Poker has become the modern man's form of the old western showdown where the hero faces the villain head on at the stroke of noon. In some cases it feels good to be the villain, constantly pushing the table with absolute merciless aggression and action. Flurry of chips flying everywhere, tilting the conservative, tight, old school players and always pummeling the weak check callers who have no absolution on the worth of their cards- "is my pair good?". Reflecting on my game, I would say my game has grown stronger within the last six months of play. This is probably attributed to change on the way I play preflop and on the flop with my pocket pairs and AK AQ. With AK AQ, I will always make sure I'm the last one putting in the raise. If it is raised before me I will three bet it to narrow down the field- getting down to 2-3 way action, and instilling strong position over my opponents. When playing in mid to high stakes poker, position with a strong reraise puts a lot a pressure on the players. Novice players are left thinking you have the boss hand and will surely muck if the flop does not hit and even causes the seasoned player to ponder if you have a strong wired pair. If your AK AQ hits then usually you will have the best hand unless your up against AA. Then its up to your feel of the opponent to decide if you're beaten. Preflop with pocket pairs 88-JJ are played the same way. I usually always three bet with these hands in any position with maybe 1-2 people involved for the same reasons I do with AK AQ. The only time I don't reraise is when there is big multi-way action such as 4-5 players. Don't want to put too much money if it flops bad. Going back to my game improvement analysis, on the flop I will usually always play back at the other players with a raise if they bet out regardless if my AK AQ hit or my wired pair is not the top pair. This play is to maintain pressure on the opponent and uncertainty in their decisions. I want them to feel behind. However if they still bet out on the turn and my hand still doesn't improve I will decide from there, with other factors to consider, before making my next play-muck, call, fold. I don't mind getting caught speeding because I play QQ KK AA the same way I play those hands. If my AK gets snapped by a pair then so be it but then they will end up paying me off when I do have the boss hand because they know that I'm capable of playing my pocket pairs and AK's the same. This form of aggression, position, and confusion will make it hard for many players to call with nothing but the best hand. Makes most people who flop mid pair muck when I might not have improved with my draw hand AK. It will push out and cause players with AK AQ to muck when they don't improve as well. Before, I never reraised peflop with mid pocket pairs and AK AQ (unless suited) because I didn't want to commit myself to being a caller on the flop. My style changed because many times I would muck AK when it flopped low after calling a raise preflop when I felt it was best. Overall, before I changed my style preflop, most players would say I am a highly aggressive player putting big plays on the turn and river but now I'm revered as being ridiculously aggressive. Have to if you want to rake in those $1000-$1500 wins in 10-20 and 15-30 or $600 5-10 wins. Some may say that this is throwing too many chips in the pot but I know that constant pressure and aggression are key to my growing skill and wins. Oh yeah. Thanks to all those whom have read my blogs and replied. Like reading your comments so keep them coming.

Source: Solving the Poker Puzzle