Poker Playing Styles

If you have read poker strategy articles or overheard discussions between poker players, you may have come across certain combinations of words to describe how someone plays at the poker table. The typical styles attributed to players will either be Tight-Aggressive, Loose-Aggressive, Tight-Passive and Loose-Passive. But what exactly does it mean to be Tight, Loose, Aggressive or Passive? And which style is the best to play?

Firstly, lets explain what each of these 4 styles mean…

The first word of each playing style describes how many hands a player is perceived to be playing, and they will either be describes as being ‘tight’ or ‘loose’. A tight player will play very few hands, and only play premium hands that have a good chance of winning. A loose player on the other hand will play a wide variety of hands, and enter numerous pots with both strong starting hands a few weaker ones.

The second part of each playing style describes how the particular players bet on each betting round, and this is described as being either ‘aggressive’ or ‘passive’. An aggressive player will frequently bet or raise and give a lot of action by making strong bets. A passive player however will be more inclined to check and call, and will rarely bet out or raise an opponent’s bet.

So as you can see, by combining these two sections together with the two descriptions in each, we can make 4 different playing styles to describe how many hands an opponent plays, and how they play their hands by the way they bet or check. This sort of information can be very useful when talking about strategy, as making a bluff against a Loose-Passive player who plays lots of hands and calls frequently, is not going to be as profitable as making a bluff against a Tight-Aggressive player who only plays the best hands and will only bet or raise with a strong hand.

Here is a quick table to show how you would normally describe a player combining each of the various loose, tight, passive and aggressive attributes:

Which out of these 4 playing styles is the best?

To play good poker you have to be able to play aggressively, as highlighted in the article on the importance of aggression. Therefore as you can expect, the best playing style is going to be a toss-up between playing Tight-Aggressive or Loose-Aggressive. Many winning players will say that Tight-Aggressive is the best way to play as you are always entering pots with great hands and you are playing them strongly to maximize your winnings. This is very true, and it is often the style of play that many developing players aspire to use correctly.

In spite of this however, it is perfectly possible to play Loose-Aggressive just as profitably or even more profitably than the Tight-Aggressive style, but this is quite difficult to master. Playing Loose-Aggressive means that you are seeing a lot of flops and getting money into the pot when you are often not totally sure of how strong your hand is, so it is not something that is recommended for beginner players should try. However, the rewards can be high, as your opponents will often pay you off when you hit monster hands as they will not give you credit for them because of the way you have been playing up to that point.

The passive style of play is often unprofitable, and so it is advised that anyone looking to become a winning poker player should try to bet and raise more frequently rather than just checking and calling. The reason why passive play is often unprofitable is because you are removing one of you options to win a hand. In Poker, you can either win by having the best hand, or by betting your opponent out of the pot. So by playing passively, you are reduced to only ever winning when you have the best hand, which is what any old player can do.

So for the majority of players learning the game, it is recommended that you try and adopt a Tight-Aggressive style because of the fact that it is profitable and safe to play. If after you gain experience in playing solid, profitable poker, there is no reason why you shouldn’t try and venture out into the realms of Loose-Aggressive play to see how it works out for you. Veteran players like the Loose-Aggressive style because it allows them to get involved in a lot of hands and see a lot of pots, which will save them from the boredom of waiting for premium hands all the time before they see any action. However, it is far safer to stick with the trusted Tight-Aggressive play at first, rather than throwing yourself into the deep end with a complex playing style that you are unfamiliar with.

In general, the playing style you adopt should be the one that allows you to play most profitably. If you feel that playing Tight-Aggressive works better for you than any other style, then there is no reason why you should consider forcing yourself to change. Similarly, if you are a recreational player and enjoy playing passively rather than aggressively, then that is perfectly fine and you should be comfortable with the way you play. However, you should be aware that if you want to maximize your winnings, an aggressive style of play would allow you to do so rather than a passive style of play.

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