Seems like everyone recommends TAGG poker

Every poker book, article or summary on good poker play seems to agree that TAGG poker is the best way to go if you want to be able to perform best at any table.

Here's my question: since EVERYONE is being told how to play this way, would it not be more effective to play the opposite way than everyone else?

Opinions and why?

Intuitively you are correct. The problem is that LAGG poker, or LAP poker, requires superior hand reading skills that most beginners lack.

Originally Posted by ponyboy

Every poker book, article or summary on good poker play seems to agree that TAGG poker is the best way to go if you want to be able to perform best at any table.

Here's my question: since EVERYONE is being told how to play this way, would it not be more effective to play the opposite way than everyone else?

Opinions and why?

Ah the holy grail question that I've been working on myself.

Ok... here is what I can tell you after 6 months of playing online. TAGG is the correct method to start with, once you have established that everyone else is playing TAGG at your table/tourney though, you can loosen up a bit... change your range, project that you are still playing TAGG and expect to get bit at least once... but you can loosen up, but remember you have to do it smartly!

LAGG play works for some people, some are betting maniacs, betting then shoving nearly any hand at a tight table, which works for a while, but when they get burned they get burned hard.

Remember, just because most books, sites and other areas tell YOU to play TAGG, you are already ahead of the game because YOU are doing the research, over 50% of the players out there could care less about the 'right' way to play to win. They are in it for the luck.

Every article, book, etc. recommends TAGG poker because a small percentage of the people you will be playing against, especially online, bother reading articles or books. And if they do read an article that tells them to play tight, they're still raising with ace rag UTG because they think that's tight enough.

If every poker player you were playing read the same articles and books that you had (assuming they absorbed them and are implementing the strategies), it would almost certainly be incorrect to play TAGG as well.

A great player can be either tight or loose, but they always have one thing in common, and that's aggressiveness. At the lower levels, almost every table is very loose so it would only make sense to play tight so you're ahead on the flop more often. As you move up in levels however, you'll definitely need to switch it up here and there.

Originally Posted by ponyboy

Every poker book, article or summary on good poker play seems to agree that TAGG poker is the best way to go if you want to be able to perform best at any table.

Here's my question: since EVERYONE is being told how to play this way, would it not be more effective to play the opposite way than everyone else?

Opinions and why?

Most beginning players don't read articles or books. You already have an advantage over them.

Tight is the centerpiece of most winning strategies because if you play tighter than your opponents (within reason) you will tend to have better hands and better position than them.

Loosening up is an exploitive strategy you use when your opponents are making terrible post-flop mistakes, playing too tight pre-flop or to mix up your game to induce action from a wider range of hands.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Tight is the centerpiece of most winning strategies because if you play tighter than your opponents (within reason) you will tend to have better hands and better position than them.

Loosening up is an exploitive strategy you use when your opponents are making terrible post-flop mistakes, playing too tight pre-flop or to mix up your game to induce action from a wider range of hands.

This pretty much hits the nail on the head.

And for what it's worth, the idea that the most profitable strategy is to play the opposite of your opponents is very much misunderstood and misapplied.