Post by Randy C on Jun 28, 2006 23:27:13 GMT -4
This thread was not written by MassPoker. It was written by Roy Rounder.
There are four main poker playing "styles":
1. Loose-Passive
2. Loose-Aggressive
3. Tight-Passive
4. Tight-Aggressive
The first part of each style refers to which HANDS
are being played. "Loose" describes someone who
plays a wide variety of hands. "Tight" describes
someone who is more selective and only plays good
hands.
The second part of each style refers to the
BETTING. Someone who's "passive" often CALLS and
doesn't raise the pot much. An "aggressive" player
makes frequent bets and raises.
In general, the most effective poker style is
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE. I'll discuss the reasons WHY in
a moment. But first, let's take a look at each
style and learn the strategies for winning against
them...
LOOSE-PASSIVE
Loose-passive is the most "amateur" style of play.
These fish like to play a wide-range of starting
hands and rarely fold before the flop.
They'll check-call after the flop (and on the turn
and on the river) with hands like middle pair, ace
high, or even low pair. That's why they're often
nicknamed "calling stations".
When you spot this type of player, you want to
wait for a good hand and then bet into them
consistently. But DON'T bet too much unless you
want to scare them out.
Usually, the best technique is to "milk" them for
chips before the flop, after the flop, after the
turn, and after the river.
If you're going to bluff a loose-passive player,
do so AGGRESSIVELY... otherwise they might call.
Also, be selective when you attack. The
loose-passive player might have top pair and STILL
just check-call it. So be careful.
LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE
This is the "maniac" or "manic" playing style.
A manic can empty your pockets quickly if you
don't use the proper strategy against him.
You must be PATIENT and understand how to "get
under the skin" of a manic player. Do NOT let him
upset you.
For instance, a manic will often play bad starting
hands... or even RAISE with them. When he hits, no
one knows what to put him on, which is part of the
reason why he's so dangerous.
Let's say a manic calls a pre-flop raise with 2-4
offsuit and the flop comes: A-3-5
Jerry is holding A-K, and so he obviously thinks
he has the best hand. The turn card is a King and
the river is a 10.
Jerry ends up losing a ton of chips to the manic's
straight.
And THEN WHAT HAPPENS is Jerry goes on tilt and
starts calling the manic's raises and loses his
composure. This is how the manic can break you.
In order to beat a manic you must wait for a
strong hand. The manic's weakness is that he HATES
being raised or "bullied". Also, I've found that
most manics feel "pot-committed" much more easily.
When you get heads-up with a manic (and you have a
strong hand), raise him or make small bets that
entice him to bluff.
Let the manic come to you... let him make the
wrong move at the wrong time and you'll be able to
take his chips. Often all at once.
TIGHT-PASSIVE
Tight-passive players are fairly easy to beat. If
they bet or raise, get out of there. Otherwise,
you can consistently represent the flop and bluff
them out of pots.
Tight-passive players will often "survive" for a
long time in a game because they never risk too
many chips. But eventually they'll get "blinded to
death".
Use bluffs, semi-bluffs, and aggressive bets to
take a tight-passive player's chip stack.
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE
OK, so now we're to the PREFERRED playing style
for no-limit Texas Holdem... and that's
tight-aggressive.
Tight-aggressive players choose their starting
hands wisely. They rarely "limp-in". Instead, they
usually either FOLD or RAISE before the flop.
After the flop, they'll make aggressive bets if
they've got a hand or if they raised pre-flop.
The reason a tight-aggressive playing style is so
effective is because you only risk chips when
you've got a good hand. But when you DO risk
chips, you risk a LOT of them... so it only takes
a couple wins to build a nice-sized stack.
This is the playing style used and recommended by
just about every professional card player.
It's often referred to as "aggressively smart" or
"selective aggression".
Now, the DOWNSIDE of a tight-aggressive style is
that it's often easy to read. This style can often
build a tight table image... and when that
happens, your opponents won't give you action for
your big hands.
So how do you solve this problem?
The solution is to INTENTIONALLY establish a LOOSE
table image... by carefully choosing times in the
game to play like a "manic".
For example... once in awhile... show a bluff.
Especially near the beginning of the game. You'll
want to do this when you sense weakness and have
good positioning-- just as you'd do with any good
bluff.
Let's say you pick up 8-7 clubs on the button and
three players limp-in. You raise 7x the big blind
and everyone folds.
That's when you flip over your suited-connectors
and say, "C'mon guys, I just KNOW someone had my
eight high beat..."
A move like this is usually enough... depending on
the table... to get you action for your big hands
later.
That way when you pick up K-K on the button a bit
later... and make the SAME pre-flop raise of 7x
the big blind, you get a caller or two.
A huge advantage of playing tight-aggressive is
that many of your opponents won't distinguish
between LOOSE and AGGRESSIVE.
As we discussed, "loose" is related to which hands
you'll play... and "aggressive" is related to
betting.
If you raise aggressively with strong hands... and
then mix it up with the occasional well-timed
bluff... you'll be able to throw your opponents
off and keep them guessing every step of the way.
Of course, as you know, there are many "degrees" in between these four
main playing styles...
Even though you should use TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE as
your main style, you must be able "shift gears" and mix up your
approach throughout the game...
that way you don't become predictable.
More importantly, you must learn WHEN to shift
gears... HOW to vary your playing style... and
special "tricks" you can use to FOOL your
opponents without risking too many chips.
When you learn skills like these, you'll be able
to CONSISTENTLY win at Texas Holdem poker-- at
virtually any level-- and immediately raise your
"poker profits".
There are four main poker playing "styles":
1. Loose-Passive
2. Loose-Aggressive
3. Tight-Passive
4. Tight-Aggressive
The first part of each style refers to which HANDS
are being played. "Loose" describes someone who
plays a wide variety of hands. "Tight" describes
someone who is more selective and only plays good
hands.
The second part of each style refers to the
BETTING. Someone who's "passive" often CALLS and
doesn't raise the pot much. An "aggressive" player
makes frequent bets and raises.
In general, the most effective poker style is
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE. I'll discuss the reasons WHY in
a moment. But first, let's take a look at each
style and learn the strategies for winning against
them...
LOOSE-PASSIVE
Loose-passive is the most "amateur" style of play.
These fish like to play a wide-range of starting
hands and rarely fold before the flop.
They'll check-call after the flop (and on the turn
and on the river) with hands like middle pair, ace
high, or even low pair. That's why they're often
nicknamed "calling stations".
When you spot this type of player, you want to
wait for a good hand and then bet into them
consistently. But DON'T bet too much unless you
want to scare them out.
Usually, the best technique is to "milk" them for
chips before the flop, after the flop, after the
turn, and after the river.
If you're going to bluff a loose-passive player,
do so AGGRESSIVELY... otherwise they might call.
Also, be selective when you attack. The
loose-passive player might have top pair and STILL
just check-call it. So be careful.
LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE
This is the "maniac" or "manic" playing style.
A manic can empty your pockets quickly if you
don't use the proper strategy against him.
You must be PATIENT and understand how to "get
under the skin" of a manic player. Do NOT let him
upset you.
For instance, a manic will often play bad starting
hands... or even RAISE with them. When he hits, no
one knows what to put him on, which is part of the
reason why he's so dangerous.
Let's say a manic calls a pre-flop raise with 2-4
offsuit and the flop comes: A-3-5
Jerry is holding A-K, and so he obviously thinks
he has the best hand. The turn card is a King and
the river is a 10.
Jerry ends up losing a ton of chips to the manic's
straight.
And THEN WHAT HAPPENS is Jerry goes on tilt and
starts calling the manic's raises and loses his
composure. This is how the manic can break you.
In order to beat a manic you must wait for a
strong hand. The manic's weakness is that he HATES
being raised or "bullied". Also, I've found that
most manics feel "pot-committed" much more easily.
When you get heads-up with a manic (and you have a
strong hand), raise him or make small bets that
entice him to bluff.
Let the manic come to you... let him make the
wrong move at the wrong time and you'll be able to
take his chips. Often all at once.
TIGHT-PASSIVE
Tight-passive players are fairly easy to beat. If
they bet or raise, get out of there. Otherwise,
you can consistently represent the flop and bluff
them out of pots.
Tight-passive players will often "survive" for a
long time in a game because they never risk too
many chips. But eventually they'll get "blinded to
death".
Use bluffs, semi-bluffs, and aggressive bets to
take a tight-passive player's chip stack.
TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE
OK, so now we're to the PREFERRED playing style
for no-limit Texas Holdem... and that's
tight-aggressive.
Tight-aggressive players choose their starting
hands wisely. They rarely "limp-in". Instead, they
usually either FOLD or RAISE before the flop.
After the flop, they'll make aggressive bets if
they've got a hand or if they raised pre-flop.
The reason a tight-aggressive playing style is so
effective is because you only risk chips when
you've got a good hand. But when you DO risk
chips, you risk a LOT of them... so it only takes
a couple wins to build a nice-sized stack.
This is the playing style used and recommended by
just about every professional card player.
It's often referred to as "aggressively smart" or
"selective aggression".
Now, the DOWNSIDE of a tight-aggressive style is
that it's often easy to read. This style can often
build a tight table image... and when that
happens, your opponents won't give you action for
your big hands.
So how do you solve this problem?
The solution is to INTENTIONALLY establish a LOOSE
table image... by carefully choosing times in the
game to play like a "manic".
For example... once in awhile... show a bluff.
Especially near the beginning of the game. You'll
want to do this when you sense weakness and have
good positioning-- just as you'd do with any good
bluff.
Let's say you pick up 8-7 clubs on the button and
three players limp-in. You raise 7x the big blind
and everyone folds.
That's when you flip over your suited-connectors
and say, "C'mon guys, I just KNOW someone had my
eight high beat..."
A move like this is usually enough... depending on
the table... to get you action for your big hands
later.
That way when you pick up K-K on the button a bit
later... and make the SAME pre-flop raise of 7x
the big blind, you get a caller or two.
A huge advantage of playing tight-aggressive is
that many of your opponents won't distinguish
between LOOSE and AGGRESSIVE.
As we discussed, "loose" is related to which hands
you'll play... and "aggressive" is related to
betting.
If you raise aggressively with strong hands... and
then mix it up with the occasional well-timed
bluff... you'll be able to throw your opponents
off and keep them guessing every step of the way.
Of course, as you know, there are many "degrees" in between these four
main playing styles...
Even though you should use TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE as
your main style, you must be able "shift gears" and mix up your
approach throughout the game...
that way you don't become predictable.
More importantly, you must learn WHEN to shift
gears... HOW to vary your playing style... and
special "tricks" you can use to FOOL your
opponents without risking too many chips.
When you learn skills like these, you'll be able
to CONSISTENTLY win at Texas Holdem poker-- at
virtually any level-- and immediately raise your
"poker profits".