There are four very distinct playing styles at poker stars and once you can pick up on the style that your opponents plays you’ll be able to play better against them. It’s also good to know what playing style you fall under so that you know if you need to switch your playing style or improve upon your current style. You’ll find that there are some benefits for each playing style, but when weighed out there are some styles which are better then other styles and that’s what we’re going to look at throughout this article.
Loose/Aggressive Player
The loose/aggressive player is a very tough opponent to play against because they commonly play a lot of hands and it’s hard to pick up a read on them. A loose/aggressive player will play a lot of pots and often will raise the pots instead of flat calling opponents. These PokerStars.com opponents are great to trap when you have the nuts, but they also will scare you off marginal hands when you’re winning the hand due to there large bets. You’ll need to pick your battles against a loose/aggressive player, but with some good decision making you should be able to trap your opponent and take them for there money.
Tight/Aggressive Player
A tight aggressive player at Pokerstars.net is much easier to pick-up a read on because they only bet strong when they have a hand. A lot of players at PokerStars.net fall under this category and they should work on moving towards of a more loose/aggressive player. Playing too tight will only let your opponents know how you bet and then they won’t call you when you make a big bet. If you mix your bets up a bit like the loose/aggressive players then you’ll have a better chance of being paid off when you hit a monster hand.
Loose/Passive Player
A loose/passive player isn’t a playing style you really want to be categorized under. These players like seeing flops and even the river, but once the big bets come out they will usually quickly fold unless they have the nuts. This style costs a lot of money because you pay to see to many flops and you don’t win enough pots because you’re scared of making the call on a big bet.
Tight/Passive Player
A tight/passive player shouldn’t win much money at most poker tables either because they simply bet when they have the nuts. They rarely play any hands and when they do play a hand they have a monster hand which they usually try to trap opponents. If a tight/passive player is calling your bets then you can bet they have something good so be careful. You shouldn’t lose much to this playing style because there so easy to read and you should know when they have a good hand.
I feel the best playing style is the loose/aggressive although you can’t be too aggressive. Play Poker in the middle of being loose and tight, but always remain aggressive. It’s better putting pressure on your opponents to force them to make the big decision. When you feel you’re beat make sure you fold your hand though and don’t keep pushing at the pot to try and steal it. You won’t win every pot, but when you do lose you want to keep it to a minimum so that when you win you have profits.