Classifying Players In Texas Hold'em (Part II)

See also

The implication is that there are four different types of players, but that's true only from the very widest of standpoints. Again, as you gain your poker experience, you'll probably find yourself fine-tuning your evaluations to each individual, but the following are a good set of evaluations to begin with - along with some advice on how to combat them effectively.

Battling aggressive/tight players.
Playing against an aggressive/tight player is fairly simple. Because he's tight, he'll play only the highest quality hands. When he does, your response is fairly straightforward: Fold unless you have a hand that is extremely good.
Tight players tend not to bluff much, so don't be afraid to throw away the occasional hand that's only okay by your estimation. And if you're going to start aiming your hold cards at the trash can, the earlier you can throw it away, the better - their raising and reraising will gnaw on your stack in a big way.

Playing a bit looser against a tight player will get you more small pots (especially if you're raising, where he tends to fold quickly early on). But when you do play loosely against him you need to be very quick to drop a hand when you see aggression coming back at you.
Keep in mind that if a player thinks you're bullying him on the table, he will change his style of play - probably by loosening up a little and getting even more aggressive.

Playing against aggressive/loose players.
Aggressive/loose players may seem a bit scary when you first come across them, but you'll quickly learn to think of them as one of the biggest assets to you on a poker table. The aggressive play will bring money out on the table; the loose play will mean that it just keeps on coming.
An aggressive loose player will have an interesting side-effect of making the other players on the table loose and aggressive as well.
And although you may be tempted to jump on the bandwagon yourself, your wallet will like it better if you instead opt for tighter and more passive play. Because your opponent is loose, if you play tight, you're more likely to win on any given hand (because you have a better set of starting cards). Over time, you'll take down more pots and find your stack ratcheting right on up.
Don't complain on the odd times you get a bad beat. Just think of it as the tax of doing business with one of your best customers.

Skewering passive/loose players.
On the surface you may think that a passive/loose player is a rarity, but actually it's probably the most common category that beginning poker players fall into. These people are the ones who play too many hands and then have no idea how to bet as the hand progresses.
If the player seems passive enough to fold merely by someone else being aggressive, that's what you should do every time you enter a pot. Her continual folding will float your bankroll pretty quickly.
Be careful, though, some beginning players never fold, which means bluffing against them serves no purpose. Against these players you should instead tighten your play (so you're only playing higher-quality hands) and fire away unmercifully when you're holding the good stuff.

Dealing with passive/tight players.
Passive/tight players are an interesting anomaly because what they will tend to do is stay in the hand when they have a winner, but not bet it. These types of players won't pad your bank account very much, but they're also easy to play against - just check through whenever they're in a hand.
Because he's playing tight, he may well have a winner over your hand, making betting mildly suicidal. However, you should bet if he's the passive kind of player who tends to fold.

There is one thing you need to watch for: any unusual play from a player you believe you have classified correctly. Here are some examples:

  • If you see a raise from a normally passive player who never raises, that means she has a hand. Unless you have something really good relative to the board you're seeing, you should fold.
  • If a typically aggressive player who is normally Mr. Bet-Bet-Bet suddenly checks, he's either playing for a draw or (probably more likely) trying to trap you. Only bet against a player like this if you're willing to call a reraise.
  • If an extremely aggressive player ever check-calls you, it almost certainly means she has a trapping hand. If it happens to you, you definitely should not bet the next time you see action.

In No-Limit be especially careful of a player who flat-call the blinds from early position, when the typical action you've been seeing from her is raising pre-flop. This is a classic trick of someone holding a very large pocket pair (A-A or K-K). Don't fall for it.

As you're classifying players, try as best you can to get a read on how their play changes according to position as well. Even a basic poker strategy encourages you to play tighter in early position and looser in the back. Keep your eyes out for people who violate this guideline in either way - either looser in front (especially those who play Aces with no kickers from early positions) or tighter in the back.