Poker playing style is one of those basics that every player should know about.
Every time you hit the felt, you should be aware of the core playing styles. That means you can spot them in other people and also recognize them in yourself.
Most decent players mix up poker playing styles, depending on the situation. Whether that’s your stack size, position or stage in the game. Plus it also has the advantage of creating a little element of surprise among your competitors. No one can peg you exactly when you step outside of the box occassionally.
Whether you’re hitting up the WSOP or you’re playing online in a poker room like bet365 (bonus code here), you can use this knowledge to your advantage. It goes for cash games and tournaments, Twister, Six Plus, heads-up play and more. We’re serious. Every time you play poker, you’ll get something out of this.
It’s not niche, it’s not specialized. It’s just pure commonsense. So get reading and brush up on these common poker playing styles now!
Poker playing styles
Strike fear into other players with an aggressive style
Aggressive players are pretty easy to spot. They are constantly trying to win the pot at all costs, they’re typically big raisers and re-raisers. Plus they tend to bluff a whole lot too.
And this is all okay from time to time. But people with an overly aggressive playing style are likely to go hard a little too often. Then people will suss them out and challenge them, often leading to egg on their face and a depleted chip stack.
So do yourself a favor and use the aggressive poker playing style sparingly.
Maybe I’ll be luckier this time, I might as well play…
Loose players always want to play their hands. Even if it’s not a particularly strong hand, they figure they might as well see the flop.
We’ve all been there, an itch and an urge to play. But constantly limping in with weaker hands has a funny habit of eroding your stack. We understand that phrase, “If you’re not in, you can’t win”. But if you have loose tendencies, it’s important to also keep in mind that if your hands aren’t strong, you probably won’t win anyway.
Don’t want to stick your head above the fray?
The passive poker playing style is epitomized by players who are happy to limp along with whatever’s going on. They might fold, they might call.
But you’re not the type to do a dramatic raise or re-raise. This is in some circumstances smart, as it doesn’t draw attention to you. But in other cases, you can lose value because you’re not maximizing potential wins.
I think I’ll just pass (again)
Players who are tight rarely play hands. They fold, fold, fold, fold and fold again. Although it’s a totally different playing style, like loose styles, this can also chip away at your stack, albeit slower.
Plus if you’re folding so much, when you play people will figure you must have something super good. Sometimes this puts you in a great position to bluff and steal chips. Other times, it’s just clearly showing the world that you’ve got a strong hand and they should fold.
So like all the other styles, there’s a time and a place for this one.
