| Understanding Your Style |
| No-Limit Hold'em: Understanding Your Style and Others by Erik Nevlys When you first start playing No Limit Holdem, it's usually all about you. You focus on your own hand, and try and figure out what you're supposed to do with it. If you have a strong hand, you bet and try to suck people in; if you have a weak hand, you fold or bluff. As you continue on in No-Limit Holdem, you,ll realize it's great to have an understanding of why you play the way you do, but also how and why other players play the way they do. The Spectrum There are lots of distinct styles of poker play and it's useful to understand most of them if you'd like to succeed. In general, poker styles are usually defined along a sliding scale of loose to tight and passive to aggressive. In a nutshell: Tight players only play premium hands; loose players will put their chips in the pot with more speculative hands. Passive players don't like to take the lead in a hand. They'll check and call more than they'll bet. Aggressive players generally attack more, betting and raising instead of checking and calling. The most effective style? Most will say one that leans towards the tight/aggressive end of the spectrum. Play mostly premium hands, and when you do play, play aggressively, with lots of betting to put pressure on your opponents. Everybody likes to think they play like that; way fewer actually really do. Most are not as tight or aggressive as they'd like to tell themselves, and lots are either too tight or too aggressive It's Not Me, it's You As you get more comfortable in No-Limit Holdem, and understand more instinctively what to do with your own hand, it's going to free you up to pay more attention to everything else that's going on at the table. That's a good thing. When you're playing poker, you definitely should be watching your opponents and trying to figure out their playing style. If you see a player, or a whole table for that matter, leaning in the tight/passive direction, you may want to play a little differently yourself. Play more hands. Your raises are likely to scare off players even if you don't have the best of it, and they'll let you know with their betting when they are strong. If you see a more loose/aggressive style in a player or at a table, try to mix it up again. Maybe try and trap more. Play your premium hands quietly and hope your opponents try and steal when you're holding big cards. You will find a player's style, both yours and theirs, won't always be black and white. If you understand your own style, you'll have a better idea of which games suit that style, and a better idea of what tables to play to be most effective. If you keep your eyes open for other players tendencies, you'll give yourself a big edge in your games. And you need every edge you can get to be a winning player |