How to beat the 4 main types of poker player

The 4 main types of players you'll encounter at any poker table are:

• Loose-Passive
  
  
• Loose-Aggressive
  
  
• Tight-Passive
  
  
• Tight-Aggressive

The loose-passive player is your typical rookie poker player, also known as the calling station.

The most effective way to beat this player is to simply bet into them when you have a decent hand. Be sure to bet just enough to keep them in the hand, as large bets are likely to scare amateur players out of the pot.

Use caution when trying to bluff the loose-passive player, as they'll often call you with even a weak hand, and even a weak hand can beat a stone cold bluff. If you absolutely can not control the urge to attempt a bluff on a loose-passive player, be sure to bet or raise aggressively, putting a significant amount of chips into the pot to scare your opponent out.

The keys to beating the loose passive player are to value bet with decent hands and to refrain from bluffing unless you're absolutely certain your bluff is large enough to scare them out of the pot.


The loose-aggressive player is also known as the maniac for his wildly aggressive style of play. This player may play any two cards at any time. This player confuses his opponents by firing off bets like a machine-gun with anything from from 3 high to the immortal nuts.

Many players make the mistake of challenging the maniac with their own maniacally aggressive play once they become frustrated of the loose-aggressive player's constant bullying of the table. It's difficult for most players to watch someone else at the table take down pot after pot after pot, all the while knowing that most of his bets are only bluffs. But firing bets into this player with mediocre holdings is not the way to build your chipstack. The most effective means of beating this player is to remain very patient and wait for strong hands. Because this player likes to be the aggressor in the pot, temporarily turning yourself into a calling station against this player will usually net the most chips.

Another strategy you can add to your game to increase effectiveness against this player is to essentially become Phil Helmuth. Get under this players skin to trigger his aggression and get the tight-aggressive player to direct his aggression at you. If you play patiently, your chances of getting paid off have increased dramatically.

The key to beating the maniac is patience.


The tight-passive player is typically a very straightforward player. This player tends to play a pretty honest game. They'll check and fold with nothing, call with decent hands, and bet out strong hands. Their bets are often proportionate to the strength of their hand, making them even easier to read.

In order to beat a tight-passive player, you must understand that they are playing a pretty straightforward game. They are basically showing you their hole cards while yours remain hidden from view. The tight-passive player doesn't want to get into any big confrontations unless he has a strong hand. Because of this tendency, this player often falls victim to many bluffs. Use this to your advantage to pilfer small pots against this player with aggressive bluffs. When the tight-passive player is willing to call, extract a few more chips with small value bets. When this player is raising or otherwise taking a lead in the betting, save what chips you've earned by throwing your cards into the muck unless you have a very strong holding. When this player is playing big, you'd be best off not to call unless you have "the nuts."

The keys to beating the tight-passive player are taking many small pots when opportunities arise and then protecting those chips by getting out of the way when this player becomes aggressive.


The tight-aggressive player is often the most successful player at the table and usually the hardest to beat.

Tight-aggressive players like to play strong hands combined with good table position. Playing out of position against these players is usually a mistake that will cost you chips. Often, they will raise on a semi-bluff the same as they would raise a made hand. They usually enter into the pot with a preflop raise and follow it with a continuation bet on the flop, causing confusion amongst their opponents as the other players wonder if they have Pocket Aces, if they hit the flop, or if they're just bluffing.

The most effective strategy to beat a tight-aggressive player with is to continuously mix up your game while at the table. Move around from playing tight-aggressive to loose-aggressive to tight-passive, and so on. Tight aggressive players will often use betting or raising to gain information as to the strength of their opponents hands. Players who effectively rotate through different styles of play are alot harder for the tight-aggressive player to get a read on.

Another little tip for beating some tight-aggressive players is to watch for those double-barreled players who can't fire the 3rd bullet. Often, you'll come across tight-aggressive players who will reliably raise preflop (bullet #1) and fire another bet on the flop (bullet #2), but then fail to fire that "3rd bullet" on the turn unless they actually have a hand. When you come across these types of tight-aggressive players, you can often follow them along to the turn, and then fire off a big bet or bluff when they do not fire that "3rd bullet." This play is most effective when used from the button, or from any position after the tight-aggressive player.

The keys to beating the tight-aggressive player are to continuously switch up your own style of play and to exploit those who stop firing after the flop when their hands are actually weak.

When you talk about players who can't fire the 3rd bullet you should mention that a hyper-aggressive player will intentionally slow down and check at that point hoping someone will bet at him. If someone else does bet this type of player will usually call and then bet pot size or larger on the river and sometimes ends up all in and there are good pot odds to call.