Mad Man Poker

I’ve been pointed out a harsh truth.

In past articles and stories I’ve talked about or went into different tactics and styles, both careful ones and less prudent options.

But in those stories I’ve always presumed you know your basics. I’ve now been told that a few “not so experienced” players tend to read my posts in the past, but are losing interest, because they lack the basic knowledge required to understand some subtleties in my posts.

So, to the basics we go!

First of all, we talk styles.

In essence, when you break down all fancy plays and tactical plans, only 4 basic styles exist in any type of poker.

• tight aggressive (TAG) “The ABC-guy”
• loose aggressive (LAG) “The maniac”
• tight passive (TPA) “The rock”
• loose passive (LPA) “The calling station”

Before you can put yourself to choosing tactical diversities for your plays, you first have to realise which basic type of player you are.

You do that with 2 simple questions, that also work for determining your opponents.

I’ll give the example on myself and on Michiel.

Question 1: When you decide to play a pot, do you mostly bet or raise or do you mostly check or call?

• Stijn: generally bets or raises
• Michiel: generally bets or raises

The amount in which we do so is irrelevant for determining basic styles. I bet and raise far more exuberantly than Michiel does, but that is not the question.

The answer you’re going for right here is that you play more with bets instead of checks and raises instead of calls.

This makes you an aggressive player.

Do you happen to come across someone in whom you notice that he checks and calls more often, than this is a passive basic style.

Passive players are considered weaker than aggressive players. In basic style there is no discussion about this. Passive plays should be part of your arsenal, but your general type should be aggressive, beyond doubt!

OK, second question.

Question 2: In choosing which hands you play, out of the 169 possible hands, how many do you play?

• Stijn: generally plays about 30% to 40% of all hands
• Michiel: generally plays about 15% to 25% of all hands

Mind you, I’m not asking how many hands you play in an actual game, that would include hands that you would just call on pot odds with, or plays you’re trying to make. The question is about your 169 possible starting hands. Be severe on yourself on this one.

In this case there is no “correct” answer.

Taking into account, that is, that your answer should be at least under 45% to 50%, and that’s roughly spoken. Even better, if you’re just starting out, keep your numbers low.

If your numbers run over 30% you are a loose player, are they under 25% you are a tight player.

In the past a loose player was considered inferior to tight tactics, but the current generation of players is proving this idéfix wrong. As long as your hand selection is realistic enough, being a loose player is not a shame anymore. Even better, some names you all adore (Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, …) are all considered loose or at least “more loose”.

Also take into account that the more players your table has, the tighter your playing style should get. You won’t get away with as many “loose” actions at a 9-handed table compared to a 6-handed game, let alone a heads-up match.

These two questions give a result of “tight aggressive” (TAG) for Michiel and “loose aggressive” for myself.

As a general player type, I’d choose one of these two, since playing a passive style is usually never a good fundament to build your plays on.

Let’s get to training ourselves to become the player type that we aim for.

First, tight or loose?

Well, take your grid I suggested you to make in “Every hand is a loser” and start over. Now only color in the hands you are willing to play if no one else before you has come into the pot. Remember! Early pickings should be far more strictly chosen than their late counterparts!.

Done?

Ok, how many hands do you have.

5-10: your standards are too tight. Loosen up!

10-20: you are a standard tight player already and need no help on becoming one. If anything your standard is still a bit too strict for opening hands. In early position, keep your 10 hands, the top “Hellmuth”-top 10 would do just perfect here. (Aces through sevens, AK suited and AQ suited), or loose the pocket 7’s and 8’s and add AK off suit and AQ off suit if you ask me.
Your late standard is too tight. Get it up to 25 hands and you’re still pretty rocky. Realise that I’m talking late here (let’s take the ultimate late one: the button) and you’re only up against the blinds here. A strong raise with KT suited is profitable enough to survive the blind calls or raises. Realise that they will call as well on pocket 9’s and a flop containing a K or a T gives you a winner.

10-30: There we are! No problems here, playing tight.

15-30: Your standard opening hands are on the edge of being too loose here. Position is of the greatest importance in Texas Hold’Em and a bit more respect for early-late differences is in order here.

20-35: I can see you’re trying, but now you’re neither tight nor loose and opponents will love picking on you. Nobody says you have to be tight or loose, but make up your mind!

25-…: Hi, fellow maniac, you are beyond hope to ever become a tight player. Let it go!

Are you facing a player before you in the pot?

There are two options now. He limped, in which case he either has a weak hand is fiercely hoping nobody pushes him out, or he has a monster. Either way, a raise will give you the answer. The raise here should be bigger than your normal one, because you either want to punish the weak limper or find out what you are up against. Also, in the long run, players who know you will not be so eager to limp when they’re at your right, unless they’re making a play. To counterfeit their sneaky ways, take this last paragraph and use it about 75% of the time. If you did this with a strong hand, the weak limper needs to draw out on you or the monster hand just lost a lot of value. You’ll notice that people will not be able to make these plays profitable and will soon abandon them.

Because countering the play brings me to the real standard style aspect.

I can not stress enough how much there is no way around this.

In order to be a successful player, you’re fundamental style has to be aggressive. Aggressive! AGGRESSIVE!

Passive players get overrun. Passive players loose the two most important weapons to win a pot: betting and raising. When you call you need the best hand, when you raise or bet, you need the best hand or for your opponent to not be able to call, in which case it doesn’t matter what you hold.

Also when you are a passive player, people get too comfortable playing you. You never put them before a decision, you never push back. They bully you, but never get bullied in return. In poker, that’s a bad thing.

How do we do this?

Test your hands relentlessly! Consider your pair best unless proven otherwise, make people pay for their draws, push people on your draws. Bluff, semi-bluff, stone-cold third bullet when the board fills up to something your opponent can put you on and that beats him, but do not stop pushing around.

If you just keep in mind that there is no reason for you not to be aggressive until someone gives you a reason to slow down, you should be able to put some people to the test. And in that test, from time to time, some people will fail and lay down to you with the best hand.

Passive plays are for big cards, aggressive plays are for all cards.

Well, that was all for now.

Until next time, should you question your aggressive values, come see us, we’ll stomp you into a believer.

The Mad Man