Can Aggressiveness be Learned?

I'm sure that at one time or another we all have questioned a hand that we lost, and wondered if we pushed too hard or not hard enough. Hindsight is always 20/20 but at least we can learn from questioning our success's or failures in poker. Are you aggressive in poker? Are you aggressive in your life? Can a person be aggressive in one and not the other? Over aggressiveness can get you in serious trouble in life, and can without a doubt do the same thing in poker. Let's take a look at the subject of this column.

Question,

Aggressiveness is very important in poker (and in life). But I think that it is very difficult for people who are not aggressive in life, to be aggressive in poker. If somebody believes that a person who is not aggressive by nature can learn to become aggressive in poker, I would appreciate hearing your ideas and advice about how one might become aggressive in poker, and the value of doing so.

Opinion 1

I agree that it is difficult for a player who is not naturally aggressive to play aggressively, but I do think it can be learned. There are two ways that this can happen that I am aware of;

1. Blind Faith (poor) -- If you are told enough times that you should be aggressive, and you totally believe what you are told, then you will do it because you want to win simple as that. The drawback is that you should not be aggressive all the time, but only selectively

2. Understanding (much better) -- If you understand why you should be aggressive, then you act that way purely as an intellectual exercise. It may go against your nature, but you do it because you know it is the right strategy to win the chips. What is more, you learn to be aggressive when you should be aggressive and passive when you should be passive. In short, the more you understand about the game, the more natural that the correct type of aggressiveness becomes. It'll become obvious that (selective) aggressiveness is the only way to play.

Sometimes it is correct to temporarily back off from an aggressive style against passive opponents. This occurs when you may be cornering them into a "fight or flight" reaction with your aggression. That is, if you mercilessly pound on them long enough, they may fight back with aggression of their own (which makes them tougher players), or they may just stand up and leave the "unfriendly" game. You want to control the game and have them fear & respect you, but you don't want to push them too far. You want to maintain the same magic formula that keeps the chips flowing your way, without killing the proverbial geese laying the golden eggs. I think a lot of "naturally aggressive" players do not understand this concept, and hurt themselves as a result.

A desire to win, and some inner confidence in your abilities go a long way toward backing up aggressive behavior. If you are trying to be aggressive, but are not confident, others can pick up on this and may just intimidate you back. Aggressiveness at poker can have as many faults as passiveness. Every time it is your turn to play at poker you have (at most) 3 choices: fold, call, or raise. Each time you should make the play that maximizes your EV, whatever that play is. Aggressiveness may or may not be a factor. If the best play is to raise then raise, if the best play is to fold, then fold. If you are in a very tight game then the best plays will often be bets or raises, and you will appear aggressive. In your next session if the game is very wild then calling/folding will be the norm and you will appear passive. If you feel that in general you are not betting or raising sufficiently then study the games that you play in. Identify the situations where an opponents raise is effective, and then try and incorporate the lessons of these plays into your own game. As soon as you see poker as a pure game where at each turn you are trying to make the best possible play, then the game becomes cerebral and your own inherent nature becomes irrelevant.

Arty's Opinion

Having just come off the worst 4-day streak of bad cards I have ever experienced, I can tell you that I sure questioned my playing tactics. I tried to be aggressive and failed. I tried being passive and failed. I tried selective aggressiveness and failed. I found that if the cards are not coming that you can try everything and it will fail. Having started with great hands pre-flop, and continuously missing the flop, or having hit the flop, and having the best hand caught on the river time after time, I started to forecast that if I held a powerful hand the flop would miss me by a mile. This became what seemed to me to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I found that I started to stray from my regular selective aggressive game, to one that was unfamiliar to me. I tightened up to the point that I was now tight/passive, my worst nightmare. I had to force myself to quit several sessions, before I went completely into the Mega-Tilt abyss. I guess what I am trying to tell you is that everything is relative. You get into a game where aggressiveness should pay off and you can still take a beating. The opposite is also true. Aggressiveness can be a two edged sword, when used at the right time it can pay off big, and at the wrong time it can cost you. If I lost a hand, after raising, I would still feel better than loosing the hand because I did not raise. In closing I can only say that when the cards are not coming nothing will help, you can change styles, seats, tables, casinos or your name. I mentioned to a buddy, after one of my losing sessions, "You know it's unbelievable how unimaginative your game can become when you are losing." As my a friend of mine once said, "Its unbelievable how many times you hear poker players say 'Its unbelievable".

Now go win money.

By Art Santella