The Advantages & Disadvantages of Loose Aggressive Play

Loose Aggressive style of play in poker involves playing a lot of hands with more raises. More often than not, people aspire to have a Tight Aggressive kind of play; however it is not the preferred style when it comes to playing in the tournaments as well as the Sit n Go tournaments. Introducing some of the LAG elements would improve the game up to a great extent.

At the time when you raise pre-flop with more than 35 hands and end up getting only about 1 or 2 callers, you would end up taking the pot, most of the times. At times when you happen to miss the flop entirely, the pre-flop raise would put you into complete control. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the time, your opponents would miss out on the flop completely. A continuation bet in such a situation would usually take the whole bet completely.

One of the biggest advantages of LAG approach would be the profits yielded by such a style of play. Obviously, like all the other strategies of poker, this tactic might not work all the time and you are likely to get check raised. However, you should be able to get away from the hand quite easily and you would also be able to control the losses. On the whole, it would increase your bankroll by getting you the smaller pots continuously; after all it would be practically impossible to win all the pots. It would be wise to fold at the time when you get check-raised.

There are a few disadvantages to the LAG approach as well. While using this style, you would always come across players who are inexperienced or calls more often even with the bottom pair. This would destroy your stack completely and therefore, it becomes mandatory to study the opponents appropriately and know whom to target effectively. It would make no sense to bluff at the point of facing a calling player.

Secondly, by going into the pot with marginal hands, you would often find yourself holding the second best hand. Even if you are holding the kicker or the middle pairs, as a LAG player, it is imperative to stay away from these second best hands, without actually losing a lot of money. If you are not careful enough, this would cause serious damage to your chips and also ruin your chances in the later stages of the game.

Nevertheless, the LAG elements in your game would ensure that you accumulate enough chips for the later stage of the game. You would also have an added advantage over the players who are playing tight in the early stages. These extra chips would allow you to take some risks during the later phases and provide some breathing space. On the other hand, the players who adopt a TAG approach would always be dependent on the best cards in the game and hence would have fairly less chances at the pot.