What is your poker playing style?
Those who play online poker will undoubtedly have encountered talk of various poker playing styles; there are a few widely accepted ‘types of player’ that you are likely to encounter at the virtual felt.
With a little knowledge, it can become a fairly simple affair to observe the way in which an opponent handles the game, then categorise them into a certain ‘type of player’; taking this approach to the game can greatly improve an online poker player’s performance, enabling them to make the right decision for whichever opponent they find themselves playing against…
The first playing style to be wary of is the ‘tight aggressive’ player; these opponents are among the hardest that you will come across, but fortunately they comprise the minority of small stakes poker games. A tight aggressive player will fold the majority of their hands, playing only strong starting cards and playing them fearlessly, with big raises in order to make people pay to play against them.
Tight passive players are similar to tight aggressive players, with the exception of commitment to a hand; these kinds of players will play few hands but will play them more conservatively then tight aggressive players. This makes this style of play somewhat weaker than a tight aggressive style.
Loose aggressive players make up the majority of small stakes online poker games; these players are unpredictable and cause even the most experienced player a great deal of aggravation. Fortunately, loose aggressive players will usually lose more big hands than they win.
Loose passive players are few and far between due to the lack of headway that this style of playing is capable of making. Loose aggressive players will play most hands and fold most hands. They are viewed as ‘chip vendors’ by any experienced players at the table.