In a previous article I stated that it was important to properly and quickly adjust to your opponents but I just left it at that. It takes experience to become a fast adjuster, to quickly recognize how your opponents are playing and to know what kind of plays you will need to make to counter that person’s style.
The traditional classifications are pretty broad but they provide a starting point in learning how to recognize opportunities to exploit your opponents. Eventually you will want to be able to adjust to specific players, not just styles. For now, though, general styles will do the job and get you going in the right direction. I’ll be discussing seven major styles today:
1. The LAG (loose-aggressive) a.k.a. The Maniac
2. The Tight Passive Player
3. The Calling Station (loose-passive) a.k.a. The Fish
4. The TAG (tight-aggressive)
5. The Habitual Floater
6. The Tilt Monkey
7. The Rock
The LAG
He is loose in his starting hand requirements and plays them very aggressively. He plays a lot of hands and makes a lot of bets and raises. Lags often stick around on the flop if you bet so they can try to hit something weird to surprise you or make a turn steal.
Lags are very difficult to play against because you never know what they are going to showdown with at the river. If they are good lags and you just sit around all day hoping to trap them, you won’t get anywhere. Slow playing is still a good strategy though because they tend to bluff too much and take hands too far.
Against the lag you want to tighten up a little, especially when out of position while at the same time lower your showdown standards a bit. Don’t be afraid to get it all in preflop with AK or TT or get it all in on the flop with top pair, good kicker unless you have a read that says otherwise.
Depending on how smart the lag is you will probably want to slow play the majority of your big hands. Just think about how you play your marginal hands against him and try to mimic that with your strong hands.
Turn the tables and semi-bluff the lag, raise him when you have a strong draw or decent hand, and value bet him more. Lags love to make big calls that they justify by their wild image.
The Tight Passive Player
He may have read a poker book or two that said to play tight preflop but he plays those hands like a fish post flop. He seems scared to bet or raise or play a big pot. The key here is to just play with solid poker strategy.
Take advantage of him by checking your drawing hands and not bluffing/semi-bluffing. Value bet the passive player with a tighter range of hands than you would value bet against a fish. The passive will play their strong hands weak so they won’t let you know when they have a strong one.
The Calling Station
This is the classic fish. They should be your favorite opponent. They don’t enjoy folding, betting, or raising. They just like to play a lot of hands and not fold them post flop. It’s hard telling what these people are thinking. Sometimes they are chasing draws, sometimes they have an Ace and are trying to pair it up, and sometimes I think they just misread their hands.
The best way to beat The Fish is to play a straightforward, tight-aggressive game. Don’t bluff or slow play the fish because they don’t fold or bet. Just wait for strong hands and then bet the flop, bet the turn, and bet the river.
They don’t pay enough attention to catch on to you so don’t worry about them catching on to your tactics. Its safe to value bet a wider range of hands against fish because they call so liberally and raise so infrequently. You don’t have to worry a whole lot about your thin value bets getting check raised on the river.
The TAG
These are usually the more skilled opponents you will face. They have tight starting hand requirements but play very aggressive when they do contend a pot. They try to mix in appropriate bluffs and the occasional tricky play as well.
There are quite a few tags out there who aren’t the greatest though. These are the guys who’ve read enough strategy to know how to not lose money, but they aren’t overly tricky or difficult to play against. There are several ways to adjust here.
First of all, check your game selection. It’s counterproductive to sit at tables full of tags. The easiest strategy is avoidance. Go after the easy money and let everyone else fight for the leftovers.
To actually deal with a tag find a tactic that takes them out of their little strategy-book comfort zone. If they continuation-bet every flop, start floating them. Some tags can’t handle a floater. They get too uncomfortable on the turn and river because of the larger pot sizes, scarier boards, and fewer cards left to draw on.
Keep an eye open for any leaks you can exploit. Keep notes on everything you notice. Maybe you’ll see that they raise weak hands from early position preflop. Maybe they fold too much on the river; or maybe they defend their blinds too hard.
You should actually be looking for these exploitable leaks on everyone but you just have to dig a little deeper with the tags. The style in itself doesn’t have nearly as many exploitable weaknesses as the other styles.
This isn’t really a style all by itself but it deserves a mention here anyways. The floater is extremely irritating for players who haven’t yet learned how to deal with him. The floater likes to stick around and call all of your flop bets with the sole intention of stealing the pot from you on the turn. It doesn’t matter what their hole cards look like, they just want you to give up and hand them an easy pot.
There are several ways to deal with habitual floaters. First, lower your continuation-bet frequency a little. If you increase the percentage of real hands he tries to steal from while decreasing the percentage of empty c-bets you make, it’s going to make his floats unprofitable.
Sharply lower your c-bet frequency when he has position on you. There’s not a whole lot going in your favor when he’s trying to steal, you have an empty hand, and you’re out of position. The times you do c-bet from out of position, follow up more often with a 2nd barrel on the turn. Don’t make it easy for him.
Second, mix in a few more turn check raises do it with real hands and the occasional bluff. That way it keeps him wondering what you’re going to do and if it’s worth sticking around for the turn.
So now you will be randomly check raising the turn (sometimes with air, sometimes with a hand), you will have decreased c-betting with air, you will be out of position less of the time and you will be 2nd barreling the turn more. Add in your own reads and you’ll have the floater shut down in no time.
This guy is entertaining. He goes off the hook if you win a pot with a strange play or funky hand. He’ll get active in the chat box and start making a bunch of dramatic bets and raises.
All you have to do is estimate his general hand ranges, hit a decent hand, and hope the money ends up in your stack before he gives it away to the rest of the table. The variance can be pretty sickening but overall you have a massive edge vs. tilt monkeys and stand to win some good money off them.
The Rock
This guy is no good. It’s hard to make any money off him other than the blinds. If you’re playing no-limit, it’s easy to donate his stolen blinds right back if a couple of your steals don’t work out. Just ignore the rock and get him to sit on your left.
If he is predictable and you can steal his blinds, he belongs on your left. If you absolutely must, the best strategy is to stir the rock to life. Try stealing a lot or talking to him but if that doesn’t work you’re not going to win a lot off him. If he wants to be a boring rock and marginally losing player, that’s too bad for him.
These are some of the basic categories. Not all will fit neatly into one category and many will switch among styles. No matter how an opponent plays there is a way to counter it. Just take a step back and analyze the situation to decide on the best way to proceed. Good luck!
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