A level of online poker aggression that rarely gets discussed, but yet is quite prevalent and a large part of Texas Holdem poker games is fold equity. Fold equity is an advantage that the poker pro creates for himself by betting and raising, rather than just calling, with the intent of making his opponents fold their hands.
The key to successfully implementing and exploiting fold equity is to know the poker playing characteristics of your opponents and their flop/fold percentages. Poker pros understand these percentages and use them to their advantage.
In general, most Texas Holdem players love to bet whether it is at in person poker games or especially at an online poker table. One of today’s poker rules of thumb, which is often exacerbated on televised poker events such as the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker is that aggression equals strength and assertiveness, and anything less than aggression is perceived as weakness. This new found attitude in the modern Texas Holdem game makes many online poker players try and bully and steamroll their opponents out of their chips with aggressive tactics, hoping to force other players to fold their poker hands, thus, employing fold equity techniques. Professional poker players do this better than amateurs and that is why they win money.