Tight and Aggressive

It may sound contradictory or confusing but the ultimate strategy and best way to be effective at online poker is to be both tight and aggressive. An aggressive online poker player is one that implements aggression with intelligence and based upon his reads.

These reads would indicate favorability with such factors as poker hands, the board reads/community cards, flop, draw, and fold percentages of the Texas Holdem opponents at the poker table, pot odds, “outs”, chip stacks and so on down the line.

When the reads are favorable, an online poker player will pick up on his aggression and when they are not he will retreat and preserve his poker chips for when they are right. One of the biggest mistakes made at the online poker table is by Texas Holdem players that are too aggressive with poker hands that may be the best before the flop, but have the potential of being outdrawn on or after the flop.

Examples of such hands would be top pair.  Often times, top pair poker hands get beaten out on the showdown on Fifth Street/The River.  It is also important for a Texas Holdem player to keep in mind that one of the most certain poker rules of thumb is that with so many online poker players having high draw percentages, many top pair hands are more likely to be outdrawn than in the less aggressive games of the past.

Another advantage and feature of an online poker player being aggressive/tight is that it is easier for him to change gears and to not be so easily read by his Texas Holdem opponents.  Online poker players that are always aggressive are just as easy to read and play against, as are the ultra tight and conservative Texas Holdem players.  Online poker players at either extreme of the aggression equation in poker games are easy marks and not the players to be worried about.

The online poker players that command the real fear and respect of their opponents are the ones that cannot be read, the ones that are unpredictable and constantly changing gears with their poker hands.  This element of surprise and unpredictability of the aggressive/tight Texas Holdem players gives them an advantage and respect that online poker players on the two extremes simply cannot command. Aggressive/tight is the most intelligent and logical way to approach an online poker table.