Texas Holdem Player Types
This article will just list some player types and characteristics. Then I'll also list some counter strategies.
Tight Vs. Loose
As you probably already know, a tight player is a player who doesn't play a hand unless he has a big edge, usually a very strong starting hand. The opposite of this is the loose player who has a much more open style and doesn't require as much preflop strength to play. Because strong hands don't come along often, the tight player spends much of the game waiting, while the loose player is in lots of hands. So basically the first type of tightness/looseness comes down to is whether a player plays lots of hands or few hands.
The other kind of looseness/tightness has to do with postflop play. Generally speaking, if a guy plays lots of hands preflop, he will also be loose postflop, and make lots of calls with little hand strength, but not always. Likewise, most of the time if an opponent is very tight preflop, they will be tight postflop. This is an important distinction to make because most of the play happens postflop. You don't want to generalize a player based on his preflop play and get into trouble postflop.
Another key consideration about looseness or tightness is how the opponent reacts to other player's play. Does the opponent call lots of raises preflop? Or does the loose play only happen in small pots. This is also important to know because sometimes a player will play very loose unless someone raises, then he/she will only call with a reasonable hand. On the other hand, you may have opponents who are strictly tight or loose in all situations -- only play premium hands in all spots, or play just about any hand in any spot.
Counter Strategy: If you know that the opposition folds too much, because they only play hands that don't come around often, then you can steal more from them. This usually comes in the form of preflop raises. You make little jabs at them until you get played back at, at which point you know you are most likely beat and can muck. You definitely do not want to call a very tight players preflop raise unless you have a good reason, since you are most likely behind already in the hand. It is a better approach to avoid their raises and push back in other hands where they haven't shown strength. Always look for the easiest path, the path of least resistance.
For the loose player, you can play more hands preflop. Because a loose player plays more hands, it is logical that their average hand strength isn't that strong, so you can get away with playing "less good" hands into them. Having position on your opponent always helps. For a tight player, you can wait till they check and show weakness, and sometimes win the pot with a bet. With a loose player, you can do the same, or bet and take a free card on the turn, or just check behind them. Position helps to minimize your risk in both situations.
For loose players, the key point postflop is to make value bets. A value bet is a bet that is made with a hand that isn't very strong, but figures to beat the opponent(s). A hand like middle pair with a decent kicker would be a value bet situation (AT and the flop is J-T-4). Remember, the loose postflop player will call a lot with weak hands, so value betting is how you extract the most from them. The loose postflop player won't bet, but will be more than happy to check and call hoping to catch up.
Players do get rushes of cards. You may have a tight player playing six hands in a row, and that doesn't necessarily mean he/she is loosening up at all.
Some tight players get married to hands, meaning they can't lay them down/muck them. Part of this comes from the fact that they have waited so long for a hand, and part of it comes from a lack of understanding for postflop play. An example might be paying off a big raise with just one pair, like AA, when it is obvious an opponent has at least two pair or better.
Aggressive Vs. Passive
Aggressive play is play that includes lots of betting and raising. Passive play is play that does the opposite: mostly checks and calls. You can tell how aggressive a player is by looking at some of the marginal hands they play and how they deal with them. See, everyone will bet their great hands, like AA and KK, or good hands postflop. That doesn't make an opponent aggressive, per se. What makes an opponent aggressive is if they enter the pot with an ok hand and play it strongly. The aggressive opponent is kind of an optimistic bully. While the passive player might want to check a marginal hand and see how it turns out, the aggressive opponent prefers to bet at the pot.
Counter Strategy: A passive player's check doesn't necessarily mean he/she is going to fold, so if you bet and the opponent calls, you might consider a check on the next betting round. The main way to beat a passive player is to use their lack of betting as a means to get free cards. You catch up to them because they aren't protecting their hand.
In no limit, you can make smaller bets into a passive player, knowing they will only raise if they have a very strong hand, in an attempt to get to the river more cheaply and keep the pot small with middle range hands. Likewise, when you lead out and bet into a passive player, you can get lots of information if they only call versus raise. A raise postflop from a passive player is a sure sign they have a strong hand. Preflop, you can also call more against a passive player because you know he/she won't bet unless the flop has improved their hand.
Say in a tourney you call a passive player's raise with a hand like 98s. You know he/she won't bet the flop unless they have something, so you can use this against them to see the whole hand for one bet, and only bet if you think you are ahead. Aggressive players are more difficult to play against than passive players because in holdem it is hard to connect with a flop, and if you are heads up against an aggressive opponent, it is likely they'll keep firing away at the pot, which puts you in a bad spot since again, you most likely didn't catch much. Having the best hand preflop always helps, but position is also really important.
Position allows you to control the pot more. You can just call the opponent's bets without showing weakness like you would if you were acting first and checked and called. Also, by being behind your opponent, you can avoid giving him a free card like you would if you checked a betting round if you had to act first. Free cards are the enemy of the best hand, so if you have position you can protect your hand easier.
Next, ideally you would like to be the one with the gun, in charge of the pot by raising preflop, but if you are in a pot calling an aggressive player's bet, you need to take into account that when someone bets too much, you can't take their bet as seriously postflop. This is a touchy thing, but I'll mention it anyway. You don't want to take the approach in cards that you'll just fold when you don't connect with the flop. You have to take into account what your opponent might have and play accordingly, sometimes making what seem like "bad" calls. This is especially true for overly aggressive opponents. Remember, if they bet too much, it means they are betting some of the time with very little, which means the correct counter is to call too much. Often times the best strategy against an aggressive opponent is to merely call them down. If you raise with a marginal hand, often it gets the wrong result. Either you get him to fold a weaker hand that he would have keep betting with, or you get him to reraise with a hand that beats you. As a general rule, the best way to beat a player is to pinpoint their because weakness and go along with it, instead of trying to overpower them. With an aggressive opponent the major weakness is the over playing of hands. Since you know he'll bet too much, you can just set traps and let him just hand himself. A typical trap is to just slow play can check/call to raise later in a hand.
More information about starting hands and agressive players - from heads-up-limit-holdem.com
Tricky Vs. Straight Forward
Straight forward players bet when they have a good hand and check and fold when they don't. This is ABC poker. They don't make any attempt to disguise the strength of their hand. Deception isn't a big part of this player's game. The opposite of this is the tricky player, who plays hands in such a way to keep the opposition off balance. This basically comes down to predictability. You might have heard the term "changing gears" with regard to a player's style. This means that the player plays more hands or fewer hands, plays them more aggressively or passively, and generally mixes up the play. A straight forward player will play a hand like AA the exact same way every time, while the tricky player has the ability to vary the preflop and postflop play to accomplish some goal. When you play against an ABC player, you won't be faced with tough decisions, because the betting will reflect the strength of the opponent's hand. On the other hand against a tricky opponent, you'll always have that bit of uncertainty in the back your head, because he/she is capable of a wide range of moves.
Counter Strategy: Straight forward players are favorable opponents if you are objective enough to listen to the signs -- the signs being how they are playing a hand. If a straight forward player bets in a way that suggests they have a strong hand, you fold. If the straight forward player plays a hand weakly, you use that information to deduce that your middle range strength hand is probably ahead, or even simple aggression will win.
In general, you should not be over thinking plays against the ABC type; don't make any tough decisions. Because the opponent plays in a straight forward way, you push when they seem weak, and you fold when they seem strong. You can extend this some to exploit them by betting or raising for information.
Tricky players are difficult. First of all, you want to label someone a tricky player or not. For example, not everyone is capable of making a tricky play on the turn in limit holdem, like check raising as a semi-bluff. Once you see that a person is capable of that, remember it and play accordingly later. From that point forward, their play will be in question and you'll have to give them less credit when they make that play again. I've found that most players who are very tricky with one move tend to use it too often.
Another type of trickiness is slow playing a hand or trapping. Again, if they do it once, chances are they'll overuse the play. With the straight forward player, "it is what it is." With the tricky player you need to always consider that something else is up.
Another general tip is not to make a stand too soon. Never assume someone is making a tricky play before you've seen them do it before. It's usually better to wait to see how they play, then make tough decisions. Play conservatively and protect your money until you get a better read on their style.
When I've come to the conclusion that someone is a tricky player, the first thing I'm going to stop doing is giving them credit for every hand. If I have a piece of the flop, I'm going to be less likely to let it go when they show strength and bet. The second thing I'll do is try to make my life easier by not getting into bad spots with them, whether that is calling with a weak hand preflop or out-of-position, etc. All those things are much harder to deal with when someone is capable of betting with nothing, or trapping. Against the straight forward/ABC player, I can play more cards because I have an easier time putting them on a hand. Against the tricky guy, even if he isn't good otherwise, that creates problems.
Another article: The unpredictable betting pattern
Level Headed vs Tilter
Some players are really good, until they get a run of bad cards, at which point everything falls apart and they degenerate into a horrible player. Part of the process of winning is keeping a mental log of the type of opponents you are against, their betting patterns, how many cards they play, etc. Don't make the mistake a lot of people do and assume that because an opponent previously played a certain way, he/she is currently playing the same -- this usually is about first impressions.
One major factor is the tilt issue. Watch how an opponent deals with losing pots and see if it has affected their strategy. If it has, obviously make adjustments in how you view their play. Everyone eventually gets rattled and suffers, it's just a matter of how long it takes. We could also generalize this beyond just getting bad beats to if the opponent is emotionally strong, tired, hungry, playing over their head, etc.
Counter Strategy: Against a tilting player, expect more bad plays, which usually takes the form of over playing their hand, and calling your bets too much. Because of this, you want to still play solid hands against their raises, but call a little more, and also bet for value more against them, while avoiding bluffing (they'll call more often). If you do run a bluff (succeed at a bluff), you can always show the bluff if you expect that it will cause an opponent to go on tilt.
With a tilter, especially in no limit holdem, it can be profitable to try and pay a little more preflop in the hopes to bust them postflop. In no limit games, I'm all about the big pot versus making many little ones. You're really trying to double-through. When a guy is tilting, he is ready. Many times I've played weaker hands against tilters because I know that if I hit, I can get very good value or even double-through. You can do this some in limit holdem too, but obviously it's harder to get that huge pot.
Against a level headed player, nothing really changes. I won't make plays that are in part to piss them off. And I'll just continue what I assume is the best style for beating them.
Poker-info.com also has an article on player types
