Famous Loose Aggressive Poker Players

Famous Loose Aggressive Poker Players 3,9/5 5360 votes

Nathan Williams

List Of Famous Poker Players
Famous Loose Aggressive Poker Players Photos

The Rock (tight-passive) A Rock only plays few hands and is a player who rarely bets and very rarely. They are as follows: tight vs. Loose and passive vs. This first primary factor is shown in a player’s starting hand selection. Tight poker players usually play a small number of only the best hands. Loose poker players will often play a wide variety of hands.

When it comes to low stakes cash games, you have probably heard advice about how to play against passive opponents many times before. Value bet them frequently, steal their blinds a lot, and keep the bluffing to a minimum if they are recreational players. These tactics often work because the vast majority of your opponents in small stakes cash games, both live and online, will fit a similarly passive profile.

But how do you play against a loose-aggressive opponent (sometimes referred to as a “maniac”) who is in there with all sorts of hands and constantly trying to bluff you? These players can be much more difficult to play against, and there is much less information out there regarding how to approach them.

To that end, in this article I am going to discuss a few ways to counteract and exploit the tendencies of a loose-aggressive opponent profitably in low stakes cash games.

Position is Vital

The first thing about playing against loose-aggressive opponents that you need to know is that having position on them is absolutely vital. It is so important to me, in fact, that I will often just get up and leave the table if an opponent like this gets a seat on my direct left.

The reason why is because the person seated directly behind you will always have a huge advantage in every single hand except when you are on the button. When it is a loose-aggressive opponent who is going to three-bet you, float you with calls, and try to bluff you every other hand, this can be an especially difficult spot.

The types of players at the poker table and what seat you have relative to them affect your success in this game than anything else. Allowing a loose-aggressive opponent to sit on your direct left and make your life miserable is like handing your opponent a knife in a fistfight.

Don’t fight uphill battles. There are plenty of other tables with more inviting seats from which to choose.

Use Their Aggression Against Them

You have probably heard the phrase “give them enough rope to hang themselves” before. Well, it is not like you should never bet against these types of players or ever try to bluff them. However, you should definitely use their aggression against them on most occasions.

This means just flatting their bets more often, especially with top pair or better postflop. Often they are just bluffing or they have a weak draw or pair and raising will just force them to fold. It is better to allow them to keep firing at the pot on later streets and stick more dead money in the middle.

This approach is not always the best preflop, though. With a big hand — especially , , , , , and — you should be reraising their opens most of the time. The reason why is because they will call a lot more often and it is obviously beneficial for us to create a bigger pot with hands this strong.

Patience is Key

One of the most difficult things about playing against loose-aggressive opponents is staying patient when you aren’t making any good hands. It is imperative that you do not lose your cool and start playing into their game.

This is exactly what they want you to do. There is nothing that they love more than getting into ridiculously huge pots with meager holdings and making enormous bluffs. You don’t need to play this same kind of game with them in order to win. And if you are running poorly, this could cause you to tilt hard as well.

It is very important not to try and fight for every pot against these players. You need to accept the fact that you will get bluffed by them on some occasions. It is okay. Just let them have a bunch of smaller pots.

Sometimes it simply will not be your session either. That is fine, too. Just make sure you don’t make the big mistake of losing your patience against them and becoming the fish yourself.

Enjoy the Ride

You have probably had a session before where you have lost big to a loose-aggressive player because they got lucky in some key hands. You have probably had several other sessions where you won big against them by simply being patient and allowing them to bluff off their stack against you.

It is important always to remember that playing against these types of players is high variance. There is no way that I am ever making any “sick folds” against these opponents, so I will be losing my stack when they cooler me every single time.

Also, sometimes they will simply draw out on you such as by hitting some ridiculous draw or backing into two pair on the river. This kind of stuff just goes with the territory when playing against these types of players.

It is important to remember, though, that these players can be insanely profitable to play against in the long run. They will sometimes run hot for a session or two, but over time many of them will lose big.

Final Thoughts

There are no easy answers to playing against a loose-aggressive opponent. But if you make sure that you always have position on them, use their aggression against them when you can, and remain patient versus them, then these players will be a huge boost to your win rate in the long run.

It is important not to get wrapped up in your short-term results in general, but especially against these players. The reason why poker is so profitable is because players like this are able to get lucky sometimes — and we all have to pay that “tax” from time to time. Just stay focused on getting the money in good and the long term math will sort itself out in the end.

Nathan “BlackRain79” Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books, Crushing the Microstakes and Modern Small Stakes. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.

Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the most difficult player to combat at the cash game tables or in tournaments is one who plays a loose-aggressive poker strategy and plays it well.

A good loose-aggressive player, or LAG, at your table is a constant thorn in your side. Such players will frequently raise and three-bet preflop, fire more than their fair share of continuation bets, are not afraid to barrel on all three streets, and will pounce on any sign of weakness.

When no-limit hold’em was first becoming mainstream, there were very few people who knew how to play loose-aggressive poker, or at least were willing to do so. I vividly remember reading an older strategy book when I first discovered poker and seeing a section that said to proceed with extreme caution if you had been reraised, even if you held a hand as strong as pocket kings!

This may have been solid advice in the days of passive poker (played both loose and tight), but with so many players adopting a loose-aggressive poker strategy these days, you would be burning money by playing as advised by that particular book.

What is Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy?

As its name suggests, a loose-aggressive poker strategy sees players loosen up their starting hand requirements (they play quite a lot of hands, often 30% or more that are dealt to them) and they play them aggressively (by coming out betting and raising).

However, not all LAGs are created equal. Bad LAGs are often reckless and will never find a fold, but LAG players who know the nuances of how to play loose-aggressive poker well almost always know where they stand in a hand and will fold to resistance. The former can be frustrating to play against, but the latter can decimate your stack and bankroll if you are not careful.

Loose-Aggressive Poker: Starting Hands

Some LAGs will play literally any two cards dealt to them and rely on their aggression or postflop skill to outmaneuver their opponents once the community cards come into play. If you are looking to start playing with a loose-aggressive poker strategy, it is advised to have some structure to your starting hand requirements.

We mentioned earlier than LAGs play a lot of hands, often 30% or more that they are dealt. Thirty-three percent of hands is a range that would include:

22-AA
54s+
75s++
K8o+
K4s+
A2o+
A2s+

As you can see, 33% represents a lot of hands, which is where some of the strength of a LAG style stems from — you have a difficult time knowing if such players are strong or weak preflop and whether they are betting with a pair, set, draw, or on a bluff after the flop.

How to Combat a Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy

You have probably gathered by now that taking on those who know how to play loose-aggressive poker can lead to stressful situations at the tables, but that is not to mean that they are unbeatable. You just need to adapt your own style to combat theirs and use their LAG style against them.

First, when playing against LAG players give more consideration to your own starting hand requirements. Finding yourself out of position against LAG players is a nightmare, but even having position on them while holding a weak hand can be equally as difficult.

A hand such as may be a perfectly legitimate hand to open with from the button, but if there is a good loose-aggressive player in the big blind who has been three-betting you all session, it is probably best not to raise here as a steal because you are likely to be playing in a bloated pot with a weak hand against someone who is not going to let you see a cheap showdown.

Second, when up against a LAG consider slowplaying your strong hands both before and after the flop. Players who are starting to get out of line with how frequently they three-bet you are likely to fold to a four-bet because their reraising range is so wide. This gives you the perfect opportunity to simply call a three-bet with strong pairs such as aces, kings, or queens. While you should not make a habit of this, it is a good play to have in your arsenal when taking on someone playing a solid loose-aggressive poker strategy.

Furthermore, you can extend this slowplaying to postflop, too. LAGs will often make a continuation-bet and at least another bet on the turn (barreling), yet put the brakes on when they face strong resistance. Instead of check-raising or raising a hand as strong as a set, let your loose-aggressive opponents have a little more rope with which to hang themselves.

Also think about using an opponent’s loose-aggressive range of starting hands against them by bluffing them. A couple of paragraphs ago we advocated slowplaying big hands preflop, yet you can also four-bet bluff a habitual three-bettor — especially if you have a tighter image — because they will give you credit for a strong hand and they are more likely to be holding something less than stellar.

Likewise, the occasional check-raise bluff on later streets can work wonders if your loose-aggressive opponent has shown to be capable of giving up on a hand when facing aggression.

List Of Famous Poker Players

Conclusion

Like all moves in poker, do not overuse any of the tips mentioned above. If you do, you will become much easier to read, and someone will eventually call your bluff. Once players with a solid loose-aggressive poker strategy figure out what you are trying to do against them, they will target you and make your time at the tables most uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, learn how to play a LAG style yourself and you can be the one making things less comfortable for others at the tables.

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