Poker Playing Styles

There are different ways that different people play poker, and you can pretty much break it down into two main types with two main catagories.

Loose

This is how most new poker players start out playing. Playing loose poker just means that you either don't know (or don't know enough to care!) about things like odds. Loose players will play any junk cards they're dealt, usually because they don't know better. These are the ideal type of players to play AGAINST! ;)

Tight

Tight players are the exact opposite of loose players: tight players will fold most of their hands, waiting for cards they know have a strong chance of winning the pot. Using odds, though, (& tight players usually have a much better grasp of these than loose players) often they will fold what is actually a pretty good hand because it still might not be strong enough to win the pot. This is the kind of poker player you want to BE.

Poker Player Betting Sub-Catagories

Passive Betters

Passive players are always trying to hold onto their chips, they're TERRIFIED of betting. They'll check whenever possible, and if they can't check they'll call: they almost never raise. But if they DO raise, look out: they've probably got a great hand!

Aggressive Betters

Aggressive players will bet on ANYTHING, and they'll bet BIG: this can be another sign that they're new to the game, but not necessarily: truly great poker players play like this to always keep their opponents guessing. When all your bets are huge they can never tell if you have good cards or not, & anyway it may help scare them away just because they aren't prepared to lose that much if they read you wrong.

When you combine all these factors together you get the four most common poker personlity types: loose passive, loose aggressive, tight passive and tight aggressive.

Click the links below to learn more about:

How Poker Betting works

How to Bluff in Poker

Learn Poker Odds

Poker Playing Styles

The "Button" and the "Blinds"

Or if you want something a little easier, try the How to Play Poker section.