My "New" Style and a Funny Hand

Hello,

So I have been working on putting some aggression back into my game. Back in early '03 and '04 I remember being aggressive to the point of being stupid. Any two would do even for a call. I was winning a lot because nobody else knew what it meant to be aggressive. Then, as people starting become online professional poker players and the aggression level became out of control, I began playing an aggressive pre-flop game and a passive post-flop game. My reasoning, which I think was sound, was that if everyone is being aggressive I would let them do the betting for me. And it worked. It still does work, depending, of course, upon the game in which I am playing. But now, I think there is a move toward stepping down the aggression level (not so much in tournaments as I think the lack of aggression is more prevalent in cash games) so I think it's time for me to move back to a more aggressive games.

Since I have been playing an aggressive-passive game for so long I have forgotten what it means to be relentlessly aggressive. So in order to bring back the aggressive game that has been hibernating inside of me for the last several years I decided to play 75-80% of my hands at full ring games for the last few days. Then, as the days go by, I am stepping down the aggression to become a selectively aggressive player. The key to this style being successful is that I will also incorporate both styles of play and mesh them into one. My hope is that it will make me a wildly unpredictable players who is capable of having quads or 3-high at any point. My true hope is that I get paid on the quads and take down the pots in which I have 3-high uncontested. But alas, isn't this every poker player's dream? So far so good. I lost a lot with while being ridiculously super aggressive but I learned a lot about my opponents' tendencies during that period. I wanted to know their threshold and I think I have found a happy median. After about two weeks of working on this by bankroll is back to where it was before I started this experiment which tells me two things. One, over aggressive doesn't work. And two, my new style works well because I made my money back using this new style of play. So now I am armed with my original bankroll and what I consider to be a more deadly game. It is also a more fun way of playing. Rather than just sitting there waiting for the fish to swim to me, which is profitable, I am now seeking out the good fishing spots.

Now, on to a funny hand that I played. I will show the hand and explain everything that happened along the way. It's interesting how my new style of play should be to play it this way anyway but it's funny how it worked out that way. Here's the hand.

$0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: Player 1 ($32.30)
Seat 2: Player 2 ($33.30)
Seat 3: Tom Jefferson ($55.95)
Seat 4: Player 3 ($37.05)
Seat 5: Player 4 ($52.25)
Seat 6: Player 5 ($48.75)
Seat 7: Player 6 ($69.40)
Seat 8: Player 7 ($7.75)
Seat 9: Player 8 ($31.70)

Player 6 posts the small blind of $0.25
Player 7 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #6

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tom Jefferson [ ]
Player 8 limps (suited connectors or suited ace. this guy is a terrible player and I have played a lot with him before)
Tom Jefferson raises to $2 (standard, I think)
folds, folds, folds ,folds ,folds
Player 8 calls $1.50 (limp-call UTG means he doesn't have aces or kings. I know him and I am positive that this is not the case. It would be a first for him)

*** FLOP *** [ ]
Player 8 has 15 seconds left to act
Player 8 bets $3 (I think it is more likely that he is leading out with a weak suited ace than an 8 although an 8 would make sense here since a hand like 9-8s, 8-7s, 10-8s is in his range although it is more likely he goes for a check-raise here with an 8)
Tom Jefferson calls $3 (there is no question I should raise here. I need to know where I am and his bet really doesn't tell me that much. I am leaning about 80% toward a weak suited ace here though)

*** TURN *** [ ] [] (of course the one hand which I feel he is capable of having hits the turn)
Player 8 has 15 seconds left to act
Player 8 bets $5 (he made his hand so he bets)
Tom Jefferson has 15 seconds left to act (I am not really thinking here. I am playing a hand on another table. I am about 90% going to go with my read and fold this because I can only beat a semi-bluff here)
Tom Jefferson raises to $10 (when I clicked back to the table I clicked the raise button which min-raised by default. oops)
Player 8 calls $5 (now I have change my read completely for him. If he had an 8 he would certainly shove here because he left himself with very few chips. I think he shoves with an ace too because there is little reason to call the bet. If he had an ace, why wait to the river to get his money in? If he doesn't have an ace, why call at all? My guess is he picked up a flush draw on the turn with something like Js-10s)

*** RIVER *** [ ] [] (nice card, especially if he actually has the hand I think he has)
Player 8 has 15 seconds left to act
Player 8 checks (OK, he missed. He has a busted flush, at best)
Tom Jefferson bets $13.50 (I bet here to get value from a jack. I am 100% sure that he does not have an 8 or and ace and I may even get paid from a 6 here if I am lucky. If he has a jack he can also call since I gave him a good price to do so. OK, maybe giving him 2.5-1 on the call was too high a price for a jack but it was worth a shot.)
Player 8 folds (nothing. most likely a busted flush or even a busted flopped straight draw)
Uncalled bet of $13.50 returned to Tom Jefferson
Tom Jefferson mucks
Tom Jefferson wins the pot ($29.25)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $30.75 | Rake $1.50

Here's the thing. My new style tells me to shove when a scare card comes on the turn because a lot of players, especially at this level, have been told to bet the "scare" card. It should have worked as it fit withing the range on which I put him. Even with my new style I was going to fold this hand because I was leaning more toward the fact that I was outdrawn on the turn. But I accidentally made the "right" move and it worked out well, cementing the fact that my new style is more correct than what I have been doing until now. So from now on, if the situation demands it, I will make what is usually a scare card for me a scare card for my opponent.

See you on the felt,