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Poker Styles: Aggressive Versus Defensive

By Gustav Jung

With the amount of books, magazines and other publications that are designed to increase the user's ability to win at poker are staggering, books on how to improve your game have been published since the very beginning of poker itself, focusing on all different aspects and styles of playing the game of poker. But what many of these books do not address is the simple fact that every person is different and every playing style will be different depending on the person. A player might be cool, calm and calculating, the next player might be aggressive and hotheaded, recklessness does not make for a good player, it is important to differentiate between aggressive and reckless in knowing how to play and knowing when to let loose. The trend for overly aggressive players to get themselves into trouble is fairly common, and it is widely agreed that aggressive playing is far more effective than any type of defensive play style.

When playing defensively, it is a difficult matter to intimidate other players and cause them to bet and play erratically. For this very reason, many poker players choose to adopt a more aggressive playing style. Without this aggressive playing style, it is almost impossible to convince other players that you have a strong hand or that you are a strong player. But, conversely, with a defensive playing style it can sometimes be very difficult to compete with aggressive players who dominate the table. This tendency for aggressive players to dominate can often come into conflict with their ability to maintain a long-term strategy. The truth is, neither style is more effective than the other. The truly skilled and experienced player will simply play the cards as they are dealt and adopt an aggressive or defensive strategy as necessary. Furthermore, many players will act in one way to simply distract players or to remain unpredictable. As soon as players can determine what's in your hand by your playing style, the game is over and they have won.

Subscribing to a strictly aggressive or defense of playing style is simply a foolish way of pigeonholing yourself into an easily beaten playing style. Always change up your style depending on the strength of your hand and the strength of your opposition. Playing aggressively or defensively means nothing more than allowing others to predict your next move and counter it effectively.

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