Everybody is scared to go on a roller coaster their first time because…well, the things are built to scare the crap out of people. However, most people eventually get over this fear after countless taunts, peer pressure, and riding the coasters a few times. After all, nobody wants to grow up to be the 45 year-old dad who “stays behind with the kids” when everyone really knows what’s going on.
In some ways, playing aggressively in poker is a lot like riding a roller coaster for the first time. It doesn’t feel right and it seems like you’re taking unnecessary risks the whole time. But unlike theme parks which stop ripping you off after the $5 hot dogs and $50 admission price for people 48” & taller, playing aggressively in poker can cost you hundreds of dollars or more in one night.
This being the case, it’s no wonder why so many people like to stick to playing tight-aggressive. However, like most of the great pros advise, you need to become loose-aggressive at some point in order to maximize profits on nut hands.
The best way to take your tight-aggressive training wheels off is by developing an adequate bankroll for the level you play. Now it might sound fun to play $2/$4 No-Limit Hold’em despite your $100 bankroll, but this amount of cash won’t allow you to take any risks. However, you could drop down to the $0.10/$0.25 limits and actually be able to play aggressively. A good rule to follow is to have at least 200 big bets (twice the big blind) for the limit you’re at; if you are totally new to playing aggressively, perhaps 300 or 400 big bets would be better.
Another important thing is to make sure that you have spent enough hours studying strategy. Just playing by “feel” isn’t going to cut it in cash games when you’re trying to be aggressive so you actually need to know what you are doing. Whether it’s videos, articles, books, or poker training the key is to spend some hours learning to play better. Once you’ve improved your game enough, playing aggressively becomes a lot easier.
Also, make sure that you don’t attempt to move up limits too quickly. Just because you have a big bankroll does not mean you should be at a certain blind level provided you haven’t conquered the lower stakes.
