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The Types of Poker Players

By: Cristian Radescu

Significance of Player Types
There are many types and variations of players with varying strategies. It is very important to, at least, group them into categories. Each category requires you to adjust your betting strategy accordingly. For instance, you may not want to be aggressive against an aggressive player or perhaps you do, for certain types of aggressive players. The point is to know what type of player you are facing in order to assess his likely response and what this response is likely to indicate about his hand holding.

Loose vs. Tight
This article considers a player to be loose when he seldom folds before the flop and a tight player to be one who seldom participates pre-flop unless he has a premium holding.

Passive vs. Aggressive
In this article we will consider a player to be passive when they seem to muck fairly frequently when faced with aggressive betting or do not seem to raise when raising would seem to be warranted. An aggressive player would be one who raises a lot whenever he decides to participate in a hand, almost regardless of his hand quality.

Player Typing
For our purposes, we are going to group players into one of five categories.

Loose/passive (L/P) – This category would be where a player regularly pays to see the flop in the hopes of improving, even with mediocre pocket cards. Thus, given this term because they are “loose” with their pre-flop betting. However, when faced with a raise or raises on any subsequent betting round, they seem to fold too often, given the quality of their hand. The suggested strategy here would be to aggressively bet against him both on the pre-flop and on the flop when bets are small in an attempt to have him fold. If he does not fold, you may be wise to be worried.
Loose/aggressive (L/A) – These, also, are players who regularly pay to see the flop in the hopes of improving even with the lower success pocket cards. Upon even the mildest of improvement they will bet aggressively hoping to reduce the player field so that they can steal the pot. They often may bet/bluff on the turn and river continuing to hope for others to fold. The strategic plan against these players is to play premium hands against them and to not be intimidated. Later, we define a “calling station” and if you become one of these, it will slow down L/A players from taking you on.
Tight/passive (T/P) – These players prefer to enter pre-flop betting only when they have top pocket cards. Thus given the name of being “tight” with their entry betting. When they do enter, they seem to back off in the face of aggressive betting during any subsequent betting rounds. A tight player is to be treated with respect for his pocket cards. You may wish to bet aggressively against a T/P on the flop to see if they muck (when they have not improved their hand by very much) or stay in (they don’t raise a lot) meaning they have good confidence in their holding – a sign that you may want to consider mucking. A T/P player betting aggressively is a fearsome thing and should be treated with a lot of respect.
Tight/aggressive (T/A) – These players also only enter pre-flop play, to see the flop, whenever they have a very good pocket holding. When they do decide to enter, they bet aggressively. First, to clear the field of those who have weak cards and may have liked to stay in and get a lucky draw and secondly, to maximize the pot size, since they have a good chance of winning. T/A players are probably the most successful of all types. Think about it! – They wait for good hands before entering and create large pots to win. You would do well to be a T/A player. In any case, all other things being equal give the T/A player a lot of respect and make sure you also have a premium holding to take them on.
Maniac – This is a player who seems to be in every hand (loose) and bets extremely aggressively. He is very intimidating and seems to have the cards whenever you do call him later in the betting. If you raise, he raises back at you. A maniac is a formidable and unpredictable foe. Take him on when you have a premium hand and don’t be intimidated. Raise right back at him. If he feels you are serious, he will usually back off. A check/raise will often cool his heels against you in future hands. (You should want to be on the left of the maniac. If you are on the left you can pick and choose when you want to take him on. If you are on the right, he gets to decide when to harass you with his betting.)