Poker playing styles. Tight-aggressive playing style Tight style

Tables with tight opponents can be a profitable place for a poker player who is able to properly adjust his strategy for such opponents.

Adjustments must be made in several areas of your playing strategy to avoid difficult post-flop situations. This article will walk you through a number of key strategy changes that can turn you into a winning player at the tight tables.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the nature of your tight opponents, the ranges of their starting hands, as well as the tendencies of playing these hands both preflop and postflop. Next, you need to pay attention to how having tight opponents at the table will affect your own play, from the choice of starting hands to post-flop strategy for playing in various situations. Finally, we'll look at what adjustments to your game strategy will have a position at the table in relation to certain types tight opponents.

Which table would be considered a tight poker table?

Tight player- a player who plays not a large number of hands preflop - in some cases less than 10% of all starting hands. This definition of a tight player means that he, as a rule, plays only strong starting hands and often enters the game by raising rather than calling. Features of playing against tight players is that they wait a long time for starting hands suitable for playing and are reluctant to fold them preflop if they are not sure that they are already beaten.

Tight players play a very small number of hands and typically enter the pot with premium hands.

Despite the fact that you will not be able to find at least two tight opponents who play exactly the same, you can make a number of assumptions based on their reluctance to get involved in a large hand without sufficient value (i.e. how strongly the players are tied to their starting hand). . You can find out this quite simply. First, you need to wait for a strong hand to call a preflop raise from a tight player. He will then be more likely to make continuation bets on safe boards, but he will be less likely to call your c-bet raise if there is a “scary card” on the board (for example, when there is an ace on the board and a tight player has a pair of queens).

Tight table strategy

Adjusting your strategy to tight opponents will affect many aspects of your strategy. You shouldn't call preflop raises with a medium-strength hand. On the contrary, you yourself should make as many preflop raises as possible. There are two key benefits to raising preflop. Tight players will often 3-bet you if they have a strong starter. It is important to note that they will often fold to your show of strength, which will help you win large numbers of blinds and small pots when you feel your opponent has missed the board.

Post-flop play against tight opponents involves making assumptions about how tight players are likely to hit the board based on the texture of the board.

Example of playing a hand at a tight table

Let's say there are three low cards on the board - or, for example, a small pair with a medium card. History against your tight opponents shows that they will have more high cards in their range. Since there are more unpaired card combinations than paired ones (for example, there can be 16 possible combinations of AK, while there are only 6 different combinations of AA or KK), the flop most likely did not suit the vast majority of his hands. Often, even a small bet will be enough to throw your tight opponents out of the hand.

Another example of playing a hand at a tight table

In the second example we will look at a slightly different type of flop - a flop containing a number of possible draws, for example, . Imagine that you are in position on your opponent and call his raise preflop, and it is on this board that you receive a bet from this tight opponent. Since your opponent is tight, he will most likely have an overpair, and the purpose of such a bet is to protect his hand from multiple draws. In these types of situations, you can call your opponent's bet and then raise cards that cover a flush or straight on the turn. Although this strategy is risky, it is profitable.

In both examples, it is necessary to take into account the nature of each individual opponent's play, since not all tight players will fold their hands in such cases. If you are faced with a tight/passive playing opponent who, with KK in hand, does not want to give in to your aggression on the flop with an ace, you can safely add him to your “friends list” - such an opponent is ideal for playing in cases where you will have a strong hand because... he will often give you his entire stack.

The importance of position at tight tables

Your table position is one of the key factors when playing against tight opponents. Not only is your position relative to the dealer's button important, but also your position relative to the preflop raiser. From late positions, you can not only expand your starting hand range, but also increase your winnings by simply stealing the blinds from tight players with a small resteal range.

By being last to move at a tight table, you can gain much more valuable information than if you were to move last at a loose table. At a loose table, your opponent will most likely make a continuation bet as a matter of course. A raise or reraise in front of you on a tight table will most likely reflect the true strength of your opponent's hand and allow you to get out of the hand cheaply.

Relative position at a tight table

Calling a preflop raise from a tight player in early position can get you in a lot of trouble: you may find yourself sandwiched between the preflop raiser and a possible limper behind you. Availability strong hands for opponents this could potentially lead to difficult post-flop decisions. For example, your top pair may be better than the hand of the player who raised, but the opponent behind you may well have a monster hand.

Avoid these situations by ensuring that you are the last one to act post-flop. For a more detailed study of this aspect of the game, you can refer to the article “relative position in poker”.

Conclusions about playing strategy at a tight table

To summarize, adjusting to a tight table involves a number of interrelated factors. Bluffing, especially on low or draw flops, will have more value (however, you should stop being aggressive if your opponent doesn't fold!). Value bets become very profitable against tight/passive players. The value of position, both absolute and relative, increases as an opponent's bets or checks reflect the true strength of his hand.

Such a player chooses reserved tactics in poker, rarely bluffs, and does not raise bets with an average hand. The active actions of a tight player can only be seen with a monster.

Characteristics of a Tight Player

A tight player is a reserved player who calculates every action as much as possible before betting in poker. Such an opponent would rather fold a good hand than engage in active actions and reraises. You don't always have to be a tight player. This style of play is suitable in certain cases, such as some stages. You can become a tight player during the bubble period (several people before getting into the prizes in the tournament).

Characteristics of a tight playing style:

Don't go in with a junk or average hand.
Play only pocket or large connectors (Ace + King, Ace + Queen, King + Queen, etc.).
Not against rivals.
Go to the showdown only with the strongest hand.
Do not bet with the average combination.

Types of Tight Players

A tight poker player is a general concept. Such people can be divided into 2 groups according to the characteristics of the game:

Tight aggressive player.
Tightly passive player.

The aggressive playing style is characterized by large raises and sharp actions at the poker table. The passive style is distinguished by frequent calls and small bets. Let's look at how these playing styles combine for a tight person.

Characteristics of a Tight-Aggressive Playing Style

Many professionals choose this style of play in live tournaments. Here are the basic principles of such a player:

Play only a certain group of cards, which are among the highest.
With a strong hand, bet aggressively, squeeze your opponents out of the pot and go all-in.
Put pressure on your opponents only with a good combination.

You can improve well in tournaments using this style, since the risk of elimination will be minimal. Experts advise playing in a tight-aggressive style of play only in the first stages of the tournament. Having created a certain image for yourself, you can start bluffing and bet large amounts with medium and weak combinations. Your opponents will be afraid to go all the way, based on their experience from past tight style games.

Characteristics of a Tight Passive Player

The principles of playing in this style:

Participate in the game only with the best combination.
Having collected the “candy” in poker, do not do it, but give preference to calling or checking.

This is considered ineffective and losing. Typically, beginners who have not yet fully understood the features of poker play in a tight passive style. They are afraid to risk money and play carefully even with the best combination. Usually they often bluff against such opponents and try to knock them out of the game.

Most often, this type of player can constantly fold cards and wait for the best combination. After collecting the best hand, a person will not do high stakes. Therefore, he will be in the red for a long time. After all, good cards come quite rarely and you need to squeeze the maximum profit out of them. Most often this tight player- This is an easy opponent who is excellent at reading at the table.

How to identify a tight passive player:

Rarely comes into distribution.
When participating in a game, he makes only a call or a check.
He behaves carefully at the table and does not communicate with other players.
Avoids loud phrases and abrupt actions.

There is one plus in the style of such players - they also have a passive attitude towards losses and winnings. Players do not react emotionally to every action in poker. Sometimes this style gives profit over the long term. The player loses a minimum amount without entering hands. At the same time, he wins the average amount with the best hand.

How to play correctly with a tight-passive opponent

If we find these players at the table so easily, does that mean they're pretty easy to beat? Actually this is not true. Usually, fighting such opponents and using an aggressive style against them ends in defeat. A passive player will wait for a better hand and enter the battle only with a confident victory. It is better not to play against such opponents and wait for other players to knock them out of the hand.

It is recommended to sit to the right of a tight passive opponent. Such a player will rarely raise bets. And we can take advantage of the position and try to steal. Such a player cannot be eliminated quickly and active actions. It is better to slowly take part of the pot from a passive opponent and not bluff. It's quite easy to read such an opponent's hand. The player will only go with the best combination. Therefore, when he calls or bets, it is recommended to immediately fold the middle hand.

Or you just heard a conversation between two poker players, then you probably came across certain combinations of words that describe the manner and style of play of this or that person at the table.

Poker School Rating:

Difficulty level 1/5

Need to know 7/10

In summary, everything gaming styles can be divided into:

Tight-Aggressive (TAG);
Loose-Aggressive (LAG);
Tight-Passive;
Loose-Passive.

But what exactly do these terms mean: being Tight, Loose, Aggressive or Passive in poker? AND Which of these styles is best?

Analysis of gaming style terms.

The first word is tight and loose.

The first word in the name of a playing style describes the extent to which the opponent plays many hands. And the words “tight” and “loose” are used for this.

Tight player will play a small number of hands, mostly premium hands that have a good chance of winning.
Loose player will play with a wide range of hands, entering a large number of pots with both strong hands and weaker ones.

The more hands a player enters pots with, the looser he will be.

The second word is aggressive and passive.

The second word in the name of the playing style characterizes how often the player bets and raises on all streets. And for this purpose the concepts “aggressive” and “passive” are used.

Aggressive player will bet and raise often, giving a lot of action to his opponents with his big bets.
Passive player will be more inclined to check and call, he will rarely bet or raise his opponent's bets.

So you can see that by combining any two words from each of these sections, we get 4 different playing styles that describe how many hands a certain player plays and whether he does it by betting/raising or checking/calling.

This information about a player can be very useful when choosing a strategy to play against him. So, for example, bluffing against a loose-passive player who plays a wide range and calls often will not be as profitable as against a tight-aggressive player who only plays his strongest hands.

Game style chart.

Below is a simple, general table of how you can describe the different variations of the words loose, tight, passive and aggressive:

Which of these 4 playstyles is the best?

To show good poker, you need to play aggressively as described in my previous article. Therefore, as you probably already guessed, the best play style will be somewhere between tight-aggressive and loose-aggressive.

Playing aggressively is always better than playing passively. This is a long-closed question.

Many winning players will say that tight-aggressive play is best because this way you will only enter pots with strong hands and play them aggressively, maximizing your winnings. Yes it is true, and this is often the style that many players tend to use.

But despite this, correct game in a loose-aggressive style can be not only as profitable, but even superior to a tight-aggressive one. But this style is more difficult to perform.

A loose-aggressive style can be more profitable, but it can also be more dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

Playing a loose-aggressive style means that you will see a lot of flops and put money into pots without being confident in the strength of your hand, so this style is not recommended for new players. However, it is also rewarded more, since your opponents will often pay off your monsters, not particularly trusting you due to the action in your previous plays.

Passive poker is always a loser.

A passive playing style will often be a negative one, so we recommend that anyone who wants to become a winning player consider betting and raising options more often than checking and calling. The reason that playing passively will be a disadvantage is that it deprives you of one of the ways to win hands.

There are two ways to win a hand: having the best hand at showdown or knocking your opponent out of the pot. By playing passively, you only leave yourself the opportunity to win at the showdown, and this is not good.

Thus, for most learning players, we recommend starting to master the tight-aggressive style of play, as it will be both profitable and safer. Over time, after you gain experience playing strong winning poker, you can try your hand at loose-aggressive play to see for yourself how this style works for you.

Veteran players love the loose-aggressive style because it allows them to play more hands and see more pots, which will keep them from getting bored waiting for premium hands. However, at first it will be safer to stick to a proven tight-aggressive style, rather than rush headlong into a more complex game that you are not yet familiar with.

Conclusion.

In general, the playing style you should choose should be the one that will bring you the most profit. If you feel that the tight-aggressive style works better for you than all others, then there is no reason to force yourself to change anything.

The same goes for recreational players, if you like to play passively more than aggressively, then great - play as you feel comfortable. But remember that if you want to win and maximize your profits, an aggressive playing style will help you more than a passive one.

If I had to rank the playstyles in order of their potential profitability. Then I would do it like this:

1. Tight-aggressive;

2. Loose-aggressive;

3. Tight-passive;

4. Loose-passive.

The first two styles are used interchangeably, as the loose-aggressive style can be extremely profitable for some players. However, the TAG style will be most suitable for new players, as the LAG style can be more dangerous if you do not fully understand what you are doing.

As additional information You can read my article on , from which you will learn how you can switch between a tight-aggressive style and a loose-aggressive style profitably.

Each poker session consists of two types of opposition: tight players against loose players and passive players against aggressive ones. These parameters characterize the playing style of those sitting at the table. Let's figure out how it works.

Tight vs loose preflop

Tight players play a narrow range of hands, as a rule, having high value, for example, A-A, A-K, A-Q and so on.

Loose ones can hit the flop with the most unpredictable ranges, for example, 7-2 offsuit.

At the same time, both types can play both passive and aggressive games with their range.

The passive play style will be accompanied by the following actions:

the player often enters the pot by limping or calling preflop bets;
periodically steals blinds, but does this really rarely;
in 99% of cases the game is played based on the real strength of the hand, that is, bluffing is a rare guest in the strategic arsenal of those who choose a passive style.

Aggressive tactics are always distinguished by numerous methods of pressure:

a player enters the bank either with a raise or with a 3-bet (this is the main indicator of aggressiveness);
stealing the blinds is almost a sacred thing on the first round of betting - there is an attempt to isolate and clear the table as much as possible until heads-up play;
When the aggressive style dominates, bluffing plays the role of heavy artillery, and since events are developing aggressively, “heavy weapons” are used quite often.

At the postflop stage

The first three cards appear on the board, post-flop begins and a new round of confrontation between the two styles begins.

A tight player evaluates the chances of an existing top pair or a stronger hand. A loose opponent continues to operate with marginal hands and draws.

Depending on the pot odds and the probability of outs coming on the turn and river, a representative of the passive style either calls or folds. If everything is fine with the strength of your hand, you can raise, but it should be either the second stronger pair, or something starting from a set.

An adherent of the aggressive style continues to bet, raise, reraise, and so on, despite the fact that he understands that he has a tight-passive opponent in front of him and if he goes further, then he clearly has something more powerful than offsuit pocket 7-2 and J-5-10 on the board. In turn, it is extremely difficult for a tight player to create a picture that is close to reality with the cards of a loose-aggressive opponent.

Don't rely on templates

Have you already decided what style you will use in your poker sessions? If yes, then give yourself a fundamentally important instruction: as you gain experience, get rid of your choice at any cost! “How so?”, you ask. Everything listed above is just a theory, basic reference points, but you shouldn’t use them as a template in any situation.

There is such a thing as the “Ideal Player”. It is rarely mentioned anywhere, and perhaps because there are not so many ideals in the poker community. We're talking about a kind of one-man band at the poker table. He is not tight and not loose, not passive and not aggressive, he is different and this is what you need to strive for. No matter what they say, any variation in an aggressive shell is the best weapon against any opponents. The best weapon is the ability to read opponents as accurately as possible and smoothly transition from one style to another., depending on what the specific situation requires.

A tight player is a player who prefers a style of poker play in which only a small number of the strongest hands are played. As a rule, tight players avoid difficult ambiguous situations and play only with strong made hands. The exact opposite of a tight style is a loose style. There is a distinction between tight-aggressive and tight-passive styles.

Types of Tight Players

The tight-aggressive style is very popular online and in. The very essence of this style is as follows: play a small number of the strongest hands, but play them quite aggressively. Aggressive tight poker player putting constant pressure on opponent. When he creates the image of a tight-aggressive player at the table, he can successfully use it because opponents will almost always believe he has a strong hand.

A passive tight player is a player who uses a style that is not typical for a successful poker game, for this reason, neat beginners who value money usually play in the tight-passive style. They prefer to play only the strongest hands, however, once they are in a position, they are not in a hurry to increase the bank, guided by the principle " If you drive more quietly, you will go further". Against such players, you can successfully use bluffs, as well as various moves that can knock your opponent out of the game, taking away .

Passive tight players are usually not as quick to figure out and if we can't adapt to their style, we won't be able to win easily. They are also called “rocks” because they fold everything and just wait for a premium hand. And when it finally comes to them, they play such a hand conservatively, even timidly. They are still difficult to calculate for the reason that we observe more of those who actively participate in the pot, but not of those who fold their cards. As a rule, a passive tight player is a passive person in life. They can speak very little, some of them barely speak. They tend to place bets very carefully, controlling all their movements. They do not throw chips into the pot, do not say loudly: “I’m making a raise,” but simply place chips, usually without saying a word. However, they have an important component of the correct optimal style (tight-aggressive), which allows them to win consistently if they play in the right games. They don't win much, but they don't expect to win much either.. They are happy with constant average wins and small, infrequent losses.

Passives force you to be careful with them: They can be difficult to win against, and playing with them can sometimes be frustrating. So, if, due to our impatience, we begin to play actively with such players, they will win against us. Should you play with them? Probably not. This should only be done if the other players are weak. It's better to sit to their right, as they rarely raise, and we can steal their ante and