In the poker world, one of the most common types of strategy being used is the tight-aggressive strategy. It is, by far the most practical type of strategy because the tight-aggressive player has a good survival rate than those players that fall under the other categories. A person who plays the tight-aggressive way will undoubtedly become a threat to you in any situation in the game, so you’d best be prepared when handling them.
Identifying the Tight-Aggressive Player
The first thing you have to do is to identify those players who are playing using the tight-aggressive strategy. If the player is skilled and experienced in the game, then you might have a hard time doing so. For one thing, the tight-aggressive players only play few hands. This means that they fold a lot. They fold because the cards they hold are mediocre. They never play trash cards, and they always stay safe. Watch out once they make a raise. This means that they most likely have a good hand on them. Once you see the player who folds a lot raise, you’d best fold unless you really have a premium set on you. Another thing about the tight-aggressive players is that they are pretty observant. Even though they’ve made their fold, they don’t take their eyes off their opponents. You can observe these types of people in a live setting, though it might be a bit difficult when you’re playing online. When playing online, those who are pretty active in the chat box are the ones who are pretty observant about their opponents, so watch out for them.
Dealing with the Tight-Aggressive Player
Now that you’ve identified the tight-aggressive players in the table, you’ve got a choice whether to deal with them, or to move to another table. Of course, you won’t gain any decent experience as a poker player if you choose to run away, so let’s just say you’re sticking with the game. One thing you should do is to observe their betting patterns. Once they’ve made a raise during the pre-flop phase of the game, this means that they have a premium hand on them. It is unadvised that you make a call, since you’ll only be endangering your chips that way. Keep your cool and fold for now. If the tight-aggressive player wasn’t at all aggressive on the pre-flop, you can intimidate these by being the aggressive one, or you can choose to call or check if you’re a bit unsure about the situation. The tight-aggressive player will then take a look at the flop, and depending on whether the flop made his hand stronger or not depends on his betting pattern. If he went to an aggressive mode, it means that he has a good hand on him. Unless you have a really good one on you, don’t gamble. If the tight-aggressive player doesn’t make a raise, the pot is all yours for the taking.