Tight poker wiki style. Poker playing styles

Or you just heard a conversation between two poker players, then you probably met there certain combinations of words describing the manner and style of play of this or that person at the table.

Poker School Rating:

Difficulty level 1/5

Need to know 7/10

In summary, all play styles can be divided into:

• Tight Aggressive (TAG);
• Loose-Aggressive (LAS);
• Tight Passive;
• Loose-Passive.

But what exactly is meant by these concepts: being Tight, Loose, Aggressive or Passive in poker? AND which of these styles is the best?

Parsing the terms of playing styles.

The first word is tight and loose.

The first word in the name of the play style describes the extent of how many hands your opponent plays. And for that, the words "tight" and "loose" are used.

• Tight player will play a small number of hands, mostly premium hands that have a good chance of winning.
• Loose player will play with a wide range of hands, entering a large number of pots with both strong and weaker hands.

The more hands a player enters the pots with, the looser he will be.

The second word is aggressive and passive.

The second word in the playing style name describes how often the player bets and raises on all streets. And for this, the terms "aggressive" and "passive" are used.

• Aggressive player will often bet and raise, giving a lot of action to his opponents with his big bets.
• Passive player will be more prone to checking and calling, he will rarely bet or raise his opponent's bets.

So you can see that by connecting any two words from each of these sections, we get 4 different playing styles, describing how many hands a certain player plays, and how he does it - bets / raises or checks / calls.

This information about the player can be very useful when choosing a strategy for playing against him. So, for example, bluffing against a loose-passive player who plays a wide range and calls frequently will not be as profitable as against a tight-aggressive player who only plays his strongest hands.

Play style table.

Below is a simple, generalized table of how you can describe the different combinations of words loose, tight, passive, and aggressive:

Which of these 4 play styles is the best?

To show good poker, you need to play aggressively as described in my previous article. So, as you may have guessed by now, the best playing style will be in the range between tight aggressive and loose aggressive.

Playing aggressively is always better than being passive. This is a closed question for a long time.

Many winning players will say that tight-aggressive play is best because this way you will only enter pots with strong hands and play them aggressively to maximize your winnings. Yes, it is true, and often this is the style that many players tend to use.

But despite this, correct play in a loose-aggressive style can not only be as profitable, but even outperform a tight-aggressive style. But this style is more difficult to execute.

A loose-aggressive style can be more profitable, but it can also be more dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.

Playing in a loose-aggressive style means that you will see a lot of flops and invest in pots without being confident in your hand strength, so this style is not recommended for beginners. However, it also rewards more, as your opponents will often pay for your monsters, especially not trusting you due to the action in your previous rounds.

Passive poker is always a losing one.

The passive style of play will often be negative, so we recommend that anyone who wants to become a profitable player consider betting and raising options more often than checking and calling. The reason passive play is negative is because it deprives yourself of one of the ways to win hands.

There are two ways to win a hand: by having the best showdown combination or by knocking your opponent out of the pot. By playing passively, you only leave yourself the opportunity to win at showdown, which is not good.

Therefore, for most learning players, we recommend that you start out with a tight aggressive playstyle as it will be both profitable and safer. Over time, after you gain experience, showing strong positive poker, you can test your strength in the field of loose aggressive play to see with your own eyes how this style will suit you.

Veterans of the game love the loose-aggressive style as it allows them to play more hands and see more pots that will save them the boredom of waiting for premium hands. However, at first, it will be safer to stick to the proven tight-aggressive style, rather than rush headlong into the maelstrom more difficult game with which you are not yet familiar.

Conclusion.

In general, the style of play that you should choose should be the one that will bring you the most profit. If you feel that your tight-aggressive style works better than anyone else, then there is no reason to force yourself to change anything.

The same goes for recreational players, if you like to play passively more than aggressively, then great - play as you like. But remember that if you want to win and maximize your profit, an aggressive playstyle will help you more than a passive one.

If I had to categorize play styles in order of their potential profitability. Then I would do it like this:

1. Tight-aggressive;

2. Loose-aggressive;

3. Tight passive;

4. Loose-passive.

The first two styles are interchangeable as a loose-aggressive style can be extremely profitable for some players. However, the TAG style will be most suitable for beginner players, as the LAG style can be more dangerous if you do not fully understand what you are doing.

As additional information you can read my article on how you can profitably switch between tight aggressive style and loose-aggressive.

If you are new to poker, you may be the tight player. True, some professional players can also be named. But there is a big difference between various tight players, as some of them use this style due to inexperience, while others, on the contrary, rely on vast experience and knowledge of a successful strategy.

Tight Poker Player Is a poker player who uses a very cautious style of play and only enters with the most promising pocket cards. But at the same time, tight players can be divided into two subtypes: tight-passive and tight-aggressive. These subtypes have their own characteristics. It is necessary to know them, as it will come in handy when forming your own style of play, as well as when assessing opponents.

Tight passive player

A tight passive style of play is used only by inexperienced players who do not know the basics of a successful trading strategy or are unable to put into practice the theoretical knowledge they possess. Such a tight poker player plays a narrow range of hands, choosing only strong hole cards to enter the trade. And even if he gets a winning combination, he continues to play it passively. Raises and raises are extremely rare. Playing in this style, the poker player suffers losses for the following reasons:

Loses money in the blinds, as he waits for a long time for suitable cards to enter the trade and does not take any action to compensate for these losses;

Small pots wins, since the trading tactics do not allow a high pot to form;

Loses with promising combinations, as it allows opponents to look at the board cards cheaply and build stronger hands in later betting rounds;

It becomes predictable for opponents because of what either gets into difficult situations, or wins a small pot, making a good combination, as the opponents "read" the hand.

In this case, a tight poker player is an inexperienced player who uses cautious tactics due to uncertainty about his strength and inability to assess the potential of cards and position. For example, he behaves in the same way with the same starting cards in early and late position, enters the trade with a limp or a small increase, regardless of how many opponents are in the trade. Such a player does not use bluffing techniques and refuses even an elementary attempt to "steal" the blinds, and does not know how to defend his obligatory bets and gives up easily.

This is not to say that a tight-passive player is a loose opponent, since he has certain basic knowledge. A loose player enters into a trade with any cards, and a tight-passive player realizes that there is a certain range that is promising to play.

Vivid examples of the behavior of a tight-passive player on preflop: compares the rise of the previous opponent with pocket Aces, makes a bet with pocket queens, enters into bidding limp on the button with Ace-King. On the flop, he can fold a promising draw or fold top pair, since the opponent has bet first.

If, after reading these characteristics, you see yourself as a tight-passive player, you need to start learning how to play successfully again. First of all, you should master the following aspects of the strategy:

Starting hands - a range of pocket cards suitable for playing in various conditions - taking into account the position and behavior of opponents.

Trading strategy - in what cases the player should increase in the auction, make a fold or compare the rates of opponents. What is the meaning of each of the listed solutions.

Opponents' play styles - what tactics should be used in bidding when playing against opponents of different styles of play.

Bluffing tricks - how to use bluffing techniques and identify their use by opponents. How blinds are stolen and how to protect your own mandatory bets.

Probabilities - the chances of improving the hand and making combinations on different trading streets.

The tight-passive style cannot be profitable, so it should not be adhered to. Experienced opponents will quickly recognize a "fish" in you and will begin to create a lot of difficult situations that will lead to even greater losses.

Tight-aggressive player

Many experienced poker players play a tight-aggressive style. However, to play profitably using this style, you need to have a lot of gaming experience. The bottom line is that the player chooses only good starting hands to enter the trades, but plays them aggressively, pressing on opponents with high stakes. Even if the poker player does not make the desired combination on the flop, he often continues to rise, for example, by playing a draw hand. This style has the following advantages:

When a player wins, he always gets high pots, which justifies a cautious game that incurs losses due to the loss of the blinds;

The poker player is less likely to face difficult situations postflop, since in the auction he remains to play against one or two opponents, and often takes the pot preflop without resistance. Playing with promising starting hands rarely gets you into difficult situations;

The player gains a reputation as an opponent who plays only on strong cards, which alarms opponents every time they enter the auction. This allows him to successfully use various bluffing techniques and put opponents in difficult playing positions.

An aggressive tight poker player is a strong opponent who must respect himself. It is difficult to play against them, since, together with a lot of experience, such players become unpredictable. It is not easy to know if he is bluffing or if he has a really strong hand. Plus, it's always expensive to check! Many beginners try to use this style in the game, but forget to always remain unpredictable. Therefore, an experienced tight player alternates this game with a loose or aggressive one in order to remain a "dark horse" for opponents.

A tight player can be a beginner or an experienced player. You can distinguish one from another by the behavior in the auction. An inexperienced opponent, playing carefully, does not realize the potential of his hands and drives himself into difficult game situations. On the contrary, an experienced poker player creates difficulties for opponents.

Each poker session consists of two types of confrontation: tight versus loose and passive versus aggressive. These parameters characterize the playing style of those sitting at the table. Let's see how it works.

Tight versus loose preflop

Tight players play a narrow range of hands usually of high value, such as A-A, A-K, A-Q, and so on.

Loose ones can flop with the most unpredictable ranges for example 7-2 offsuit.

At the same time, both types can play both passive and aggressive games with their range.

Passive play style will be accompanied by the following actions:

• the player often enters the pot by limping or calling pre-flop bets;
• periodically steals the blinds, but does it really rarely;
• in 99% of cases, the game is played based on the real strength of the hand, that is, bluffing is a rare guest in the strategic arsenal of those who choose a passive style.

Aggressive tactics are always distinguished by numerous methods of pressure:

• the player enters the bank either by raise or by 3-bet (this is the main indicator of aggressiveness);
• stealing the blinds is almost a sacred thing in the first round of betting - there is an attempt to isolate and clear the table as much as possible, right up to the heads-up game;
• bluffing when the aggressive style dominates plays the role of heavy artillery, and since events are developing aggressively, "heavy weapons" are used quite often.

Postflop

The first three cards come out on the board, the postflop begins and a new round of confrontation between the two styles.

A tight player evaluates the odds of an existing top pair or a stronger hand. Loose opponent continues to operate with marginal hands and draws.

Depending on the odds of the pot and the likelihood of coming outs on the turn and river, the passive style will either call or fold. If everything is fine with the strength of the hand, he can raise, but it should be either the second stronger pair, or something starting from the set.

The adherent of the aggressive style continues to bet, raise, re-raise and so on, despite the fact that he understands that he has a tight-passive opponent in front of him and if he goes further, then he clearly has something more powerful than 7-2 offsuit pocket and J-5-10 on the board. In turn, it is extremely difficult for a tight player to form a realistic picture of the cards of a loose-aggressive opponent.

Don't be guided by templates

Have you already decided what style you will use in your poker sessions? If so, then give yourself a crucial statement: as you gain experience, get rid of your choice at any cost! "How so?" - you ask. All of the above is just a theory, the main points of reference, but you should not use them as a template in any situation.

There is such a concept as "The ideal player". It is rarely mentioned where, and perhaps because there are not so many ideals in the poker community. It is about a kind of man-orchestra for poker table... He is not tight or loose, not passive or aggressive, he is different and this is what you need to strive for. No matter what they say that any variation in an aggressive shell is the best weapon against any opponents. Best weapon- the ability to read opponents as accurately as possible and smoothly switch from one style to another, depending on what the specific situation requires.

At the top of poker strategy is the tight-aggressive style used by the vast majority. successful players... All you need to do is wait for a favorable situation and play strong hands as actively as possible. Let's take a closer look at the two components of a tight-aggressive style.

Tight style

Combinations of two cards that are dealt by the dealer at the beginning of the game are called starting hands. Tight style is based on playing a limited number of starting hands that are more likely to be victorious. Good tight players use only about 20% of the 169 possible combinations to enter the game preflop, choosing only the strongest ones. Premium hands such as AA, KK or AK will rarely come across to you, but a lot of weak starting hands, on the contrary, will make up the majority. Please be patient and always strictly adhere to the rules, which will be detailed in the article "Preflop Basics". Remember, the starting hand charts in this article have been tested by professionals over the years and have proven to be unshakable.

Each player has many temptations that lead him to play too many hands. If you succumb to these temptations, chances are your poker career will be over before it even starts. By playing weak hands preflop, you too often put yourself in a situation where, far behind your opponent, you cannot win chips. Therefore, we will learn to play only decent hands and not allow ourselves to play weak preflop.

Aggressive play

Dan Harrington in his book "Cash by Harrington" formulated one of the fundamental principles of Texas Hold'em.

Generally, aggression (bets and raises) is better than passivity (check or call).

Aggressive poker is undoubtedly one of the ingredients for success. Don't be afraid to bet and raise and try to avoid checking and calling if you think you are ahead. Be especially wary of preflop calls as with this move, you personally give the initiative into the hands of your opponent and put yourself in difficult situation at the very beginning of the rally.

Aggression will allow you to control the course of the game throughout the entire rally. Plus, playing aggressively gives you two chances to win. First, you can win immediately if your opponent folds. Second, you can win at showdown if your hand is stronger. But passive play can only allow you to win at showdown if your combination is victorious.

Another advantage of aggressive play is the constant pressure on the opponent. After all, forcing your opponent to play under the onslaught of bets and raises, you can force him to make less balanced or obviously wrong decisions. And this is exactly what you need!

The tight style of poker is not very popular with newbies or non experienced players, which is why most poker players are unhappy when they are fighting against opponents with tight. However, as practice shows, a tight poker game is almost the same as a loose one. In this article, we will look at how to play poker tightly, what are the features of such a game and how to recognize it during gameplay.

Tight poker terminology

The first and most important difference in this style is the fact that the player plays postflop with a small number of opponents, since most of them fold preflop in Texas Hold'em or on the turn in Stud.

A very relevant question is who is a poker player with a tight? This is a poker player who is convinced that the gameplay with bad cards will be lost in advance and will turn out to be unprofitable, which is why he will only fight with a strong card.

Such opponents are found even on loose tables. So how do you recognize the moment when the gameplay transitions from loose style to tight? - at the moment when the majority of players start to use a tight style.

Such a table already has only 4 participants postflop, and it is not a fact that it is permanent. In the case when opponents use the "rock" strategy, then it almost never comes to the turn or river, since most of the participants fold their hand, and the player wins the pot, which consists of the blinds and ante, and constantly raises the bets.

One such pattern can be distinguished: the larger the amount of the limit, the more opponents will become who play tight. If you want to play a tight poker style, then finding such a table will not be difficult, since you can find any game regardless of discipline or limit.

How to win at poker with tight and is it possible?

Loose poker players are constantly complaining about how difficult it is with a strong hand to survive all stages of a loose hand. They prefer to play at a table where there are no reinforced raises or unreasonable stacks.

The "highlight" is that there are such tables, but they are called tight tables. You cannot bluff or make empty raises on them, but the gameplay lasts quite a long time with an almost zero pot. What needs to be done in order to win in tight poker?

First of all, if the player did not fold, then in order to continue the fight, you must have some pretty strong cards. In a loose style, a player is almost always brought to a showdown with hands that have an ace or youngest couple, which is why pairs such as ace and jack, ace and king can win thanks to a strong kicker.

A tight poker player will not do this. With weak cards, he folds and just waits until the end of the hand. If the opponent continues to play, then the probability of your victory, even with such pairs, is reduced. It is also worth noting that you cannot raise without having strong cards in your hand. When the opponent continues to play, it means that he does not have bad cards if he also raises, you can be sure that he has a really strong hand.

Let's say you raise early, then the answer is a reraise from a player who is playing in a loose style. He may have an ace and a queen, or an ace and a jack, or other weak cards, but if he answers tight to the reraise, then he probably has as many cards as a pair of queens.

Next, you need to pay attention to the fact that the pot and the betting range in the game should not be too large. Having at least a little experience in practice in the game with loose players, then it is likely that you will be prepared for the fact that the stack of the top and the outsider in the game may have some differences in a couple of tens or even hundreds of times.

Usually, a poker player playing tight does not play with such a range, because it is thanks to this difference that he will be calmer and will be able to wait good cards... Also, you don't have to double your bet to win at tight poker. In order to play successfully, you can just periodically select the blind or a couple of bets.

Most players do not take the risk of playing at these tables, because at the end of the draw, the prize can be unacceptably small, with only the blinds. In practice, this is the case, the pot is small, however, players who played in a tight style win not 10-15 BB per hour, but 0.5-1.5 BB.

In order to achieve at least such a result, it is necessary to use a moderate tight tempo with a small pot. In order to win, you just need to use a bluff and a well-timed blind roll. Finally, as mentioned, bluffing is one of the most important aspects of winning a tight game.

A poker player who plays tight does not always fight for a prize before showdown, the game is often much faster. It is very important to master the art of bluffing, to find the right moment and the right opponent. Such experiences will come with constant practice and time. If you learn how to analyze your opponent, feel the game and use bluffs correctly, then you are guaranteed a stable profit.

How is the game with a tight opponent going?

Many hands that are tight are usually stopped after the first raise preflop, as most of the players fold, but this does not mean that such a hand is difficult or bad.

You just need to analyze and correctly assess the current situation in the game, how to proceed further, thanks to which you can win a large sum and at the same time feel emotionally calm. Usually the players who lead tight play act according to the principle of classical and correct distribution, which is why they almost always win. This happens for several reasons.

First, strong opponents often raise in order to increase the pot, the player playing tight makes more calls or folds so as not to risk losing a large amount of money. Secondly, strong opponents always use an aggressive style, regardless of the situation at the table, which makes it very difficult to read their hand.

A player who plays tight with a good hand will bet and fold or check with a bad hand, so you can easily understand what he is. And thirdly, strong players are very difficult to deceive, which is why they rarely fold, and tight players will immediately stop playing because they do not want to take risks. It's quite easy to win, it's good enough to have the ability to recognize the behavior of opponents.

Who are passive and aggressive players?

The most important difference between these types of players is the amount of raises during the preflop and postflop stages. An opponent playing with an aggressive style will make a lot of raises and reraises in order to be in a more successful situation, luring the profit to their side.

Postflop is more different in the number of bets and calls than checks. If in practice you do not have enough experience, then it is best not to play at a tight table, since the gameplay is quite aggressive and dynamic, which can lead to a large loss.

Before starting the game, try to analyze your opponents, how many draws they have before showdown. When no one is opened in 10 minutes, the distribution promises to be interesting and not easy.

Poker players who play in a more passive style raise in the early stages, trying to take control of the situation, but they do it less often than the aggressors. In the later stages of the gameplay, the players very often fold, check, call, rather than bet or raise. You can win in such a situation thanks to good endurance and a little bluff.

Which hand should you play?

Taking into account the essence of any tight table, namely, the decrease in players in the late stages of the game, middle or high pairs with a strong kicker can provide the opportunity to win a big pot. Also, in the struggle for the bank, you can play with TC or TD, but there is a risk of losing. Often only strong pairs or senior ones are used in wrestling.

A player playing tight will not form a draw, since it is simply unprofitable to win a small pot in such a game. Nines, eight or lower pairs with the same suit are often used by poker players with a loose style of play, which makes tight hands unprofitable and meaningless, and sometimes problematic.