We come across the words “tight” and “aggressive” regularly when reading about playing poker, and many poker theoreticians recommend aggressive-tight poker play always. But what does this actually mean?
“Tight” play essentially means playing by the book, not playing hands for the sake of them and making sure when you do play that you have a strong starting hand. “Aggressive” is another thing entirely and it does not mean hitting your opponent over the head with a whiskey bottle and accusing them of cheating. It means actively betting and raising – perhaps this style should be called “active” as opposed to aggressive, but the word “aggressive” has become very much a part of poker playing lingo.
A poker player can play “loose aggressive” too and this means betting and raising – more than likely bluffing, when they have a bad starting hand!
Getting a reputation as a tight-aggressive player will mean that your opponents recognize you as having this style of play. So essentially you build up a reputation as having good starting hands – strong hands and actively playing. This stands you in good stead, because it may put the fear of god into opponents and get them to throw in a hand before they might normally be tempted to do so. One less opponent brings you one step closer to the prize pot!
Having a reputation as a tight aggressive player also allows you to bluff more easily. Your opponents are always going to believe you have a strong hand if you have already built up this type of reputation, and this may help you to win if you are in a tight spot.
A tight aggressive player almost always raises or folds, it is rare that you will see them call. The theory being that if you are able to justify calling a bet, you might just as well raise. Most poker players are tight aggressive and will raise rather than call!
As we mentioned earlier, we also find loose-aggressive players and some of these players are really successful, but what about the loose – passive player? These players will never do well in a poker game against a tight-aggressive player, so the aim of the game is to develop a tight – aggressive poker playing style.
Loose passive players check and call and the good players call them “calling stations”. Winning poker does not happen with checking and calling in no situation is this strategy ever recommended. It contradicts all the natural poker playing instincts of a good player where the tactics should be to be “in control” of the table. Opponents should always be on the defensive, but if you know what you are doing, checking and calling can be used to your advantage, although not in a loose passive way.
In Omaha Hi-Lo, checking and calling is used to great effect and is routine in this game. Strong Hold ‘em tactics do not work well for playing Omaha Poker and even the best players use calling and checking in this game. Find out when it is best to call and check, and use this to your advantage, because the last thing you want is a reputation as a loose passive poker player.