Learning Player Types

Significance of Player Types

There are many types and variations of players with varying strategies. It is very important to, at least, group them into categories. Each category requires you to adjust your betting strategy accordingly. For instance, you may not want to be aggressive against an aggressive player or perhaps you do, for certain types of aggressive players. The point is to know what type of player you are facing in order to assess his likely response and what this response is likely to indicate about his hand holding.

Loose vs. Tight

In my book "10 Steps to Winning Texas Hold'em", I consider a player to be loose when he seldom folds before the flop and a tight player to be one who seldom participates pre-flop unless he has a premium holding.

Passive vs. Aggressive

My book considers a player to be passive when they seem to muck fairly frequently when faced with aggressive betting or do not seem to raise when raising would seem to be warranted. An aggressive player would be one who raises a lot whenever he decides to participate in a hand, almost regardless of his hand quality.

Player Typing

For our purposes, we are going to group players into one of five categories.

Loose/passive (L/P): This category would be where a player regularly pays to see the flop in the hopes of improving, even with mediocre pocket cards. Thus, given this term because they are “loose” with their pre-flop betting. However, when faced with a raise or raises on any subsequent betting round, they seem to fold too often, given the quality of their hand. The suggested strategy here would be to aggressively bet against him both on the pre-flop and on the flop when bets are small in an attempt to have him fold. If he does not fold, you may be wise to be worried.

Loose/aggressive (L/A): These, also, are players who regularly pay to see the flop in the hopes of improving even with the lower success pocket cards. Upon even the mildest of improvement they will bet aggressively hoping to reduce the player field so that they can steal the pot. They often may bet/bluff on the turn and river continuing to hope for others to fold. The strategic plan against these players is to play premium hands against them and to not be intimidated. Later, we define a “calling station” and if you become one of these, it will slow down L/A players from taking you on.

Tight/passive (T/P): These players prefer to enter pre-flop betting only when they have top pocket cards. Thus given the name of being “tight” with their entry betting. When they do enter, they seem to back off in the face of aggressive betting during any subsequent betting rounds. A tight player is to be treated with respect for his pocket cards. You may wish to bet aggressively against a T/P on the flop to see if they muck (when they have not improved their hand by very much) or stay in (they don’t raise a lot) meaning they have good confidence in their holding – a sign that you may want to consider mucking. A T/P player betting aggressively is a fearsome thing and should be treated with a lot of respect.

Tight-aggressive: These players also only enter pre-flop play, to see the flop, whenever they have a very good pocket holding. When they do decide to enter, they bet aggressively. First, to clear the field of those who have weak cards and may have liked to stay in and get a lucky draw and secondly, to maximize the pot size, since they have a good chance of winning. T/A players are probably the most successful of all types. Think about it! – They wait for good hands before entering and create large pots to win. You would do well to be a T/A player. In any case, all other things being equal give the T/A player a lot of respect and make sure you also have a premium holding to take them on.

Maniac: This is a player who seems to be in every hand (loose) and bets extremely aggressively. He is very intimidating and seems to have the cards whenever you do call him later in the betting. If you raise, he raises back at you. A maniac is a formidable and unpredictable foe. Take him on when you have a premium hand and don’t be intimidated. Raise right back at him. If he feels you are serious, he will usually back off. A check/raise (see glossary) will often cool his heels against you in future hands. (You should want to be on the left of the maniac. If you are on the left you can pick and choose when you want to take him on. If you are on the right, he gets to decide when to harass you with his betting.)

Table and Seating Choices

Tables also come in flavors. Some tables are very loose with five or more players always in to see the flop. Tighter tables would have three or less regularly in to see the flop. The significance of this is if it is a loose table you may wish to play tighter than usual because with so many players participating it is more likely someone will really “hit” the flop. Good hands are therefore often “run down” by lucky flops and turn cards improving someone’s mediocre holding to a good hand. On the other hand, tighter tables may be best played by playing looser and increasing your choice of pocket cards that you use to enter the preflop betting. If you find you have better luck against tighter tables, then you should check tables out by watching their play and joining when it seems to be to your liking. If you are at a table that is not to your liking or through players leaving and entering, becomes a different type of table, then you can ask for a table change. Casinos and players have no problem with this request. It is often done and casino people are quite willing to accommodate you.

After you have selected your table, whether loose or tight, then you should consider your seating choice. My suggestion is to first look at the sizes of the table stakes in front of each player. Since money tends to flow to the left, (this concept will be discussed later) sitting on the left of a big stake is often helpful. I believe you should sit to the close left of maniacs and T/A players. This allows you to make decisions after they have bet. I do not like to make bets in front of them, since I may be trapped with an average holding when they raise.

You can improve your sitting by simply informing the casino dealer that you wish a particular seat, when it becomes available. They have no problem with this request and you will then have preference over new players entering the game. The casino dealer will, also, offer any open seat when a player leaves first to the existing players. But, if you have not asked for it in advance, you might not speak up in time before another existing player grabs it.

If you notice that there are two or three excellent players at the table, this does not mean you are necessarily at a disadvantage. What you need to offset this are two or three bad players. Simply confront the bad players more often than the good players.

Incorporating player ID types into your betting strategy

The strategy card which you are going to learn to use has a strategy that is based on you being a T/A player at a normal table. However, table variation may warrant slight changes to this strategy. BEWARE!! Adjusting strategy away from this card can come at quite a risk. Do not adjust your strategy lightly.

After having said this, there are some situations where you may want to make slight adjustments.

PLAYERS	STRATEGY ADJUSTMENT
Loose	Tighten up and play slightly better pocket cards than usual.
Tight	Loosen up and play some marginally decent pocket cards
Passive	Raise more on the pre-flop and on the flop when the bet size is smaller in order to have more potential opponents fold.
Aggressive	Play only premium cards and play them aggressively. Be a calling station unless you are 90% certain you are beat and your opponent is not likely to fold.

These suggestions are consistent with what you should do when the table is also loose, tight, passive or aggressive.

Hiding Your Own Player ID Type

In order not to be predictable, you should vary your play occasionally. For instance, bluff occasionally if you are considered a tight player. Make sure, where possible, that the other players see your down cards to know that you bluffed. The point is to have them know what you did. If you bet aggressively, then try a “slow play” a time or two. “Slow playing” is checking or calling instead of raising with a premium hand. Again, you want others to be aware of what you did. Another example would be to play hard with an ace and small or an inside straight, neither of which have good winning chances, although, you could get extremely lucky. This very loose play also must be shown to the other players. If you do any of these, you will be considered unpredictable which is a good situation. However, do not do this very often – it hurts your bankroll and besides, the majority of low limit players have no idea whether you are playing loose or passive or anything else. So why change their perception of you when they simply don’t have one.

About the Author

Dr. Walter F. Cavanagh PhD, is a University Professor and an avid poker player, specializing in Statistics and Quantitative Methods. He has employed various statistics to determine the optimum strategy for each hand while playing Texas Hold'Em Poker. His book "10 Steps to Winning Texas Hold'em" is complete with respect to the knowledge needed by the beginner and intermediate hold'em players. If you would like to learn more about this book please visit www.holdemstrategycharts.com.

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