Here is the best strategic approach to play in each poker session:
“How can I steal this pot?”
Watch this podcast episode #507 on YouTube:
Or listen to the episode below:
What is a strategic approach?
When you’re not playing a volume session (play as many tables and hands as possible to win money)You should play with a purpose to develop your skills.
You are studying with me right now and you are about to learn a strategy. To ingrain it in your skills, you need to practice it in at least one gaming session.
You want to find opportunities and use the strategy as many times as it is profitable in the session to ingrain it in your skills.
Other strategic approaches I have shared with you in the past:
Best strategic approach: “How can I steal this pot?”
This is the best strategy to use for 5 reasons.
1. Those who steal more boats earn more money.
Aggression wins in poker. You can’t always have the best hand. But you can get people out of better hands with well-planned bluffs.
2. This is a useful strategy on all streets.
You can ask and answer this question on each street to help you steal more boats.
Preflop, it will help you find:
- blind robberies
- 3bet steals
- Squeeze steals
- Iso-raise steals
- 4bet+ push steals
After the flop, it will help you find:
- betting robberies
- donkey steals
- robberies xr
- barrel robberies
- Floating and probe robberies.
If you can answer the question: “How can I steal this boat?” With a valid robbery strategy, pull the trigger.
3. It keeps you focused on the situation at hand most of the time.
It’s not very often that we get a hand made up like solid pairs, sets, flushes, etc. In fact, it happens less than 35% of the time on the flop:
This 40% range fails on the mid+ pair only 33.8% of the time.
If you hit the flop only 33.8% of the time, you miss the other 66.2% of the time. Yes, to win more pots you have to steal more often. It is difficult to obtain value with “pp below mp” or less.
And even if If you are lucky enough to flop a draw, you often complete it less than 20% of the time. So to win the pot, you’ll probably have to commit to stealing!
4. Non-believers pay aggressive players.
You’ve been on the other side of this coin. You call the LAG with KT, the board comes Kxxxx. You check-call on 3 streets knowing that the LAG could easily bluff on all 3 streets. But he delivers AK and takes a good pot when this time he did have the goods.
You didn’t think the GAL would have such a good hand. That’s the power of having a LAG image.
You’re stealing pots like crazy, but when you have the goods, you get more value than ever!
5. It’s much more fun to play aggressively than passively.
It’s no fun waiting for AA and TP hands.
The fun is stealing pots with check-raises, 3-bet bluffs, double and triple barrel bluffs, and betting when they check to win the pot.
One of the best feelings is when I bluff on the flop and turn, and then get a very strong hand on the river:
Take action
Play with a steal approach.
Sticky note: “How can I steal this boat?”
Ask and answer this question:
- When you have a worthless hand before the flop.
- When you smell the flop/turn/river.
Answer the question with all the information available, and if you think you can win by betting or raising, do it!
Play with a “Go ahead!” Attitude
Do you have problems using or dealing with aggression? Let’s train ourselves to use and deal with additional levels of aggression by playing with a “Go!” attitude.
Watch this podcast episode #508 on YouTube:
Or listen to the episode below:
A few weeks ago I gave one of my students the task of playing with the approach of “How can I steal this boat?” (episode #507 above)
Well, he had a little problem and sent me this email:
“I tried to play with that focus on stealing, but it was difficult. When I was stealing, they would pick me up again and not leave. I stole some good pots, but I continued to face more attacks. It seemed more than usual. She made these robbery sessions no fun.
In the end, I just tensed up because they kept betting and raising.
What did I do wrong?
He didn’t do anything wrong.
This is one of the ways real life merges with poker.
[Real Life] When two people have a disagreement, things can get heated. Voices are raised, insults begin and everything can turn into a full-blown fight.
[Poker] You’re making aggressive plays against them and they get sick of it. Then, they counterattack with their own aggression. And now all of a sudden you’re faced with extra aggression that you’re not used to and maybe you’re playing a style that you’re not used to. Then, you go back to your normal style of tight play. That’s a natural reaction.
How to play with a “Go!” aggressive attitude
Welcome to your aggression. Instead of thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is more than the usual bets and raises,” think, “Yeah, go for it!”
Expect their aggression and plan for it. If you know there is still a 3bettor left to act, plan for him to 3bet you. How will you respond? Fold, call or re-raise?
Don’t blindly use aggression to steal boats. Know that they may find a wrinkle. Think about their range and the board, their position, their tendencies, the plays they make and don’t make, the size of their stack and the size of the pot, and use all that information to evaluate whether or not they can fold. If so, steal! If not, don’t steal.
Pay attention to your image and statistics. If you’re playing a 40/38 game, they won’t honor your open raises. When you have 3bet 4 times in the last 6 rounds, they will not honor your 3bets. If you have cbet every flop and every turn, they will not honor your cbets.
Pay attention to their anger level. If you have been hitting them with aggression and also stacking them, they will become angry and angry with you. Be prepared for your big bets and raises. They will also frequently call you to catch you bluffing or to get a big hand and get their chips back.
Take action!
Play at least 5 of these “Go!” Sessions to increase the use of aggression and develop tolerance against increased aggression.
And, to help you be aggressive, below is my 12-hand review of a recent “Go!” session I played. I ran a 40/32 game with 13% 3bet and cbet f/t/r at 82%, 71% and 50%. I raised 3.5 buy-ins this session with a win rate of +232bb/100 hands.