Altameroy Blog

In online poker tournaments, aggressive play is the route to building a chip stack. Every hand you get, you should view through a framework of whether or not you should play it aggressively right away. There are a few questions you can ask yourself to clarify if the time is right for an aggressive play.

First, your position at the table is key. From late position you have more latitude for aggressive online poker play. You must also consider your opponents and whether there are any loose aggressive players behind you.

Even you are up against loose aggressive types, you are still going to have to seize some opportunities to be aggressive yourself. Here are a few things to think about:

* What range of hands does a raise represent here? If you have been playing tight, then your opponents will put you on a strong hand. If your play has been erratic and unpredictable, they won’t know what your are representing.

* What is the range of hands your opponent is likely to call with? Are you up against a rock or a loose player?

* If your hand gets called, what are the actual chances of it winning?

The first two questions helps you determine if you will get fold equity - the ability to make other players simply lay down their hands. If you think your fold equity is good based on what you have observed, then aggressive play could be correct. The third question makes you examine how well your hand is likely to play against a call. Then you can make a judgment about your fold equity vs. call probability from your opponent.

Give some thought to aggressive play and try to incorporate more of it into your poker online tournament play.