The different types of Poker Players and how to play against each of them

Written By: Dana Young
Monday, September 22, 2008

If you’re serious about playing poker, you know that you need to understand your opponents, many of whom betray their personality types and by doing so, make themselves vulnerable. In this article, we’ll discuss some basic poker player personalities with an eye toward helping you defend against them.

Poker player types generally fall into 2 categories: tight and loose. Among poker personality types, tight players are conservatives who tend to be realistic. A tight player, for example, recognizes that when the odds are against him, it’s not a bad thing to fold. A tight player is easy to figure out because he’s so predictable. Also, these kinds of poker players tend to win less than other types because they’re less reluctant to take risks than other classes of poker players.

In the loose poker playing style, a player is more willing to take risks, and for that reason tends to win more and bigger pots. Also, loose styles of poker players are less predictable, making them harder to play against. Along with risk-taking, because the loose player folds so rarely, he’s subject to playing more bad hands.

Another type of opponent to beware of is one whose style is deceptively simple. He plays practically every hand -- good or bad -- and has the habit of perpetually calling. He almost never raises and when he does, it’s usually because he has a good and isn’t bluffing. This type of player is hard to analyze, so to defend against him, play your best game and know that if he plays every hand, it’s highly likely he won’t win consistently in the long run.

The final type of opponent to know about is one who seems to be very disciplined and elects to play only a small percentage of hands. While this might seem like disciplined play, he folds so often that he’s easy to identify. Another trait of this player is that he raises when he does stay in a hand. Once you recognize him, he may be hard to defend against, since he makes sure he’s always holding a good hand.

The best poker players study themselves as well as their opponents. If you’re playing to win, be sure you do your best to conceal your tendencies, understand that there are several categories of poker players. You should always play to exploit your opponents’ weaknesses.