Hello class! Knowing your opponents is one of the key skills you’ll need in order to beat the competition, so in this lesson we’re going to look at the most common “types” of poker player. It’s also important to bear in mind what type of player YOU are, and the types of things your opponents could do in order to beat you!

Types of opponents

Players are usually defined by, initially, the number of hands they play and, secondly, their betting style. In keeping with this, there are four main types of players: tight-passive, tight-aggressive, loose-passive and loose-aggressive. Let’s take a look at what all of that means:

Tight-passives

By playing only a small number of hands, these players do fine in a limit game, but they won’t make much in a no-limit game. The only way these players win is when they pick off bluffs; normally, they won’t get the value out of their hands that they should. You should bluff at the flop a lot against these players and, if they are betting heavily, give them credit for a good hand and fold.

Loose-passives

By playing a lot of hands, these players have to hope that opponents continually bluff into them because this type will call frequently with the second-best hand. This is a recipe for disaster at no-limit poker. You don’t see too many of these bad players at no-limit games because they lose so quickly and move on to limit tables.

Loose-aggressive

These players come across as crazy maniacs but in reality, they are a very dangerous form of opponent—albeit with an Achilles’ heel. They will buy a fair share of pots, but then will get themselves trapped by another aggressive player and can lose their stacks in one or two hands. What separates these players from good “loose-aggressive” players is that they lack discipline. They love the action of no-limit so much that they get themselves trapped too easily.

Tight-aggressive

This is a very common style and, in our opinion, one of the most effective. The tight-aggressive player’s main problems are that he may get chased out of a lot of flops too early and that he may be too easily read. You have to watch out for these players eating away at your bankroll bit-by-bit, and thus throwing you off balance.