To play good poker you have to be able to play aggressively, as highlighted in the article on the importance of aggression. Therefore as you can expect, the best playing style is going to be a toss-up between playing Tight-Aggressive or Loose-Aggressive. 1 How to Pick Games that will Win You the Most Money in Online Poker. 1.1 Today there are limitless choices for making the most money you can in online poker. 1.1.1 Cash games, multi-table. However, for the majority of players a tight-aggressive approach is usually the most profitable. This style of play is also undoubtably the best way for beginners to start out playing poker since it teaches good. The best poker style is that make you win chips. There's no perfect style, there are styles for some people, and styles for other. The Best Poker Style Card Game for all ages. Easy to Learn and Fun to Play! Great for Parties and Family Game nights. Uno, Dos no need to hold em play Nutso. 4.6 out of 5 stars 4 ratings.
You’re a unique individual. Just like everyone else.
In all seriousness, the game you bring to the table is not going to be like anyone else who has played the game before or like anyone will play in the future. That sounds like destiny rests on your shoulders and while that might be a little dramatic for someone who plays with friends on a Friday night, nonetheless it’s important to know that you have your own style.
Now, you may not know your style. Worse, you may be trying to emulate someone else’s style (which you definitely need to stop right now.)
You might also know your style, but want to refine it or give you particular brand of magic its own name.
Have no fear, because I am going to talk all about poker styles. I will talk about why it’s important to know your style, how I define styles (because there are several ways to do it, I can only give you mine), and then we’ll talk about tools for you to figure out what your style is.
It will be fun, but it should also make you a better poker player.
Why Poker Style Matters
If you have read any of my posts, you’ll find that I try to think very deeply about the game of poker and how to play it. If you’re new to my particular style, by the end you will understand that I will (over-) analyze many facets of the game.
With that said, one of the things that I have thought about for my own game and watched with others is that idea of “style.” It’s probably not the best word since style can mean a lot of things. Unfortunately, I don’t mean the clothes you wear or the cut of your hair when you play (believe me, I am not qualified to judge any of that.)
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Instead, when we talk about style, we’re going to talk about a unique player’s set of tendencies and preferences when they hit the poker table.
Don’t worry, though. At the end of the day, the particular details of your style aren’t better or worse than anyone else. What is important is that you understand your style. If you find you are more of one type than the other, that’s great. Play that to that and that alone. Don’t try to play to a different style because you won’t feel comfortable and you won’t enjoy the game as much.
What Attributes Make Up Your Poker Style
A given player’s style, at least as far as I am concerned, is comprised of three distinct elements:
- Aggression vs. Caution
- Sneaky vs. Straightforward
- Risk vs. Reward
Every player falls somewhere on this scale in that they are either tend to be more aggressive or they play tight. They are either sneakier or they don’t try to fool the other players. Finally, they either will comfortably take the big risk or they will calculate the reward in every situation.
Also, keep in mind that these are not yes/no questions. They’re more like a range from 1 to 10. In other words, a player is not Aggressive or Cautious. Instead, they are a 7 in Aggression, which means more often than not they play aggressively.
Let’s look at each of these factors in a bit more details.
Aggression vs. Caution
In brief, aggression vs. caution could mean a lot of things, but for style, aggression vs. caution is a measure of how often a player spends her chips to stay in the game.
More aggressive players are more likely to wager chips and continue playing. Tighter players do not.
Sneaky vs. Straightforward
When determining style, sneaky vs. straightforward refers to how often a player will try to trick the table.
Sneaky players are more likely to bluff, semi-bluff, run gambits, etc. A straightforward player does not.
Risk Vs. Reward
Finally, a risky player doesn’t mind taking chances on a bad hand or on a big pot. A reward player is far more calculating in what they’re going to do. Risk is highly correlated with Aggressive players (and often sneaky players), but really this refers to a player’s ability to stay in the game when (literally) the chips are down.
A Risky player will stay in the game with little thought. A Reward player is far more concerned about thinking through the odds and makes decisions according to their own internal numbers.
How to Find Your Poker Style
To figure out your own style, you’re going to have to play poker. (It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.)
When you play to figure out your style, you have to turn off your internal narrative about who you are and what the last poker article you read told you to do (except this one, of course.) I have seen wonderfully aggressive players who were sneaky little you-know-whats and took stupidly huge risks at the poker table who were timid and wouldn’t risk two dull pennies away from the table.
I’ve also seen players who watch a video and read a book and try to change their entire poker style to fit what some pro did. You have to stop all that and really listen to yourself.
When the cards come to you, do you want to bet often? Is staying in the game the most important thing to you? You tend towards Aggressive playing. On the other hand, if you are fine mucking even a borderline hand, that’s great. You are probably rate higher as a Cautious player. That doesn’t mean you won’t bet to stay in a hand sometimes, but you are less likely to do so.
If you take great pleasure in bluffing your opponent or value betting their chips away, you might be more Sneaky than not. If you are more likely to play the cards you have straight and avoid any fancy traps, congratulations. You’re a more Straightforward player. If you are Straightforward, you still need to lay a trap (that’s poker), but don’t worry if you want to do it less.
Finally, if you’re middle name is YOLO or “Ah, [bleep] it” is your catchphrase, you’re going to have a higher Risk score. If you are more cerebral and want to know the numbers, Reward is more your game. Reward players must still risk, but they will do so only if they feel the time is right.
Again, though, which of those you are and where you fall on the scale doesn’t make you more or less likely to win. Playing against your preferences may keep you from winning and enjoying the game, though.
Instead, what you need to do is find your style and then find books, bloggers, vloggers, etc. who support that style.
Style Recognizes Style
Once you know your style, you can start to figure out everyone else’s style, too. Start with watching folks on TV because you’re likely to get a larger number of hands you can observe. Still, watch what they do and see how they play.
Then, take those skills to your favorite poker table and practice them there. Find the Aggressive players and the Cautious players by seeing who plays a lot of hands. Realize that you can probably trap Aggressive players, but you cannot bluff them (and vice versa for Caution players.)
However, anytime they do reveal, look carefully at what they had and reconstruct the match. Did they bluff? Did they value bet and take chips? The more Sneaky a player is, the less you can trust your read and the more you need to take that into consideration.
Finally, the Risk players will be the ones who think less and bet more and higher amounts. The Reward players are slower and part with their chips more grudgingly. The good news is that Risk players are a risk to flame out. Let them do it. The Reward players, on the other hand, require observation, but if you can get them at the right time, you can sucker them into giving up a lot of money.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the focus of finding your poker style is that I want you to be comfortable.
I learned early on that style matters from playing video games. While I thought I wanted to rush my opponents with lots of little units as fast as I could, every time I did, I felt off. It was only when I realized that I liked to hit big bases with big tanks that I could sit behind did I start to enjoy the game more.
Poker is the same way. I really want to be Aggressive, but if I do, I start to feel off. That’s why I tend to play tight. I also play Straightforward so that I don’t end up risking chips on a silly gamble.
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You have to find your style and when you do, you will find that the game just feels better for you.
If you have read Texas Hold'em strategy articles or overheard discussions between poker players, you may have come across certain combinations of words to describe how someone plays at the poker table.
The typical playing styles attributed to players are:
- Tight-Aggressive (TAG)
- Loose-Aggressive (LAG)
- Tight-Passive
- Loose-Passive
But what exactly does it mean to be Tight, Loose, Aggressive or Passive in Texas Hold'em? And which playing style is the best?
Poker playing styles explained.
The first word - tight and loose.
The first word of each playing style describes how many hands a player is perceived to be playing, and they will either be describes as being 'tight' or 'loose'.
- A tight player will play very few hands, and only play premium hands that have a good chance of winning.
- A loose player will play a wide variety of hands and enter numerous pots with both strong starting hands a few weaker ones.
The more hands a player enters pots with, the 'looser' they are.
The second word - aggressive and passive.
The second part of each playing style describes how the particular players bet on each betting round, and this is described as being either 'aggressive' or 'passive'.
- An aggressive player will frequently bet or raise and give a lot of action by making strong bets.
- A passive player will be more inclined to check and call, and will rarely bet out or raise an opponent's bet.
So as you can see, by combining these two sections together with the two descriptions in each, we can make 4 different playing styles to describe how many hands an opponent plays, and how they play their hands by the way they bet or check.
This sort of information can be very useful when talking about strategy, as bluffing against a Loose-Passive player who plays lots of hands and calls frequently, is not going to be as profitable as making a bluff against a Tight-Aggressive player who only plays the best hands and will only bet or raise with a strong hand.
Playing styles table.
Here is a quick table to show how you would normally describe a player combining each of the various loose, tight, passive and aggressive attributes:
Check out the section starting at 24:32 of the Common Full Ring Mistakes pt. 1 video for an overview of how to beat each of these players types.
Which out of these 4 playing styles is the best?
To play good poker you have to be able to play aggressively, as highlighted in the article on the importance of aggression. Therefore as you can expect, the best playing style is going to be a toss-up between playing Tight-Aggressive or Loose-Aggressive.
Playing aggressively is always better than playing passively, no question about it.
Many winning players will say that Tight-Aggressive is the best way to play as you are always entering pots with great hands and you are playing them strongly to maximize your winnings. This is very true, and it is often the style of play that many developing players aspire to use correctly.
In spite of this however, it is perfectly possible to play Loose-Aggressive just as profitably or even more profitably than the Tight-Aggressive style, but this is quite difficult to master.
The Loose aggressive style can be profitable, but it is dangerous if you do not know what you are doing.
Playing Loose-Aggressive means that you are seeing a lot of flops and getting money into the pot when you are often not totally sure of how strong your hand is, so it is not something that is recommended for beginner players to try. However, the rewards can be high, as your opponents will often pay you off when you hit monster hands as they will not give you credit for them because of the way you have been playing up to that point.
Passive poker is never profitable.
The passive style of play is often unprofitable, and so it is advised that anyone looking to become a winning poker player should try to bet and raise more frequently rather than just checking and calling. The reason why passive play is often unprofitable is because you are removing one of you options to win a hand.
You can either win by having the best hand, or by betting your opponent out of the pot. By playing passively, you are reduced to only ever winning when you have the best hand, which is what any old player can do.
So for the majority of players learning the game, it is recommended that you try and adopt a Tight-Aggressive style because of the fact that it is profitable and safe to play. If after you gain experience in playing solid, profitable poker, there is no reason why you shouldn't try and venture out into the realms of Loose-Aggressive play to see how it works out for you.
Veteran players like the Loose-Aggressive style because it allows them to get involved in a lot of hands and see a lot of pots, which will save them from the boredom of waiting for premium hands all the time before they see any action. However, it is far safer to stick with the trusted Tight-Aggressive play at first, rather than throwing yourself into the deep end with a complex playing style that you are unfamiliar with.
For strategy and tips on how to beat each of these different playing styles (and a couple more), watch the Player Types concept video by SplitSuit.
Playing styles evaluation.
In general, the playing style you adopt should be the one that allows you to play most profitably. If you feel that playing Tight-Aggressive works better for you than any other style, then there is no reason why you should consider forcing yourself to change.
Similarly, if you are a recreational player and enjoy playing passively rather than aggressively, then that is perfectly fine and you should be comfortable with the way you play. However, you should be aware that if you want to maximize your winnings, an aggressive style of play would allow you to do so rather than a passive style of play.
If I had to rank the playing styles in order of how profitable they can be, I would rank them as follows:
- Tight-Aggressive
- Loose-Aggressive
- Tight-Passive
- Loose-Passive
The top two are interchangeable, as the loose-aggressive playing style can be very profitable for some. However, the TAG style is best for newer players to the game, as LAG can be a very dangerous style if you do not know what you are doing.
For more information on playing styles, check out my friend's poker player types article on his blog. It provides more in-depth explanations of the 4 different player types outlined above with some real-life examples.
Check out the article on changing gears in poker to find out how to profitably switch between tight-aggressive and loose-aggressive poker.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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