Poker News

Poker has become more aggressive, pro says

2010-02-10 13:53:58

Professional poker player Martin de Knijff has claimed that the game has got far more aggressive in recent years, particularly in tournaments.

The Swedish card sharp noted that ace-king, ace-king and even king-queen are leading to some huge raises with nothing more than a draw, the Boston Globe reports.

"I don't disagree with limping with king-queen suited," he remarked. "But, I think people raise way too much before the flop with that and other hands where if someone re-raises, they really can't call."

According to De Knijff, who won over $2.7 million at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five-Star event in 2004, this kind of play can be ruthlessly exploited by individuals who have enough talent to ride out the occasional bad beats.

He recalled a hand in which he used this over-aggressiveness to capitalise in the 2008 WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Holding ace-king, De Knijff put his opponent all in with an A-Q-5 rainbow board and his adversary called with king-queen of diamonds and failed to improve.