Losing my way...

Over the past few days I have come to a realization - selected aggression is winning poker. I do think that playing passively has its place - in situations where you can get free cards, trap, or confuse your opponent, BUT overwhelmingly its more important to be aggressive.

I have reevaluated my game after a few losing sessions. What I have learned is that its not playing dominated hands that is the main flaw of bad players - its position. I noticed that the majority of my losses were coming from AK and AQ when I was out of position. Be it the blinds or the first positions, I was just throwing my money away with these hands.

The clear most important part of NL Texas Hold'em is position. After having just completed one of the best poker sessions I have ever had, I have relearned that aggresssion + position = INSANE capabilities. I have kept my super tight strategy for the most part except that I have removed AKo and AQ from my early position hands. In addition I no longer call with these hands in middle position. I always raise when I enter the pot - if its with pocket 88s in first position or QJs in late position. AND I only ever call pre-flop if I have AKs, AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, or 88. AND these are only if I'm trying to trap/outflop my opponents. Generally, I reraise with the majority of these hands preflop.

I like this new strategy because it gets me into big pots when I have strong hands AND am in position. Also, it allows me to make one of my new favorite plays - the squeeze. By reraising 3x a raisers raise I often win the pot right there, something I like doing with AK for example.

I have also added JTs and T9s to my preflop raising hands. Occassionally I'll raise with these hands in early position - because I play so tight its impossible to put me on the hand I have and if I flop a lot of different hands I can proceed aggressively.

My out of position hands led me to consider the value of passive play. When you are out of position you can lose a lot of money with continuation bets - but this is because you are out of position, not because you are playing aggressively. Its good to make continuation bets - but in position. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. Every good player says it over and over - however greatly you value position, you cannot possibly value it as much as it is worth. Rather than adopting a passive style, I think its far better to look for situations to avoid playing out of position AND for situations to play while in position. I'm back to raise or fold poker and am loving it. :) Nothing beats playing 10 tables of terrified players...

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I also have made a major effort to place my opponents on a hand - each and every hand I play to the flop. I made some tough folds and some great calls this past session. I think this skill seperates good from great players - and I want to get as good as possible at it.

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One thing that is interesting, is that loose players can really get creamed by me now. By playing them in position and raising/reraising them pre/post flop you can really screw them up. A particular LAG player was getting completely destroyed by me in this last session. Since I only call with MADE hands in position, I feel more confident against these players who will raise with junk. One thing I noticed about this particular player was that he overbet on flops when he made continuation bets (he bet a full pot sized bet). In position I would call him with drawing hands or overpairs/sets in these spots and if he checked the turn I could bet half the pot and pick it up OR hit my draw. I also noticed that if he was was willing to bet a pot sized bet on the river with missed draws. I picked up two bluffs from him when flushes missed - big pots too. :)

One interesting hand that occurred tonight with this player was one of my biggest winners...

I had AsAc, and had raised 3x BB and vilian had reraised me preflop in the BB to 10x BB. I had position, so I smooth called. The flop came KcQs2s. I figured he probably had a strong hand here like a set of kings or queens, so when he bet nearly 2/3 the pot I just called, I had the ace of spades and figured there were a lot of cards that would give me a good draw or the best hand, as well as additional information about my opponent's hand on the turn. I also thought that he could have a hand like AK - this player was willing to put his money in with almost any two cards (but it seems unlikely to reraise me, the tightest player at the table, with nothing). The turn was another spade, the 6. I now liked my hand much more. If he had KK or QQ I had 11 outs to win, but oddly he only bet $10 here. I thought this meant that the flush scared him and I could raise him out, but also thought that he might call my reraise anyway with his set in hopes of filling up - at which point the pot would be so big he'd probably just call any sized bluff on the river. I decided I would rather call and see what happened on the river. It was the Ad. Now this was an interesting spot. I figured he could not put me on three aces and if he had a set below that he would want to call, but might be scared by the flushed board. I also did not put him on the flush due to the size of his bet on the flop and small one on the turn. Bascially, based on my read - I had the best hand and wanted to get paid off. I immediately recalled how he plays his bluffs - a pot sized bet on the river. I thought back throughout the hand quickly, could my hand look like an AK with the ace of spades. I called the flop, and then called the turn - it looked like I wanted to see a river card; I easily could see him thinking that I have a flush draw with top pair. If I had this hand, he would be very happy to call thinking that his 2nd or 3rd best set was good. I decided the best way to get paid off for the largest amount was to bet the pot - for $60. I felt if I moved all-in he might call, but there was also a chance he would think I was slow playing the flush and he'd fold. I also thought that if I bet a small amount he would figure me for the flush and would fold. My best bet was clearly the pot sized bluff bet. I bet the pot - he called instantly and showed KcKh for the second best hand. I feel like I really played this hand perfectly.

I know I hit a miracle river card, but getting paid off was clearly based on my read of the hand. I called his flop bet of about $13 and turn bet of $10 to win a pot of $180 - clearly with my 11 outs on the turn alone, this was completely worth it. This is a hand that shows the importance of putting lots of different pieces together to win the maximum amount possible.