Playing aggressive and betting strong
Hi from Down Under Antonio,
I've read your advice about playing aggressive and betting strong to bluff and pick up pots when the flop has probably missed the other player(s). I guess that's Sklanskys Gap concept but you've turbo-charged it. It seems to work too but eventually I've run into another player with a monster hand and all that my aggressive betting does then is decimate my stack real quick as I cant force him out of the pot. What do I look for to know when to back off a pot and not kill my stack? And how do I know that the other guy hasn't also read your advice and is bluffing me out of the pot or has a real hand? How important is table position to how aggressive I should bet or bluff?
Probably too many questions but if I don't ask the pro, how will I ever know? GL and loved it when you beat that crybaby Hellmuth in that tourney (the one where you did the wave thing and he said to show some class). You could teach him a thing or two about class!
BoxerShorts
Dear BoxerShorts,
Yeah, that's the trouble with all the advice out there today. Everybody reads the same stuff, everybody knows the same stuff, and everybody's adjusting to everybody else's adjustments. Know what? It all comes down to reads. How smart do you think the other guy is? Is he capable of making a big bluff? (So many players just aren't.) Have you seen him get involved with less than a real hand? Is he loose or tight, wild or straightforward? All of this stuff goes into knowing whether you can bet him off the pot or not. Here's a rule of thumb I like: "Steal twice, real once." Go ahead and steal, and if they let you steal again, steal again. By then they're ready to play back at you, so next time you charge in, make sure you've got something to charge with. As for position, it's key, just key. Everything is easier when you know what the other guy's already done.
· Antonio
