AN INTIAL ASSESSMENT
The first step in evaluating a poker player is to categorize him.
Players can be generally categorized along two scales: passive-aggressive and loose-tight. The extremes of these scales are readily recognizable.
Someone who is extremely loose and aggressive is called a “maniac” because he will bet or raise on just about anything.
Someone who is extremely tight and passive is called a “rock” because he will only play sure hands, and even then he will play them conservatively and rarely raise.
Someone who is extremely loose and passive is called a “calling station” because he will nearly always call someone else’s bet but will rarely raise or bet himself.
The last extreme type is both tight and aggressive and is called a “stone killer” because he is the one who waits for his opportunities and then pounces on them, making the most money.
Most players do not fit into these extreme types, but you will recognize these four characteristics to a greater or lesser extent in every player at a poker table.
In addition to the basic four characteristics,you may want to further categorize players along two other scales: weak-tough and straightforward-tricky.
In order to categorize a player, watch what he does, how he plays, when he calls, when he bets, and when he raises.
If you’re new to the game, you can also get an assessment of what type of player you are dealing with by watching how other players, the ones who presumably know something about him, react to him.
Let us examine the scales and see how various players fit into their respective categories.
The Tight-Loose Player Scale
A tight player is one who doesn’t get involved in many pots. He ’s very selective. A loose player plays a lot of hands and continues to play the hand into the betting poker rounds.
The Passive-Aggressive Scale
A passive player doesn’t bet or raise on most hands but will tend to call your bets. An aggressive player is one who bets and raises a lot.
If you bet into an aggressive player, he might fold or he might raise, but he’s not likely to call.
The Weak-Tough Scale
A weak player is one who always fears the worst. If three flush cards are on the board, he fears a flush.
If you bet, he might call, but he won’t raise with his straight.
A tough player will try to figure out whether you actually have a flush. If he doesn’t think you have one, he’ll raise with his straight.
If he does think you have one, he might call or he might fold, depending on how big the pot is.
Tough players tend to be hard to read, whereas weak players tend to be easy to read.
The Straightforward-Tricky Scale
Some players always bet their good poker hands, always check and call with good draws, and always fold their weak hands and weak draws.
You always have a good idea what kind of hand this player holds. Other players try to get tricky.
They’ll bet when they don’t have much, check and call the flop, then raise on the turn when they have a good hand or a great hand. they’ll semi-bluff and raise a lot.
These players are sometimes more difficult to read, but often they overdo the tricky attempts so much that you can read them even more easily than you can a straightforward player.
It’s just that the clues are backward.
Pick the Right Table / Picking a Seat / Theories of Poker / Betting Theory: The Odds
A Theory of Starting Hand Value
A Theory of Flop Play: Counting Outs and Evaluating Draws
The Dynamics of Game Conditions / Table Image
Women and Poker / Spread-Limit Games / Double Bet on the End Games / Kill Games
Short-handed Games / Tournaments / No-limit and Pot-Limit Poker
