[tek]

In defense of weak-tight in NL cash games

In a previous article (Zen and the Art of Small Stakes NL Cash Games) I wrote about limping to the flop and then betting aggressively if you connect. I said to be tight aggressive when I was actually advocating a weak-tight approach pre-flop or on the flop that becomes aggressive only when the hand develops on the flop or later, or otherwise becomes a fold.

In this article I want to defend the weak tight approach used early in a hand. Many people talk about weak tight like it’s a disease. It is a tool, just like tight aggressive, loose passive and loose aggressive. A screw driver is for tightening screws and opening paint cans. A hammer is for pounding nails and pounding projects that just can’t be fixed…

The four categories of poker listed above are tools of sorts too. Loose passive is generally a bad tool. You go in with marginal hands and call allowing everyone else to stay in and beat you.

Weak tight should be thought of in the same way as a lion or tiger hunting. They crouch in foliage while a herd of gazelle or whatever approaches. They identify an old, young and/or sick member of the herd and lunge when they have a lock. They don’t just charge out willy-nilly at the first sight of the herd.

In baby NL cash games the same approach should be taken. See the hand develop cheaply. When you connect you can either bet and know a tight player with second best hand will bet or raise or you can go over the top of a betting LAG. A couple of big hands plus a few moderate pots each night and you are in business.

Examples: You have pocket pairs and want to flop a set. At 8-1, you need to see the flop cheap-not raise it preflop only to see overcards, straight draws or flush draws instead of a matching card to your pair. You have connectors. You need multiway pot-building. No preflop raise here. Group 1 and 2 hands don’t always connect with the flop. And you can’t just raise preflop with these or you will be too predictable, so you limp with them more than raise. You can make up for light preflop action on the flop and turn—it’s No Limit…Plus calling a preflop raise with drawing hands is fine. I'm just saying as a tight player, it is not best to raise out early because you will get popped by a LAG and will most likely fold if you haven't connected.

Some starting hands do require you to occasionally raise or reraise pre flop and continue the momentum (tight aggressive). And a few semi-bluff advertising plays are necessary to mix up your play get action. Also, when you are playing with a rack or two of OPM, you can selectively toy with LAG play.

But in general, there are so many LAG’s in baby NL cash games that waiting in the brush (weak tight) until you have a monster and they bet big and overextend themselves is a valid course of action—not the negative behavior that many make it out to be.