History of Poker
Poker has grown in popularity over the past few years.
So much so that it is now regularly televised event on several
cable stations.
The popularity of Poker and specifically Texas Hold'em stems
from the fact that Poker is so easy to learn.
Beginners can comfortably start playing Poker within minutes.
Often you will hear adjectives such as "loose", "tight", "passive",
"aggressive", and other terms applied to poker players. These
adjectives refer to the playing style of different players.
Understanding the dominant playing style at your table, or the
playing style of a certain opponent, are important factors in
determining how to alter your strategy for maximum profitability.
"Loose" vs. "tight" refers to the player's starting hand requirements.
It is usually quite obvious which style a player is using. Below
are definitions of the two styles.
Tips on Playing Poker
Loose: A loose player plays a lot of hands, usually far too
many. The typical loose player is a novice with an "any two
cards can win" philosophy. They will see the flop a majority
of the time, and will often play to the river with a marginal
hand. Play money and low limit tables are notoriously loose.
Loose players are not playing optimally, but at a loose table
they will often profit from lucky draws. Loose tables can be
quite profitable for good players, but excessively loose tables
can be unprofitable for tight players, since they will often
lose good hands to lucky draws by bad players. When playing
at a loose table, loosen your starting hand requirements by
playing more suited cards, connectors, and small pairs, but
be prepared to fold if your hand doesn't improve.
Tight: A tight player will play fewer starting hands. Tight
players take advantage of starting hand selection to increase
their chances of drawing to a winning hand. At no-limit and
high-limit tables playing tight is crucial, but in any case
you generally want to play tighter than the other players at
your table. Tight tables are generally not as profitable as
loose tables, since fewer players will see the flop, but tight
players will play more rationally than loose players.
Poker players are also categorized as "passive" or "aggressive".
These adjectives refer to a player's betting style. Passive
players rarely raise, preferring instead to check or call. But
when passive players do raise, they generally have the best
hand. Passives are very predictable and consistent. On the other
hand, aggressive players raise frequently, and are often unpredictable.
The combination of starting hand requirements and betting styles
create four commonly recognized categories of players, listed
here from worst to best:
Loose-passive: Often referred to as "calling stations", loose-passive
players have a tendency to call any bet as long as they have
a remote chance of winning. Loose-passives often will not raise
when they have a good hand, but they often will not fold when
they have a bad hand.
Loose-aggressive: Loose-aggressive players will make often-inappropriate
raises. They will not always have the best hand when they raise,
and will even raise with poor hands. Due to their inconsistent
and irrational play, loose-aggressives are often called "maniacs".
Playing against maniacs can be profitable if you win heads-up
against them, but they can also be expensive to play against,
due to the number of raises you'll have to call.
Tight-passive: Often referred to as "rocks", tight-passive players
play few hands and play them cautiously. But if a tight-passive
player starts raising all of a sudden, it is likely that they
have the "nuts" (the best possible hand on the board). Playing
tight-passive will keep you from losing money, but it won't
make you much either.
Tight-aggressive: Tight-aggressive players also play few hands,
but will be much more varied in the way they play those hands.
If a tight-aggressive player raises, they may have a very good
hand... or they might be bluffing. Tight-aggressive players
utilize selective aggression. They will "slow play" good hands
only to trap players with lesser hands into betting later in
the round. They will raise to "represent" hands they don't have
in order to make other players fold. Tight-aggressive is the
standard that you should aspire to. You won't find many tight-aggressive
players in the lower limits, but playing tight and aggressive
(sans bluffing) can make you a winning low-limit player. |
