Another example was when I folded J,4 in early position and then flop came and brought J-J-4. If I limped in more or less I could have big money.
Any thoughts?
Hope to heart from you soon.
Regards,
Benz
Benz,
Both hands were folding hands based on what came up. This type of scenario occurs a lot. For every time that your hand would have flopped the nuts, 8 or 9 other times you will miss the flop and have to fold and lose money. Both hands are long term losing propositions based on the information given. You were correct to fold.
Hello,
Last night I was in a 1/2 Holdem event. The ending wasn’t good as I can easily be read then. Whenever I flop a straight, I became serious and so players then easily perceived I had the nuts.
I remember back then when I was holding JQ suited and flop came and brought 8 9 10. I then placed a bet and player who told me I had obvious tells earlier part of the game folded his K 10 on the flop. In some similar situations, I remember he raised someone and not folded.
Any thoughts? Please help me.
All the best,
Caleb Martin
Caleb,
You need to evaluate your play or have someone you trust evaluate how you play. You may play too tight and only raise with premium hands. There may be some mannerism that you give off that gives away your hand strength. If your mood or demeanor during the hand changes when you have a strong hand, that would be a tell. Do you have a little shake to you when you bet that you only have when you have a strong hand? That may be another tell. You will want to work on your mannerisms to try and make the same movements and act the same way regardless of the hands you have. If your problem is from playing too tight, loosen up your style a bit or play a couple of hands that get shown down that will change everyone’s perception of your tightness. Get caught bluffing once in a while. Doing little things to change your image can pay off.
Hi,
I don’t exactly understand what trapping is when betting and what one is trying to make out from it. Any idea? Kindly please explain to me.
Thank you in advance.
Warm regards,
Johnson
Johnson,
To trap someone when betting means that you are trying to act in a way to make a player commit most or all of their chips when you have the nuts or when you have their hand dominated.
Hello,
Online, I never show my pocket card after a hand without being requested as I don’t want others, particularly my close opponents, to know how I played a certain hand. I believe the less information I give the better. But then what if unusual situations happen like situations where I don’t make any decisions about being in the hand like if everyone folds to me in the big blind or heads up if the small blind folds, will I still stick with what I believe in? Maybe it’s also helpful to once in a while show my uncalled hand right? There’s a great possibility that I can also use giving little infos to my own advantage. In case my opponent figured things wrongly, they might end up making a call with a weak hand. Any thoughts?
Thank you very much!
Warm regards,
Dustin
Dustin,
Showing your hands gives other players information on how you play. You can use this to give them only the information you want them to have. For example, I only show strong hands late in a tournament to give off the impression that I only play the nuts late.
Hello,
I often call small bet with a trash or a nice size bet with a mediocre hand on preflop when I feel comfortable with my chip stack and then foresee that I might hit something on the flop. At times I can’t exactly explain why I’m tempted to do so.
So what’s next? I would call and flop would come along. I would then hit top pair, two pair, a set, or even nuts at least half of the time. There are instances when I hit something and I would then take the pot, others get upset and down and then make fun of me. Obviously, they don’t want to hear me say later I have a feeling. Do you think this is a bad poker? Do you know of someone who plays the same way as I do?
Thanks,
Tim
Tim,
Lots of people play that way. If you have a lot of chips, playing a mediocre hand to try and connect with the flop is just a way of opening up your game to try and increase your chip stack. Also, there are times that your gut tells you that you should play a certain hand. That is instinct. It isn’t always right, but when it is, it usually pays off.
Is it bad poker? Sometimes it is. But if it works and you don’t make a regular habit, that’s just another weapon in your arsenal.
