There are many online poker gurus who will tell you the only way to win money at the online poker rooms is being tight and aggressive, while others swear that loose and aggressive play is the only way to dominate. Today we are going to going to look at both the positive and negative of each, so you will be in a better position to be able to make up your mind which style suits your game and personality.
Strengths of Playing Tight and Aggressive
There are many players who think playing tight but being aggressive is a great way to conceal their play and experience, pushing others around only when the time is right. The benefits to the tight and aggressive (TAG) style are that your betting decisions are usually pretty straightforward. Many of the decisions that you are going to make playing TAG come before the flop, or on the flop when pots are very small. The TAG player will avoid playing any hands that can result in them getting into tricky situations. Variance of play with the TAG player is significantly reduced.
Weaknesses of Playing Tight and Aggressive
Players who usually only play tight and aggressive are bigger targets for those who play loose and aggressive. The tight and aggressive player is definitely going to leave their share of profits on the table, because they avoid risky situations. The style of the tight and aggressive player is predictable, and many players make mistakes because this style tends to be very boring.
Strengths of Playing Loose and Aggressive
Those who play loose and aggressive (LAG) are going to get paid off more often when they are playing big hands because the tighter players don’t want that confrontation and are unsure exactly what that player may be holding because they can appear reckless. Aggression alone is going to help secure a large number of smaller pots when other players have trash and don’t want to risk a showdown with a loose player. The LAG player tends to be feared at the table because they have this unpredictable nature about them. The biggest reason the loose and aggressive style is popular with poker online indonesia players is because they leave very little in the way of profit on the table.
Weaknesses of Playing Loose and Aggressive
The loose and aggressive player are going to be placed into marginal spots that will require them to use a great deal of thought. Playing a large number of hands in the loose and aggressive style does take a degree of experience to work to perfection. The variance when playing loose and aggressive is extremely high. Perhaps the biggest weakness of playing lose and aggressive is it is easy to lose focus and go from being somewhat aggressive to being a complete maniac.
Choose your style carefully, and commit to the process. Switching back and forth can be difficult for the player to focus and will result in your losing traction instead of gaining some momentum.
