Playing online poker against aggressive opponents can be extremely challenging or extremely rewarding depending on a number of different factors. As with most scenarios, things like the size of your chip stack come into play but when playing against aggressive opponents the importance of this is amplified considerably. The best way to deal with aggressive opponents is to try to flip the tables back on them and make them the defender instead of the aggressor. There is a saying that says that aggressors only respond to aggression and this is a great approach when playing against aggressive poker players.
The first thing to avoid when playing against aggressive opponents is becoming the target of their aggression. Aggressive players will usually go after the player at the table they perceive to be the weakest. As such, it is imperative that you avoid appearing to be the weakest player at the table. If you appear to be the weakest player at the table, the rest of the players are going to hammer at you continuously, making it very difficult to play the way that you normally would. Once you become the target of their aggression, it is extremely difficult to get out of this position.
Instead of becoming the player who is viewed as the weakest because they did not take advantage of an online poker bonus, you should assert your strength early on if you are playing with aggressive opponents. Sometimes showing that you are not going to be pushed around will cost you money. For example, if you are not sure you have the best hand and someone has been raising you a number of times, you may have to reraise to assert the fact that you are not going to be pushed around. Even if you end up losing the hand, it shows that you are not going to sit there and let people push you all over which is exactly what you are trying to do.
Additionally, you can use your opponents’ aggression to your benefit as well. If you have a strong hand, you can play it casually with the expectation that they are going to raise and casually call all the way giving them enough rope to hang themselves. Many aggressive players will also continue you attack if they smell blood in the water. What I mean by this is that if you give up a few hands you can often get them to play more aggressively and take more chips off them than they would otherwise be willing to let go of because they think they sense weakness.
Playing against aggressive opponents requires a number of different things in order to be successful. You need to avoid showing weakness in order to avoid being the target of all the aggression. By showing strength, you can avoid becoming the target of their aggression and even if it costs you a few chips to establish this position, it is well worth the cost.