subject: "Leave Me Alone!" When To Slow Your Aggression In Poker [print this page] Slowing down- Playing hold'em requires a certain aggression factor that many games lack; you have to find opponents to constantly pound on with bets and raises to keep in line. Eventually, however, these opponents will wise up to your total aggression and begin to fight back against you. Knowing when it's time to finally back off and slow down against the constantly pushed around is vital in keeping yourself away from the receiving end of a nasty check raise in a big pot. One of the bigger factors that can help you in determining when a opponent is potentially about to play back against you is keeping an eye on the game tempo. This seems like a more speculative term, but think about it like this. You raise preflop, he calls. You bet the flop, he folds. You do this two or three times, and a rhythm develops. Your opponent will eventually piece this rhythm together and look for a spot to pounce back against you. When you become aware of the rhythm, it's probably time to slow down a bit against your opponent, especially if he's giving visual or audio tells showing his frustration against your aggression.
Why 100% Continuation Betting Can Be Wrong- The main culprit of the frustration check raise comes from the continuation bet. Constantly opening and betting every flop will lead your opponent into raising you much lighter than they normally would. This is why a CB rate of 100% may be less effective than a smaller rate; many pros use a 70-90% CB rate, which doesn't seem like a major decrease, but just a single flop that you check with your opponent will ring in their mind much more than the constant bet bet bet that sets in your opponent's mind when you 100% CB. The act of being more lenient with your post flop CB's may actually be a more profitable alternative in the long term than always expecting to have no resistance when you CB.
Blind abusing- The other way to have an opponent switch gears against you is to constantly abuse their blinds in position. Always (or near always) opening from the button and cutoff when folded to is likely to arouse suspicion from perceptive opponents after the first two or three times you attempt the play. The more you make it apparent to your opponent that your opening bets are frequent, the more likely they'll be to come over the top of you light, especially if they're short stacked. The pickup they make from stealing against your seemingly weak open and the blinds and antes make that weak steal incredibly profitable for them. To counteract that, there are two things you can do. Either slow down and open a bit less frequently after your initial flurry of opens, or be prepared to occasionally call or four bet against a reraise with a hand that's a little less than premium. By blunting the counter betting at the source, you keep your opponents in line and keep them under the assumption that your opens are stronger than they really are.
"Leave Me Alone!" When To Slow Your Aggression In Poker
