Playing conditions and player types

Different situations requires different starting hands

Even if I have not treated every situation at the poker table in detail (which is impossible) it is important that you adapt your strategy according to the playing conditions at your table and select your starting hands with these conditions in your mind.
I remind you that the starting hands I set for different positions earlier were set for a fairly normal game of fixed low limit hold’em online, and you should probably not make any major changes to these - at least not until you really know what you are doing. It is worth mentioning once again: As a beginner and thus not being used to the situations that might arise you should rather play too tightly than too loosely. Maybe you won't win but you will certainly save money!

Poker terms that deal with playing conditions

Tight – this means that a player is waiting for good hands before he makes his bets and that he usually picks the strongest starting hands.

Loose – this means that a player allows himself to play more hands than the ones which are statistically advantageous. A player who is too loose can play every dealt hand with the wrong motivation that any two cards can win and that the cards dealt before the flop are of no particular importance. It is true that any two cards can win but in the long run it is not statistically advantageous to play in this way. The strong hand will very rightly pick their shares of the profits. This is something you should be aware of. This especially applies to low limit hold’em where many players see the flop and where it is nearly impossible to bluff to make a win. It should be added that sometimes it can be right to play loosely but this in the first place applies to No-limit Hold’em where no big raises have been made before the flop and also to FL shorthanded (few opponents) where you often want to play loose and aggressive.

Types of players

A player is either

Aggressive – a player who plays aggressively is a player who often bets and raises

or

Passive - a player who plays passively does not crate a lot of action around the table. In this case you normally see a raise if the players’s hand is quite strong.

The above two types of players can be combined into

Loose passive – also known as ”Calling Station”. This player very often plays any starting hands and on top of this very often draws cards according to the flop even if this has not strengthened this player’s hand. In the long run this player not only gives his money away, he is also very predictable and hence the weakest type of player. As he is calling so frequently you should not try to bluff.

Loose aggressive – like the player type above this player also frequently plays any starting hands. The big problem is that he often raises and re-raises until the river card has been dealt which makes this player hard to deal with. It is hard to determine whether he really has a good hand or not and every situation where this type of player is involved can be a very expensive experience for you. Very often this is the result if you challenge this type of player:

1)You win a lot.

2)You lose a lot and risk to lose your temper and thus lose even more money. You begin playing on tilt.

If you have a problem with this sort of player (which is usual) you can try to sit to the right of him, play tightly and check-raise the whole table in order to punish him and the rest of the players who play carelessly.

Tight passive – This player only plays the strongest hands but often lacks the necessary knowledge to maximize his profit. This kind of player, who is predictable, is quite harmless at the poker table.

Tight aggressive – Calculating odds is not difficult for this player who also possesses knowledge about suitable hands for different situations. This player has realized that check-raising after the flop can be a smart way to see the river card at half the expenses if he has a drawing hand where the odds are the correct ones etc. In short this kind of player normally has the best knowledge of Texas Hold’em and hopefully this is the type of player you would like to become - at least if you are playing fixed limit.

How do you recognize the playing conditions at the poker table?

The easiest way to find out about this is to join the table without playing until you have got some understanding about the situation around the table.

A short explanation: