|
| |
Texas Hold'em : Types of players
Let's discuss some of the
various types of players you will see and how they usually play. This will
help you form one of your most valuable tools as a poker player, and that is
to put someone into a player category. It helps you narrow down the
possible hands they could have and gives you an idea of how good your good
your current hand is in comparison with theirs. When you are playing, do
your best to categorize each player into the following (better types of
players are listed last):
Calling Station:
- this is the worst type of player and the most prevalent (sometimes
called a "fish"). The calling station does what his name implies, he just
calls. He has poor hand selection. On the flop he will call with just
about anything, and will continue to do that all the way to the river. This
person has very little skill or discipline. They will be in every hand no
matter if there is a raise before them. In the face of a better hand (like
when a straight or a flush is on the board and they don't have it), they
will just call it down. Most of the money you'll make will be from this
type of player. The reason this play is so bad is that it is the exact
opposite of what you should be doing. Instead of being selective and
waiting for good opportunities to put your money behind you spread it out
over every hand, good or bad, and in the end that can't work. Remember our
bad investor analogy above. With these kinds of people in the pots, you'll
just play your cards and see what happens. What that means is that you
can't really put them on any kind of a hand since they could easily have AK
as they could have 92. If you have a hand (like top pair with a good
kicker) then just bet it and see what happens. You will want to watch out
for them if they raise you though. Usually a calling station is a fairly
passive player and when they raise it means something. If you can make some
good folds now and then, you'll be a better player. If you can't fold a
losing hand then you'll be a calling station and a losing player. When a
person raises and what they raise with is another important item that you
will want to watch for. It helps you not only categorize them but helps you
select the hands that you play against them. When a calling station raises
before the flop it could mean anything but usually they have a good hand
(AA, KK, QQ, JJ, etc). Because of that, be careful about playing against
them if you have a hand that could be easily dominated like KQ, KJ, KT, etc.
If you notice that they are raising all the time with just about any hand
they play then you may have found the next category.
Loose Aggressive:
- A loose aggressive player is one who plays as many cards as the
calling station does but they are inclined to raise, reraise and cap hands
that they shouldn't (like A5 offsuit, Q9s, etc). You'll know very quickly
if a person is a loose aggressive player. A person can't get great cards
all day and if they are raising three hands in a row then chances are all
those hands aren't premium. When you have two or more of these types of
players in a game the pots can be very large, but it can also cost you a lot
of money if you lose. Two points when playing against them: remember that
when they raise they don't always have AA so you can play against them with
hands that you would normally just call with. A reraise when you have a
decent hand to try to isolate them isn't a bad move. The second thing to
remember is that even if they are raising every hand it doesn't mean that
they aren't going to get a good one now and then. So with that said don't
cap it with a maniac player if you just have top pair. That could be
costly. Sometimes you'll find these loose aggressive players, maniacs, only
do that before the flop but afterwards they tighten up some. Try to pick up
on things like this. Lastly, don't be afraid of them just because they like
to raise. If you have a good hand, make them pay. Some typical loose
aggressive players are young asian males and guys with a short man complex
(no offense).
Rock:
- a rock is a super tight player who only plays premium cards. When
they raise you know exactly what they have (AA, KK, AK, etc). They will not
be in on many hands and when they are, it will most likely be with a raise.
Now a rock is better then a calling station and a maniac but they aren't
playing correctly for low limit hold'em (or even other limits). The problem
with low limit hold'em they run into is that when 6 other people are in a
pot against their AA, it isn't going to hold up much. In the upper limits
they won't get any value for their hands since the other players can read
them so well. What you can learn from a rock though is that they pick good
cards and try to put their money behind them. That is correct. They just
aren't playing enough cards. It is the opposite of a calling station. You
want to stay out of a Rock's way if you can. For example you wouldn't want
to bring KJoffsuit up against a rocks raise preflop. But if you are in a
multi-way pot with lots of people in and the rock raises then you would want
to play your drawing hands. One good thing about playing them is that they
are very predictable. When they raise you, the almost always have it so
don't pay them off. Anyone who is watching the game at all can see what
types of hands they are playing. You will run into some rocks playing low
limit. The main reason for that is that if you are a rock it isn't easy to
progress up levels, you're gonna get stuck at the low stuff because anyone
who can play the game at the upper limits will cut them to pieces as fast as
a calling station. The stereotypical rock is an old lady.
Weak Tight:
- a weak tight player is fairly rare at low limit. This type of player
has most of the skills that a wining player possesses with one exception,
they are a little scared. Moving up in levels sometimes creates weak tight
players. You fear the other players and they can read into that so you can
sometimes get bullied around by raises. The creation of a weak tight player
can also be the result of too rigid rules. Remember poker is situational.
You shouldn't be tied to any one book, saying, or system. Let your
experience mold you into a good player. When you are playing a weak tight
player you should watch out for them most of the time since they aren't
going to be putting too many "moves" on you: they won't try to bluff you at
all. It's interesting to put a loose aggressive player against a weak tight
one. The weak tight player gets bullied around waiting for good cards
instead of basing his hand selection on the other players. If you do find
yourself in a position where something scary hits in a hand and the weak
tight player is your opposition, you may have found a good time to bluff.
Weak tight players are big believers, especially if the raise is on a later
round with the bet size is larger. Bluffing isn't a big part of the game,
but even in low limit it applies to this people since they are good enough
to see what you may have and "smart" enough not to call. It is much easier
to bluff a good player then a bad one since the bad player doesn't pay any
attention to what you may have.
Tight Aggressive:
- This is the top of the pyramid. The tight aggressive player is the
good investor, the laser, the sniper, the smart bomb in the poker world.
This is your goal. The tight aggressive players ability to adapt to
different games and players, as well as the confidence to back their moves
with their bankroll makes them fierce opponents. To recognize a tight
aggressive player is to see a person who doesn't play that many cards but
when they do they take control. They slow play great hands. They use their
position to play weaker cards when the odds justify it. They are able to
fold hands that other players would be trapped in. A better hand will be any
player but you'll find it difficult to make any money against a tight
aggressive player. The best advice is to just play very good hands against
them and hope to break even. You won't run into many of these at low limit
so don't worry.
Table of contents
| |
|
|
Jokes:
|
|
Play Online Poker
|
|
Full Tilt Poker is here to stay! 100% sign up
bonus up to $600 >> Use Bonus Code YEHA |
|
Other Funny Stuff:
|
|
|
|
