First, let me preface this article with the fact that I play mostly at short-handed NL tables, so my opinions may or may not be applicable to other games.

Loose Aggressive (LAG) opponents are the most exciting people to have at my table. They can pay me off in a single well-played hand. Tight and/or passive players are easier to play against but it’ll take awhile to get their stack, even if the deck hits you in the face.

LAGs like to outplay their opponents, but often fail to realize that folding is sometimes the best way to outplay someone by not paying them off. LAGs will force people off better hands for a lot of small pots, but if they’re not careful, they can be trapped for their entire stack.

When playing against a LAG, I loosen up quite a bit myself. When playing against a table full of poker-book-reading-players, you can put everyone on a certain group of hands. For example, if someone opens for a raise in early position, they probably have a big pair or a big ace. Contrary to popular belief, you can put a LAG on a hand as well, except with less accuracy. You can base an average hand they might have by how many times they raise. If they raise every fourth hand, then put them on a hand in the 25% of hand rankings…maybe KT or thereabouts. Play back at them with better hands.

My goal when playing against a LAG is to build a pot with a hand that I can break them with. The first step in building pots is to demonstrate to the LAG that you’re willing to play a lot of hands against him. You’ll need to repop his bets once in awhile and call him down with less than premium hands. I basically play only a little tighter than him. By reraising him with KT or A7 and calling him down with middle pair once in awhile, you’ll get more action when you try to build pots. Besides, you’ll probably have the best hand anyway. He’ll go on tilt when you call and win with mediocre hands and he probably isn’t used to getting reraised with less than premium hands. Most LAGs get the table to turtle up and play tighter waiting for hands. If you play back at them, they will not be used to it and you’ll immediately have the advantage getting them to pay you off to boot.

OK, now that you’ve disguised yourself as a LAG, the fun starts. The key is playing slightly tighter than him. You will both get equal cards over the long run, so you’ll need to fold the worst hand just a little more than he does in order to show a profit.

I personally believe that the turn is the ideal spot to build a pot and take control of the hand. Calling the flop and reraising on the turn will build the biggest pot while still giving the LAG a reason to call. By just calling the flop, it may induce the LAG to take another shot at the pot. On the turn, the bullet will be three times as big as the flop bet (assuming pot-sized bets). $10 in the pot. He bets $10, you call $10…$30. On the turn he bets $30…that is $60. If you call and raise pot, that makes a $180 pot. $180 is hard for a LAG to get away from when the big blind is $2 or even $4. Even is he figures to have 4 outs, he’ll probably still call, especially if his remaining stack is on the short side.

It also helps if you raise on the flop once in awhile with strong, but vulnerable hands. Likewise folding to a big turn bet once in awhile is a good idea. Both of these things will encourage big turn bluffs paying you off when you get your hand.

The biggest mistake I see people make playing against a LAG is slowplaying less than the stone cold nuts. If you’ve proved that you’re willing to reraise with KT, why not do it with aces? You want to get as much in the pot as possible when you’re sure you have the best of it (preflop). You’ll get paid off if he has a big ace or a high/medium pair. He’ll also repop you on the flop if he hits top pair, giving you a chance to push in with an overpair. You can only push if the pot is already large or else it is too easy for him to get away from a hand. Another thing is that with a LAG, you’ll hardly know where you stand in a hand, so what are you going to do when he check-raises your turn bet and you have aces? 6 cards out and all you have is a high pair. He could have one of the million hands that beat a pair by then. Don’t be scared to build a pot early…you’ll still get paid off. One last note…the bigger the pot compared to your stack sizes, the less implied odds you’re giving him to chase. You want him to chase, but you don’t want to give him pot odds….and you really don’t want to pay him off when he hits (implied odds).

Games play larger when there is a LAG at the table. Since there will be a lot of chips flying across the felt, people will be losing and rebuying and then accumulating chips back again. I've witnessed LAGgy tables get some deep stacks pretty quickly. If risking a deep stack on a non-nut hand scares you, then you probably shouldn't be playing against a LAG at that limit.

Also, watch out for the LAG slowing down when stacks get deep. I'd bet that they are now happy with their stack and will start playing smart trying to preserve it or double it up with their LAG image.

One last thing….Don’t lose track of the other players at the table. I have often concentrated too much on outplaying the LAG that I’ve forgotten to consider the tightwad who has been calling the whole way to the river and then suddenly pops it. That actually leads me into another topic….How to play against a table with a LAG including how it changes other people’s play. The toughest thing is to figure out if the smart player is raising the LAG because he has a premium hand or if he is just trying to isolate the LAG with a mediocre hand.

I try to figure out what the other players are doing against the LAG as fast as I can. Some players tighten up way too much and wait for aces to play back at the LAG. The LAG will obviously fold as soon as those players show some resistance, thus not paying them off. Some players will start calling way too much slowing down the LAG and letting him bet for value. You’ve got to figure out which of those players is in the hand with you and what they are trying to do.

Check out doubleas's book, Pressure Poker: Poker Strategy and Tools to Improve Your Game (also available in the PokerSavvy Shop)