Underground Poker

How many of you have heard this saying? How many of you have heard or read people talking about aggression, aggression, aggression – it wins bracelts and championships, and is the key to winning poker? Well, I know I have. I have heard it so many times that now it seems to have lost it’s meaning. It’s become one of those things that , once you hear it, you just kind of shrug off and fast forward to the “good stuff”.

Beginning poker players are also very susceptible to ignoring this advice, as they feel it is elementary, almost like…Duh! As if they know how important and effective well timed aggression can be, and how devastating ill timed and tilted aggression can be.  I think that this is one of the least developed part of the majority of poker players’ games. Well timed aggression can take years to learn and develop. What’s an example of “well timed aggression”? Well, here’s an example below that I executed while writing this article. I was at an 18 man turbo sng with blinds at 80/160.

Seat 1: Leon2872 (1,480)
Seat 3: DanCor44 (2,175)
Seat 5: XXXXXX (2,185)
Seat 7: gakali (2,030)
Seat 8: peachfuzz3489 (1,850)
Seat 9: BRrulex (5,260)
DanCor44 posts the small blind of 80
XXXXXX posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to XXXXXX [Kh Ad]
gakali calls 160
peachfuzz3489 folds
BRrulex has 15 seconds left to act
BRrulex calls 160
Leon2872 folds
DanCor44 calls 80
XXXXXX raises to 2,185, and is all in
gakali folds
BRrulex calls 2,025
DanCor44 folds
XXXXXX shows [Kh Ad]
BRrulex shows [Jh Jd]
*** FLOP *** [As 4c 8c]
*** TURN *** [As 4c 8c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [As 4c 8c 2h] [Ah]
XXXXXXshows three of a kind, Aces
BRrulex shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
Leon2872 has been disconnected
XXXXXX wins the pot (4,690) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,690 | Rake 0
Board: [As 4c 8c 2h Ah]
Seat 1: Leon2872 (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: DanCor44 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: XXXXXX (big blind) showed [Kh Ad] and won (4,690) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 7: gakali folded before the Flop
Seat 8: peachfuzz3489 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 9: BRrulex showed [Jh Jd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks

With blinds at 80/160, stack sizes averaging at around 13 bb’s, and 3 other ppl in the pot, the most effective play with AK is definitely a shove. Raising would only give opponents proper pot odds to call, which could put you in an akward situation post flop with multiple opponents. Of course, when someone calls you are typically ahead of their range, or against a mid pocket pair, which is okay too.

This is just one form of well time aggression. It can come in the form of double barrels or 3 betting. The key is knowing your opponents and sensing weakness. Playing your opponents is the next level of thinking you need to get to. At this level of play, your cards dont mean near as much as they used to, and aggression is key to understanding your opponents play style, and reading their hand.

So get out to the tables and bring your aggression to the table. Strike fear in your opponents and see how quickly the cash starts rolling in!

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