Different Styles Of Play In No Limit Hold ‘Em
Here we’re going to take a look at the different styles of play in hold ‘em, how to play each style, how to recognize what style your opponents are playing, and how to effectively change your own style to maximize your chances against your opponents.
Tight/Aggressive: This is normally regarded as the first style that a new poker player should adopt. The style dictates that you are very selective about your hands pre-flop, only playing before the flop with strong starting hands or a positional advantage. After the flop you play very aggressively, betting instead of checking, raising instead of calling, in order to give yourself more opportunities to win.
Since you’ll be very selective about your hands, you’ll usually have the best hand pre-flop. Because of this you’ll be able to pick up a lot of pots on the flop with aggressive betting. If you connect on the flop you’ll probably have the best hand, and many times you’ll still have the best hand even if the flop misses you completely.
Tight/Passive: This pretty much defines a “weak” poker player. Playing tight and passive is a recipe for disaster against most opponents. Tight/passive players are conservative before the flop. They are also very passive after the flop. These players will normally check in spots when they should bet, and fold when they don’t hit on the flop.
Loose/Aggressive: Loose/aggressive poker can be an extremely profitable way to play, but it’s also much more difficult than a conservative style. A good loose/aggressive player can be extremely difficult to play against. They play many hands, so you never really know what kind of hand they may have. The idea is to get involved in more pots, and outplaying their opponents. They win by playing aggressively or trapping opponents when they have a legitimate hand.
Loose/Passive: Another very weak style of play, loose/passive players are generally not very good players, I like to call them ATM’s. They put in a lot of money before the flop, and play weak after the flop. Playing a loose/passive style is basically just like giving your money away at the poker table.
Poker players are generally much more dynamic, and are hard to lump into a single style. A good player can play well in both tight and aggressive styles before the flop. The key to being a great player is to be able to recognize how your opponents are playing, recognize their weaknesses, and change your style to capitalize on those weaknesses.
A good rule of thumb is to play in the opposite style of the table. If the majority of players are playing tight and folding to most bets, then loose and aggressive play makes perfect sense. If the table is playing loose pre-flop, then a tight/aggressive game makes sense, because you’ll normally have the best starting hand when you play.
Learn to identify the weaker players at the table. If a player plays too many hands trap them with a strong hand. If a player is playing tight/passive, exploit his weakness by putting more pressure on him than you would other players at the table.