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Different Poker Styles

When you´re playing Poker you should realize that certain players play differently than others. Some people will find that the best way for them to play is to be very aggressive with their bets and raises while others discover that the most successful strategy for them seems to be playing tight and reigning in their bets.

But no matter how one plays at the table, they will have to vary their strategies at some point and leave their comfort levels if they are to be a great player in the long run.

TIGHT

This playing style is almost the exact opposite of aggressive play. Tight players play far fewer starting hands, and are patient enough to wait for the right hands, the right position, and the right situation to make their move While the social side may still be important to them, the main goal here is to play winning poker while taking the bare minimum of risks.

LOOSE

A loose player will tend to play a lot of hands, usually paying to see the flop, and often play right to the River, even with a mediocre hand. The type of person that plays this style is often not overly bothered about making profits, they are in the game for the social aspect and have a carefree attitude accordingly, and they adjudge that playing tightly is a waste of their time as they want to be involved in the action, not watching it. They are willing to pay over the odds to continue with their hand, because of that, making this style of play unprofitable in the long run.

PASSIVE

A passive player plays with cold feet , hardly raising and betting if at all, opting to use a strategy based on checking and calling instead. They are happy enough to let an opponent dictate the action, they are mastered of calling large bets when chasing their draws and turn down to bet the pot when they have the best hand,because of that, minimizing their own winning possible and maximizing their opponents.

AGGRESSIVE

The aggressive poker player will raise like crazy and possibly go all-in at various points in an attempt to scare people away from pots. These types will dominate smaller hands and steal lots of chip from others even when they have nothing. However, aggressive players can often get burned when they refuse to yield to tight players in big pots.

Aggressiveness is a style of play often used in the poker world! Aggressive player likes better to bet, raise and re-raise when involved in a hand, in order to put maximum pressure on their opponents. His goal is to either force their opponent out of the pot, or to create an environment where their opponent is more likely to make mistakes.

FISH

These are the players that think they’ve got a shot at winning every hand and will sometimes deliver bad beats to other players. But in the end, their nonsensical play will come back to bite them as they will lose out on chips in the long run.

SHARKS

These are the players who can consistently make money playing poker and probably even make a living off of the game. It’s normally best to try and play in rooms that have the fewest sharks possible as they’ll get their money no matter what. In the end, the one who can find the most fish and below average players will be the one who makes a profit over the long haul.

Blending Poker Styles

Playing the fox- Everyone has a general archetype when it comes to their style of play at the poker table; the aggressive internet kid, the crafty old veteran, the cantankerous old man that plays locks and locks only. But, in order to secure the biggest profit from our opponents, we have to adjust our play from time to time in order to keep our opponents off guard and play in a way that profits larger in the long run. To do this, we have to think like the fox; blending our styles occasionally so that the internet kid can play snug for a round and get paid off, or the lock player can get a bit loose and bluff someone out of a pot with a draw. The most successful players will usually play a blend of two styles, allowing themselves to easily switch from one to another without much thought and before players can react to it.

Long Term Ramifications- Blending styles in the long term means making sure you have your two primary styles of play ready to go, along with a third you can switch to if the primary ones aren’t working. Make them easy to switch to, like, tight/aggro and loose/aggro, or tight/passive, tight/aggressive (although passive isn’t that great of a long term strategy, you may want to play 80% aggro with that archetype) and find spots that you can shift to and from the two respective styles. You may want to start out by playing a few rounds of the tournament/cash game using your primary style, then switch to your secondary style for a round or two, and see who catches on to your shift, and who doesn’t notice at all. It’ll be harder for players, even perceptive ones, to catch you shifting due to the blending of the styles you’ve selected.

Short Term Ramifications- Something that also comes from the blending of styles is the ability to quickly shift, in the middle of a hand, even, from one style to another. You start the hand off as your loose aggressive self, opening to 3x for the 4th time in the past round with a real hand, KK. A perceptive opponent decides to three bet you from the small blind, and you’re both deep. Super aggressive you may want to four bet here, but you can blend back to loose passive here and just flat call, with the bonus of position and a monster hand to entice your opponent to lead out at most flops with a wide range of hands; you can either continue the passive play and flat, or switch back to aggro you and raise it up here. Having the option to shift during a hand allows you to add multiple dynamics to your play that you’d never have a chance to take advantage of otherwise; use these shifts and blend your styles, and you’ll maximize your potential to profit in the long and short run.