Tight AND Aggressive

(reposted from Beginners Forum)

I'm 5 months into playing seriously and regularly at Paradise. I have a pretty good understanding of how to play tight. Although I'm up, I've recently been trying learn to play more aggressive. Often I'm overplaying or underplaying hands. Waiting for a "sure thing" to push it, is easy enough, but I keep thinking that I'm losing out on a lot of pots or bets with lesser hands.


Any good books on this part of the game? Or any other suggestions? (I already have HPFAP and TOP)


Thanks, as always.

To start with the two books you mentioned are simply the best available.So your off on the right foot..

Just a thought in that you must remember to change your evaluation of players preflop and then again after the flop.. Preflop you consider looseness and or tightness but after the flop you must consider their passivity and or aggressiveness.

Your selection and play of a hand hinders on these factors from your current position..

Experience and study and discipline will make you a winner..


jg

Some suggestions on where and how to learn aggressiveness:


Play shorthanded. Aggressiveness is paramount here.


Go way down in limits, where it doesn´t hurt much and raise EVERY hand. This puts you in situations you don´t usually have (like, is Q5 still a contender on a KT5 flop?) By the way, this is not my idea, but I forgot my source (might have been in Cardplayer).


Try to be the one that rules the table. You do the betting, and raising, of course. Make people react to you (also Cardplayer, I think D. Negreanu)


Good luck and have fun...


Stephan

I always thought that the key to picking up a lot of bets was to make people belive that you are an overaggressive player without actually being one. the other spectrum works as well but not as profitably from my experience. once while playing a guy said to me "I wouldn't call with this against anyone but you", pure gravy. and maybe it's my intense desire to win while playing cards but I would NEVER EVER even THINK about raising all the time. playing like that a rack might last you about half an hour before you left with a bitter taste in your mouth. just play good hands pre-flop and when considering your action remember in limit poker if you have a legit hand there are only a few situations where calling is the right play. far more often it will be a close call between raising and folding with calling COSTING you the most money. just drill that into your mind and see if you don't play more aggressively