People in the poker community often come up to me and ask about whatever is on their mind. Some of these questions are good questions, and some are bad beat stories in disguise. I’ve been through quite a few things in my poker career and I like to help whenever possible, and in this new Card Player series, I’d like to share my experiences and knowledge. Feel free to ask any poker-related question, and I’ll do my best to answer it in the space below.
Question: Last time you talked about the Grumpy Gambler and the different categories of players that you play against but you didn’t mention categories of good players, just bad ones. Do good players fall into categories as well?
Gavin: Let me start by saying that not that many people fall neatly into a category, whether they are good players, average players, or bad players. Everyone has times when they are playing their best and times when they are just a little off. I try to play my A-game as often as possible but there have been times when I want to let off some steam with my friends and we’ll go invade a low’limit hold’em game and screw around while we have a few drinks. Even outside of intentional gambling behavior, I don’t always play my best and I have a few different styles that I employ at different times depending on how the game is playing. With that said, there are definitely some distinct styles that winning poker players have.
The first style of winning player you see in live games is the old-school live pro. This type of player has been playing poker for a long time and has been successful at it. He or she has been through the boom and the fall-off in the popularity of poker. They almost always play tight-passive. They are the player that T.J. Cloutier describes in championship no-limit and pot-limit hold’em. When they 4-bet it’s aces 99 percent of the time. They cling to their old style of play even though they have continued to see their win-rate drop. They are definitely still winning players but if they adapted just a little bit they would see much better results. Most of them have survived this long in poker because they have lots of natural talent. They have a feel for the game that most don’t and are good at reading hands, especially when they play with the same players on a regular basis. They almost always trust their instincts and are willing to make big laydowns.
Next there is the LAG (Loose Aggressive) pro. They play all kinds of hands and play them extremely aggressively. This is an incredibly difficult style to play and very few can be successful at it. It’s a very fine line between the LAG pro and the gambler. The LAG pro always buys in for the maximum if there is one and if there isn’t, they buy in as deep as they feel comfortable. Their instincts for finding value in thin spots and good situations to bluff are impeccable. Their table image is very important to the way they play. They may have a drink or two while they play though they might try to make you think they are drunker than they are. The liquid courage helps their LAG style and also makes other players think they are crazy, thus getting them paid off in spots others may not. Often, LAG pros are talkers and good at it. They get themselves into uncomfortable situations on the margins of proper, winning play. As a result, they are always learning and looking at poker situations in non-standard ways. Most players can learn quite a bit from them and it’s an interesting exercise to sometimes go play in a game that is 6 or 7 steps down from the limit that you usually play and attempt to play with this style. You’ll find yourself in uncomfortable situations that you can learn a lot from.
Finally, the style that I’m most comfortable with is the TAG (Tight Aggressive). TAGs play relatively tight but have a mathematical approach. They try to have a balanced range in most situations, though they will play an exploitative strategy if the situation calls for it. TAGs thrive on the tight table image as it allows them to pick up pots with well-timed bluffs. This is the style that most online players have brought to live poker. It’s a very profitable style with pretty low variance. Steady play and steady emotions are very important to the TAG.
There are certainly other types of players and styles that win playing poker, but these are the main ones that I have observed. In addition, many people straddle these styles. There are LAGgy TAGs and TAGgy LAGs and some people who play a great LAGgy style but when they are on tilt become huge gamblers and are spectacular for the game, bombing stacks left and right in ridiculous situations. The best thing for any winning player though, is if their table image doesn’t match up to their play. There is a player who sometimes comes into the casino where I play and I had him pegged as a straight gambler for a very long time and I slowly realized that he’s actually a pretty good LAG. I think the first time I saw him play he was a little bit on tilt and first impressions are a powerful thing that can be difficult to overcome. Remember that if you can keep your table image and persona out of sync with your actual playing style, that’s where you’ll most likely make the most profit.
If you have a question for Gavin, send it to editor@www.cardplayer.com.
