Poker is a complicated game. In order to consistently be successful at it, one must be able to adjust to a constantly changing field. Because everyone approaches the game differently, it's not always easy to decide how to play against a certain opponent. This discussion will help to clarify the different types of players that there are, and more importantly, how to play against them.

At the heart of it, there are really only four styles of poker play. Different people have varying degrees of these styles, but generally speaking, there are four different ways to play. These styles are: Loose/Passive, Loose/Aggressive, Tight/Passive, and Tight/Aggressive. Let's take a look at each of these styles in turn.

Loose Aggressive Player: The extremist of the LAP style is referred to as "the Maniac," a term most players get to know well quite early in their careers. The Maniac is the guy who plays any two cards, always raising or reraising with them, seemingly without regard to hand quality or position. The LAP wins and loses money more quickly than any other style, which means in practice that an LAP can inflate your bankroll dramatically in the course of only one or two confrontations - or devastate your capital

So, how do you adjust to these highly volatile players? First of all, you generally want to sit to their left. By acting immediately after an LAP, you can see how they react before committing to a hand, and most importantly, you can play off their aggression. What this means is that you can fold your mediocre holdings when the LAP makes it expensive, but when you have the right type of hand, you can reraise to isolate them.

"The right type of hand" is one that does well hot and cold - which means a hand that stands a decent chance of winning without improvement against the type of trash your indiscriminate opponent will be playing. This means hands like

The implications of these principles are what drive a successful shorthanded style. The first and most important thing to take from those two statements is that the quality of hand needed to take a pot down is going to go way down, on average. If you take it a step further, the second statement especially implies that sometimes you won't even need a hand - the chance for taking down a pot through sheer force of will is much greater when you have only three opponents, as compared to having eight or nine.

It should be clear then that aggressive play is called for in such situations. It should also be clear that with fewer opponents, one should be more concerned with hands that will win pots without improving, and less concerned with hands that need implied odds to be profitable.

For example, at a full table, you might prefer a hand like:

and

become reraising hands against an LAP. It's best not to get too carried away with this, however, since the rest of the table isn't blind and will only leave you alone for so long.

If you're playing no-limit Hold 'Em, this strategy must be used even more sparingly, as an overly aggressive opponent can chase you off a hand with an even bigger push, once he catches on to your loose reraising strategy. It's very important in no-limit to make sure you don't get yourself shut out of hands that you have a good chance of winning.

In general though, you want to tighten your starting standards against the LAP, but you want to play very aggressive, especially on the later streets. By raising or betting into them, you can often continue to knock the other players out of contention until only you and the maniac remain. If you've chosen your spot well, you'll usually have the far superior hand and will welcome the opportunity to take a decent pot.

When other players have gotten involved though, you usually don't want to make positional bets with an LAP still in the pot - meaning that you don't want to make automatic bets just because everyone has checked to you. Many people will be slowplaying their good hands whenever the maniac is in, so make sure you keep that in mind.

When you're out of position against an LAP, you'll want to slowplay your best hands but bet your merely good and decent hands in order to provoke a protecting raise. Check-raising is also much more reliable against an LAP than any other type of player, since they can be counted on to bet. Use this knowledge to trap players for extra bets or to knock them out of contention as the opportunities present themselves..

The basic rule of thumb is this: Pick your starting hands more selectively against an LAP, but hammer them as much as possible whenever you think you might have the best hand. Go ahead and overplay your hand: a maniac rarely folds.

Loose Passive Player. The LPP, at its most extreme, is sometimes known as "the calling station." These players are similar to their loose aggressive counterparts in that they have little regard for position or hand strength. However, the passive nature of their game calls for an entirely different set of adjustments.

Number one on the list is this: don't try to bluff an LPP. Calling stations, as their name implies, will call you down - so don't bother trying to pull any big moves.

When you do have a good hand, you want to raise them whenever possible to take maximum advantage of their habitual playing of weaker holdings. Unlike their aggressive counterparts, however, the LPP won't bet or raise much without the goods, so don't expect much isolation help. Since they play so passively, you'll need to bet some of your mediocre hands; they'll call so often with complete trash - that they wouldn't bet themselves - that you just can't pass up the extra chips.

This also brings up another important adjustment. When an otherwise passive player shows any signs of aggression, watch out. If an LPP bets, don't call with your mediocre holdings - and when a LPP raises, get the hell out of there. These types of players don't flex that kind of muscle unless they're very confident of their strength, so take heed. For example, if you played:

from the big blind, on a board of:

and an LPP fires out with a bet from the small blind, you should probably fold. While it's hard to read a loose player's hand, it's not hard to decipher a passive player's show of strength. It usually means: get out!

Tight Passive Player. The TPP is the one we call "the Rock." This is the invisible player in the corner, the one who doesn't move a muscle except when he has the nuts - and even when he does have it, he might not show any overt strength. These guys are usually older, retired players, trying to pass the time or grind out a small profit without damaging their limited incomes too much. They live off of the action that they get from new or unobservant players, so don't fall into their trap.

The main rule of thumb with a TPP is to not give them any more action than they give you. If you notice that a particular player hardly ever plays, hardly ever bets, hardly ever raises, but then suddenly he's in there for the ride, betting or even just quietly calling along - get out, and get out fast. For instance, if you have:

you'd think you'd be looking at a pretty nice flop. However, if you're in there with a TPP, and that player bets out on this flop - or raises somebody else's bet - you should strongly consider folding.

There may have been a raise pre-flop in this example, yours or somebody else's, which should already clue you in to the fact that the TPP has some strength, simply because he's still in the pot. But even if everyone limps pre-flop, you're in danger whenever a TPP flexes muscle.. Passive players are known for limping with big hands pre-flop, but most importantly, after the flop they won't butt heads without something especially pretty. In the previous example, look for the TPP to have a set of eights, nines, or an overpair to your tens if he gives you any significant action. Even a hand like:

wouldn't be good enough to raise with on that flop, for the rock.

One important thing to keep in mind when playing with a TPP is that you should avoid trying for a checkraise. A checkraise needs two participants to work, and passive players are just too likely to check behind when you check to them - and besides, if they're willing to bet, you probably shouldn't be thinking about raising them.

All that being said, TPP's are the easiest type of player to bluff, because they're quick to fold a lot of different hands. It's a good idea to bluff - and semi-bluff - fairly often against these types of players, but choose your spots wisely - they're in there with something, and usually don't continue far with draws, so make sure you play close attention to how a hand shapes up. Stealing will especially be effective preflop, which is one reason you want these players on your left.

Tight Aggressive Players. TAP's are the most difficult type of player to beat, because they pound you with chips when they win, which is most of the time that they're involved in a pot. It's hard to read these players, and if a game is filled with a few of them, it might be best to just find a different game. If this isn't an option, there are a few things to keep in mind when playing against a TAP.

First of all, you almost always want an aggressive player on your right, regardless of whether they're loose or tight. You want to see how they're going to act before making your decisions, which is important since they're going to jack up the pot quite frequently. It's also important to mix up your game against these types of players, because they'll be quick to decipher - and exploit - any predictability you bring to the table.

Because of their skill with reading hands, TAP's aren't the best player to try and bluff, but you should definitely continue to semi-bluff, especially on smaller boards that are less likely to have hit a tight player. Go ahead and try the occasional pure-bluff, but give up quickly if the TAP looks like he'll call you down - they're not afraid to make weak calls based on good reads.

You probably shouldn't bet marginal hands for value against a TAP, and you generally shouldn't try stealing their blinds. Also, you usually want to avoid going for a checkraise. The reason for all of these things is that when you're winning, the TAP will generally fold, thus denying you of any more money, anyway - but they won't be afraid to pop you back when they have you beat. Not every TAP will be able to read hands like an expert, but they are definitely the most likely type of player to have the skill.

Thus ends our discussion of playing styles. Every player brings a different personality to the game, but inevitably they will develop patterns that classify them as one of these four types of players. They won't all be extreme examples as we discussed, but the general strategies and adjustments will be valid, once you can place your opponent.

Sam @ Power Poker Course.




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