Whether you are new to poker or have been playing for a while, you will always come across players who have an aggressive style. Aggression is not uncommon in games such as poker; the stakes are often high, and with them, so is the tension!
However, there has always been some speculation regarding whether or not aggressive poker players are more challenging to play against. Whether you are a fan of Casino Yard or you regularly organize your own games, it makes sense to learn about the styles of player you are likely to come up against.
The lowdown on aggressive players
An aggressive poker player is certainly likely to make themselves known in the heat of the moment. Therefore, you’ll often find that they make maverick moves and don’t seem to be too worried about losing their chips, even if they have spent a long time building them up.
In general, aggressive players are hard to play against. That’s because they may often be unpredictable, and to those players who doubt their own prowess at the table, they may even be intimidating. Therefore, this means that the most aggressive players are unlikely to change their ways.
What does tight and loose mean in this context?
Aggressive poker players are generally referred to on either a tight or loose basis. Tight aggressive players tend to be fairly dangerous because, while they are likely to make maverick moves, they are hard to predict. They will only ever play pots they feel are worth their time.
Many people refer to tight aggressive players as sharks.Sharks will bide their time and observe their playing field, waiting for a kill when it suits them best. Therefore, they are often very effective across most twists on poker in general.
Loose aggressive players, meanwhile, are more manic, and they can be just as difficult to read. They will bully their way through the game and focus on making power moves. This can be very intimidating to newbies and passive players alike. However, they tend to bluff a lot – and some will even raise when they stand to lose it all. The loose aggressive player is one of the most dangerous players as they will treat the table as if they have absolutely nothing to lose; that is always going to be hard to read.
Are aggressive players always the hardest to play against?
If you love playing cards and you have plenty of experience already, you will have likely come across a huge variety of playing styles and attitudes. Poker, and all its variations, is intensively complex. That goes for the players, too!
It is not easy to put all poker players into one or two categories. Ultimately, styles and playing strategies will always vary. What type of player do you identify yourself as? Do you fall into passive or aggressive brackets? Maybe it’s time to do some further reading and find out!