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How to deal with an aggressive poker player

One might have gone through certain situations while playing poker and one of them is facing an ultra-aggressive player. While you may wait for a strong hand to snatch away a fat pot from them, which clearly makes sense, a patient approach is not always the best way to counter assertive opponents. This is one of the daunting tasks that are faced mainly by beginners.

A skilled aggressive player can be tough to play against, one might have a hard time facing them. The biggest strength of such a player is that they are well aware of how important the initiative is, and they find lots of spots to bet and take down the pot with a weak holding. Additionally, they manage to stay out of trouble. Imagine, you sit down to start playing poker and the next person seated happens to be one of those aggressive players. It may seem like every time you enter the pot your opponent is re-raising or bluffing you.

Well, do not worry, as here are some tips and tricks that will help you deal with such competitors. But before that, it is essential for you to get comfortable with the mind sport. FTRPoker is one such platform where one can commence their poker journey by simply clicking onto freeroll poker tournaments on their site. Learn the knack and tricks of dealing with different poker player around you. These tight and aggressive category players do not play many hands. These players raise or re-raise whenever required and the best thing about a freeroll is that you can conquer such situations without even losing anything. So, here are certain strategies you need to learn before your action begins.

• Play Tight – This is a crucial mantra and the first thing that you are going to need. Basically, you need to play fewer hands than you normally do. You do not want to fall trap as and end up giving away your next move detail. This is an insurmountable obstacle to overcome unless there is a massive discrepancy in skill level between you and your opponent. So, the bottom line being, tighten up you range and play fewer hands.
• Bluff and Re-Raise – While it is vital to tighten up a bit when an aggressive player is on the left, it would be interesting to throw in a few more bluffs and re-raise. When you enter the pot with a raise with some sort of good hole cards and the aggressive player raises you, then you must put in a bluff re-raise from time-to-time. This will let your opponent know that you have the good cards and with no doors to open, they will back down.
• Slow Play – It might sound like slow play is bad but it’s pretty much the opposite story against loose and aggressive players. The tight-aggressive players will barrel quite frequently, and you will want them to make this mistake when you hold a stronger hand.
• Semi Bluff – You can semi-bluff the flop and turn, another wonderful way to counter aggressive opponents. Meaning, you can take hands that are good (flush, straight and combo cards) and choose to play them fast instead. This semi-bluffing strategy gives more ways to win the pot. You can take it away by either forcing them to fold immediately or making the best hand later.
• Get Trappy – Another way to deal with such players on your left is to trap them a little bit or even more often. This simply means that when you pick up a realty big hand, don’t always re-raise them. This gives them a green light to continue bluffing after the flop when you are holding the best hand. You can check/call or spring the trap to check/raise.

It all comes down to one thing, that is to explore freeroll tournaments or play low stakes. FTRPoker is one such platform where the naïve can step onto the world of poker. These are a few strategies that can make you a standout performer and overcome a difficult situation and even fight back a little. 

For more poker news and updates, as well as updates from the gaming industry around the world, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!

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