All regular poker players know that poker is a very fast-developing game and if you want to always be in the saddle you should react to all changes in the game accordingly. For instance, a winning player may notice that with the time less professional players try to imitate the way he plays. As a result his tactics losses its effectiveness and he has to adjust his play to the new conditions.

Thus, some years ago a tight-passive style of poker was the most popular. At present, aggressiveness in this game has grown considerable, as the masses of players follow each move of professionals and memorize their all strategic manoeuvres.

In this situation previous techniques are no longer as useful as before. So, it is necessary to review some basics which could undergo changes due to the recent tendencies.

One of the truths we have learnt from the previous period is that calling shows weakness . It still works, but with the only amendment: to show weakness when you are playing with extremely aggressive opponents can be a good thing.

When you are holding a great hand, it’s better to make your opponents try to throw you out of the pot, than to let them know that you have something.

Let’s talk about the cases when calling shows strength . If your opponent is a very skilled player, your calling may cause alarms from his side more than if you were raising or betting. This kind of players is likely to take you for a player like he is and understands the status of poker with its aggression levels.

If other players perceive you like a rather strong and aggressive player and they are sure you are not a calling station, your calling will be evaluated by other good players like warning.

The thing which will probably never change is that the raiser controls the hand . When are able to control the hand in play you feel more secure. With the nuts, you’d like the other person to be in control, comfortable and worry free.

Meanwhile, if you don’t have the nuts, you almost always want to be in control of the hand. Playing against tight players who are willing to play only strong hands, it is best to raise every time you have a chance to do that.

Pot control is more effective in case if you are playing against very loose opponents who like to see rivers. Aggressiveness is not helpful here. You can’t get fold equity by raising if your opponent is not going to fold.

If you raise, you’ll have increased the total size of the pot. A loose player is unlikely to fold, when the pot is big enough and attractive.

The most effective way to control pot size is by simply calling, or check-calling.

Good players always know how to make the size of a pot go up. The bigger pot is, the larger-sized bets the players will make, increasing it even more.

If the pot is growing exponentially, the best times to exercise pot control are pre-flop and on the flop.

Suspecting an opponent of bluffing on the river , the worst thing you can do is to raise. Your read the whole hand has been that the other player had a flush draw. On the river it is obvious that the flush draw has missed. Other players will start the betting round instead of checking one for the first time in the hand.

Raising here is a big mistake as opposed to calling which may be profitable in the long run.

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that in general the most aggressive version of poker is online one. It does not mean that you should play even more aggressively. Sometimes actually calling is better than raising, even there.

Of course, being aggressive can be a very effective way of play, but you need to use it in complex of other poker techniques.

In some cases for maximum earnings a player will use passive/slow playing. Use both methods. The most important thing is to know how to mix them up.