Reason #1
Poker"DEMOCRACY": Initiative. If there is a one word answer that would represent a
fantastic reason for you to play aggressively, it would be the word
initiative. When you take the initiative in poker, what you are doing is
forcing your opponent to make the decision.Poker"DEMOCRACY"
Consider a no limit poker
hand. If you push all of your chips in, you are forcing your opponent to
make the tough decision regarding the call. If they were to push in
before you however, you would then be in a position where you needed to
make a tough decision for all of the chips in your stack. When these two
situations are compared with each other, it becomes very easy to see
that you would rather be in the first position than the second. You can
do so by taking the initiative and you can’t take the initiative in
poker unless you play aggressively.
Reason #2
Another reason that you play aggressively is to set up a play of some
sort later on in the session. The human race is a curious one and one
particularly interesting point about human beings is that when they are
playing poker, they tend to more easily notice and remember players when
they play aggressively than when they play conservatively. A person can
play 99 hands conservatively and one hand aggressively and chances are
that if they make a big enough deal of playing that one hand
aggressively, most of the players at the table will peg them as an
aggressive player. Playing aggressively, especially early on in the
session, can be a good way of pre-emptive gear changing and can allow
you to play conservatively later and get some serious action for your
big hands.
Reason #3
When you consider the various reasons that are available for aggressive
play in poker, another one that picks up is that the best players in the
world are aggressive. When you think of players like Phil Ivey, Gus
Hansen and Daniel Negreanu, you cannot help but notice how aggressive
those players are. By the same token, even players like Mike Sexton,
Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein are all players that play
aggressively. That is the only way to play if you want to be successful
as a poker player over the course of the long term and that is yet one
more reason why aggressive play is absolutely essential when you are
seated at a poker table.
Reason #4
One final reason to play aggressively that many people actually miss
when they are thinking through the reasons is that playing aggressively
actually helps you focus on the task at hand. When you are playing
conservatively, it is very easy to let your mind wander because you are
involved in the action less often. If you play your hands aggressively
however, you are going to be taking the initiative quite often and in
the end that means that you will be forced to pay far more attention to
the game than you otherwise might do.
Poker"DEMOCRACY"
