By observing your opponents at a table, you will be able to categorize them. Every login idnpoker player has some degree of tight or loose, passive or aggressive in his or her personality. The first step is to determine whether opponents are tight or loose. If a player folds most hands, mark him as tight. If he tends to play many hands, set him loose. The next factor to determine is whether opponents are passive or aggressive. Do they call more often than they raise and bet? In this case, they can be categorized as liabilities. If they bet and raise a lot, you can classify them as aggressive.
The four basic styles of playing poker
When evaluating these factors, you typically see four general combinations of play styles – Tight Passive, Loose Passive, Tight Aggressive, and Loose Aggressive. Knowing the characteristics of your opponents will help you understand what actions each player takes in a hand.
Tight Passive
A tight-passive player plays few hands and usually calls pre-flop only if he has a hand he likes. Because of the strength of the cards he usually plays, when he bets, it is common for all opponents to fold. In addition, by playing with fear of losing, this type of player does not tend to “call to see” in likely bluff situations from their opponents. Thus, the tight-passive profile has a harder time picking up many chips in a few hands. Aggressive profiles tend to pressure tight-passive players.
Loose passive
Loose passive players participate in many hands and rise to see the flop. If they have a slightly promising hand, they usually stay in the game. However, they rarely become aggressive in their plays. The approach of a loose passive player involves watching and letting other players take their chances. As these players tend to call, bluffing against them is not recommended. However, if you have a good hand, betting big can be a good way to go.
Tight aggressive
Tight aggressive players are patient and selective, but not afraid to bet. This profile tends to scare opponents, mainly because they do not play many hands and tend to bet only when the probability of winning is higher.
Loose aggressive
An online poker player with a loose aggressive profile tends to raise and re-raise a wide variety of hands on and before the flop. Precisely because he plays a wide variety of hands, this player bluffs frequently and is difficult to read. Often in no-limit, he uses his chips to put pressure on his opponents. In more extreme situations, a player with this profile will bet even if the hands are bad. So, in the end, they tend to lose more than they win.
From tight passive to lose aggressive, there is no ideal profile for the game of Poker. The important thing is to know how to identify when it is necessary to be more aggressive and in what circumstances it is necessary to be more cautious. Adapting the style of play according to hands and opponents tends to be a more successful poker strategy in the end.