LAG (Loose-Aggressive)

A LAG might play 30–40% of hands, raising or re-raising with much of that range and firing multiple barrels after the flop. Done well, it's the most profitable style in soft games: constant pressure forces opponents into guesses, and most people guess wrong under pressure. Done badly — and it usually is — it's just losing money faster with extra steps.

The engine of the style is fold equity. When a LAG bets $100 into a $150 pot on the river as a bluff, the bet only needs to work 40% of the time to break even. Against opponents who fold too much — which describes most low-stakes players on scary runouts — those bluffs print, and the times they get called are paid for by the monster hands the LAG plays exactly the same way.

The costs are real: bigger swings, more marginal decisions, and a constant need to read hands accurately. A LAG's variance is dramatically higher than a TAG's at the same stake, so the bankroll requirement goes up with it. Most self-described LAGs at home games are actually just loose and loud — raising on impulse and calling too much. The real thing is disciplined aggression with a plan for every street.

If you want to experiment, do it in position against tight opponents first, and track the results separately. A month of numbers showing the loose experiment costing 5bb/100 is your answer; a month showing it printing against your particular table is permission to keep going. Style debates are settled by tracked results, not feelings. The honest self-test is simple: can you name what your opponent folds to this bet? If not, you're not playing LAG — you're gambling, and the variance will find your bankroll eventually, and it always collects.