Transition from TAG to LAG

[Radford999]

Hi.

I have been playing poker for a number of years now. I'm 19 and live in England. My screename is Radford999. Some of you may know me from ITH. I rarely post in this forum. But i'm making more of an effort now [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I play mostly tourneys. The low buy-in ones. However, i do usually play the occasional big ones. I used to play very tight. But over the passed couple of months, i have been trying to develop a LAG playing style. So far it seems to be working. I feel like i'm playing hands that normally i wouldn't. Raising UTG more often and re-raising anyone that show weakness.

I'm a member of PXF, which i think is an awesome way to learn to play LAG. I have been watching Bel0wab0ve, Johnny and sheets who all play relatively loose and are very aggressive. I am much more aggressive nowadays because of this. The think that still gets me worried is not being able to acquire a big stack early on. If you look at all the top online players, they seems to acquire big stacks early on, which i don't.

Sometimes when i play i wonder how i could have done things differently to what the top online players would do. Would they raise this guy? just flat call? Raise this UTG? etc...

The thing that i'm still trying to learn is raising in EP in the late stage of tourneys. Sometimes i will do this, then bet out on the flop, then get raised, then the hands over and i'v lost %30 of my stack. If i didn't try to be aggressive, and stayed passive then i wouldn't have lost the %30. Am i seeing it the wrong way?

Basically my question is how to go from a TAG to a LAG %100. I'm kind of %50 there, but i want to learn how to become a full LAG and be very very aggressive. If any of you have played with me before, then feel free to tell me how i play etc...

Thanks, Chris.

[Popped Rod]

I think you need to post some hands to get a halfway decent analysis.

FWIW, I think winning LAG strategy included seeing a lot of cheap flops, trying to be in position, and being able to exploit reads/ranges of opponents hands.

If it is limped to you with 3 callers on your buuton, raise it up with 6 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 4 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. You may take it down PF but if you don't you have position to continuation bet a flop of A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 4 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

EP hands should have good draw potential, sooted connectors, gap connectors, etc..but you need to see a flop cheap. If you develop a read that CO tends to raise PF with premium hands, you can either smooth call his raise to exploit your read and hope for a favorable flop, or fold and stop bleeding chips.

YMMV, Rod

[cheburashka]

Open question for whoever is interested in this post: Is it possible for a TAG to become a top player?

I am a naturally conservative person, so TAG seems the more natural way for me to play. I found Harrington very persuasive, and I generally try to follow his advice. I've settled in at 20/12/1.6 (over 9000 hands), and although my ROI is still negative, it's approaching 0, and I think I'm getting gradually better. I generally don't have much success loosening up unless I see that the table is incredibly nitty.

On the other hand, when I read posts from the high-stakes forum, it seems that all of the top players are a lot looser and more aggressive than I am. So is there any hope of taking my game up to a very high level unless I emulate our English friend here and learn to LAG it up???

[hamnegger]

i think you can play tight but you have to identify the lags and use YOUR image to steal and you have to make tough calls post flop or they will run you ove. this is tough part

[cheburashka]

[ QUOTE ]
i think you can play tight but you have to identify the lags and use YOUR image to steal and you have to make tough calls post flop or they will run you ove. this is tough part

[/ QUOTE ]

Two very good points. Anyone else?

[Kimbell175113]

Play cash games for practice.

[Acein8ter]

I play TAG ABC stuff early on in a tourney so I don't get busted out early and pretty LAG at the CO and the button. I wouldn't classify yourself as one type of player, in tourneys, constantly change gears... That way, players have a really hard time putting you on a hand.

[Uncle_Billy]

Me too, pretty TAG ABC stuff very early on. Then I try to look for opportunities to take advantage of my perceived tightness - or take advantage of other players play - or take advantage of a situation in position - or try to play a particular line that makes sense preflop on. Examples:

Making note of the players who are playing 45% of their hands and raising it up a lot - I target them for a very occasional reraise, then cont bet nearly any scary flop against them (assuming it's heads up).

In early stages with a good drawing hand, I'll limp in with several prospective hands - but not a lot to where I look overly loose and am bleeding away chips (I allocate a small amount of my stack early on for this). These hands I'll play loose pre, very TAG post-flop.

Identify the timid tighties who fold to pressure, and look for situations / flops to knock them off their hands. Or if implied odds call for it, see a prospective flop against these players, given you can pretty much put them on a big pair / AK / AQ, and if you hit a flop hard with two bizarre cards, you can usually do well since nobody will put you on that hand.

Watch for the donky players who overbet pots preflop. I've seen a few of these lately - who overbet KJ, A10, low-mid pocket pair types of hands trying to take it down preflop by betting / raising 20x preflop. When you see this, and if you have the stones, a hand like 99, AQ, AJ is often worth a push in response, given you're probably slightly better than a coin flip against their range... a 20x raise preflop almost always means an OK / scared hand at best.

Similarly, doing this yourself, if you've got a loose image for whatever reason (even if you're generally a TAG) and played several hands in a row, sometimes overplaying a monster preflop often intices calls from players thinking they're going to show you...

Open raise in mid-late position with any two once in a while, if you've got a comfortable stack. Obv fold to a reraise. If you get to a flop, choose a hand to represent and bet accordingly on the flop / and/or rely on reads to assess a player's aggression on a particular flop and act accordingly...

ID people who always cont bet flops. Float in position, then take the pot on the turn if they show weakness. It helps a lot if you've done this before and shown down a great hand.

Watch the table dynamics. Obv you don't want to try a move against a decent player who's just committed 30% of their stack, or try to steal from a shortie blind / monster stack.

All this stuff is selective for me. If I do too much of any one thing, I end up getting away from the TAG image and the moves don't work.

[iplayscared]

i think the only thing ur probly missing is running like bax, below, sheets etc. at least, thats my problem

[Radford999]

Thanks for the replies.

Early on in tourneys, i will try and see cheap flops and limp in with suited connectors, one gappers etc. Even if i'm in EP, i will limp in with suited connectors just to try and see a cheap flop. sometimes it will obviously get raised, and i will have to fold. But if i am given the correct odds i will call.

Since making my transition from TAG to LAG, i have noticed a significant change in my stealing ability. I steal an awful lot more than i used to. Sometimes it might lead me to trouble. I.e, raising with J9 suited from MP, getting a call from the BB, making a cont bet and he raises. Sometimes he may just call, then i have to re-asses the situation and put him on a hand.

This is in the late stage of tourneys. I don't know why, but i find it much easier to steal on FT than i do on PS :/