What Poker Style Should You Adopt?

Poker is a game of strategy and when you have strategy in any game, a favored approach is bound to shine through. They come down to a variety of factors such as experience, risk, and available cash.

Understanding the different styles can help you gain an advantage when playing. Not only will you appreciate the best approach to the game and adapt your behaviors to match, but you will also be able to read your opponent and learn the best approach to trip them up in their style.

Keep reading to find out what styles you are likely to use, and whether you should maybe change them.

There are four main styles of poker that are made up of varying levels of two elements: tight vs loose and passive vs aggressive.

Tight players are very selective with their hands. They will play only the best hands they can get and will fold every hand that isn’t good enough, whereas loose players will play everything. Passive vs aggressive players come down to how much they are willing to risk. Passive players won’t clash with opposing players where aggressive players will risk it all.

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Tight aggressive

Tight and aggressive players, on the other hand, are considered “sharks” for their superior and selective strategy. They are careful with what hands they play, but when they play them, they play them strongly. They are patient enough to wait for the best opportunity to strike and will bet high.

You will want to take lessons from this as it is the most effective approach, with professionals playing in tournaments showing the characteristics of “sharks”. You can watch and study the styles of the pros by watching all the best tournaments on the GGPoker site. Or watch some of the live tables or watch a stream of the GGTeam on Twitch to study the characteristics of the different styles.

Tight aggressive players shouldn’t be clashed with because chances are they will have a better hand.

Tight passive

If you are a tight and passive player, you might want to change that. Tight and passive players will not play many pots and will pre-flop with a good hand. You won’t win a lot with that approach. Any hand you consider good enough will be seen right away by the sheer fact that you are playing it and everyone at the table will fold. Tight passive players can be taken advantage of with a simple show of confidence in your hand.

You should learn to incorporate some more bluffing into your game. Bluff on a few hands that don’t get you so excited, and players will be less likely to challenge you.

Loose passive

Loose passive players have a blasé approach where they will dip their hand into a lot of pots and are too nosey to let a flop pass by without seeing them, so they call a lot of raises. However, they don’t tend to risk a lot, preferring to watch the table take chances and see what comes of it.

If you are against a loose passive player, you won’t be able to bluff, because they don’t feel like they have anything to lose and will simply call to see your cards. But if you have a good hand with a loose passive player, it should be easy to take them for all that they’re worth and milk them dry.

Loose aggressive

The loose aggressive is the epitome of method in madness. They will raise and re-raise over almost any hand and will bet on most flops. This makes for someone that’s hard to read since their confidence ranges the whole spectrum of hands.

This is a popular method in Texas No Limit Hold’em because they use their chips to pile on the pressure.

However, the chaos doesn’t guarantee they know what they’re doing. Sometimes a player is simply playing overplaying every hand, which you can take advantage of.