Poker Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
Applied Pressure vs Standard 3-bet Strategy
Applied Pressure vs Standard 3-bet Strategy Either the applied pressure or the standard 3-bet strategy will be the optimal approach to take based on the specific table you're at. If you fall in love with an applied pressure 3-betting strategy, employing it every time you sit down at a table will generally be a mistake. The kinds of players you have to your immediate right and left should be the primary determining factor as to which kind of strategy will yield the highest EV.
For example, if you have a bad
For example, if you have a bad loose aggressive player on your immediate right, and a bad fishy player on your immediate left, employing an applied pressure strategy won't be ideal. You'll end up pushing the fish out of the pot far too often if they keep seeing re-raises in front of them. Having the bad loose aggressive player on your right is ideal, but the weak fishy player on your immediate left trumps the bad LAG player. If the fishy player wasn't on your immediate left, and you had decent regulars to your immediate left, then the applied pressure 3-betting strategy would work great. Some better regulars might start to adjust after awhile, but in general it's a great approach to take to isolate the bad LAG player.