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OPPONENTS PLAYING STYLES
Playing styles will have a big influence on how each poker player would choose to act in a hand. Playing styles would generally fall into one of the following four categories:
Loose-passive
Loose-passive poker players would be free with their money, but their actions would tend to follow the other players.
Loose-passive poker players would enter most hands and call just about every bet, but they would rarely bet or raise on their own. Normally these players would be the most profitable people to play against. You would have to beware though, since they would play every hand, potentially they could
have any hand. It would be difficult to know the cards they were playing. While most of their hands would be weak, they could surprise you. If the table were full of loose-passive poker players you could play weaker starting cards since you wouldn’t have to worry about pre-flop raises and many players would be in each hand.
Loose-aggressive
Loose-aggressive poker players would also be free with money, but they would thrive on action and would want to be the center of attention. Loose-aggressive poker players would raise and would want to be the center of attention. Loose-aggressive would be sure you have a strong hand that would justify calling their expected raise.
It wouldn’t be their hand you would have to worry about beating, but other poker players with strong cards that would call their raises. Loose-aggressive poker players will lose lots of money, but if too many of them were at a table, the entire game would become loose-aggressive.
In such a game, there would be many pre-flop raises and many players with the flimsiest of hands would contest large pots. You would only have to play with strong starting cards that would justify a large pre-flop expense. Against these poker players, you would have large swings in your bankroll, but you wouldn’t have to win many pots to come out ahead.
Tight-passive
Tight-passive poker players would be followers at the table, but they’d be very careful with their money. Tight-passive poker players would typically buy in for a small amount of money and guard it. They will seldom bet, rarely raise, and they would call bets only when they have a great hand. You wouldn’t lose money at a table full of these kinds of players, but if would be difficult to make much, either. When tight-passive poker players dominate the table, pots would be smaller because few players would enter each hand and there would be few showdowns. To win money, you would need to win many small pots by being aggressive. You would have to bet and raise with marginal cards to intimidate these poker players out of the hand.
Tight-aggressive
Tight-aggressive poker players would be careful with their money, but when they would play, they would seize the initiative. Tight-aggressive poker players would enter few hands, but when they did, they will have strong cards. They will bet and raise aggressively, forcing the other poker players to pay dearly if they would decide to chase.
If you were to find yourself at a table filled with tight-aggressive poker players, you would have to consider switching to another table, especially if you were new to poker. It would be easy to find yourself outplayed and you money would be quickly gone in this kind of game. You would have to study the play of tight-aggressive poker players since you would aspire to be one. The playing style of each person at the table would influence the personality of the table as a whole. The personality of the table would be important early in the hand, particularly when deciding whether or not to see the flop. As the hand would progress and fewer poker players would remain, individual personalities would become more important. You would need to not both the group personality (when you were entering a hand) and the personality of the individuals (when you would go up against opponents one-on-one). Being sensitive to playing styles and how they could change would be critical. Group dynamics would change, as poker players will come and go, and sometimes could change for no reason at all.
Tight-passive tables could suddenly become loose-aggressive tables for no apparent reason. Learning to adjust your play based on your opponents’ playing styles and the group dynamics would be the essence of the poker strategy described in Chapter 6.