Becoming a great poker player requires a great deal of practice. Winning and losing becomes a part of life. Money lost and money won is how failure and success is calculated. The longer a person plays, the more likely it is that they will begin to develop a specific poker player type. After all, a solid strategy and a winning hand can only be obtained when the player is fully engaged in the sport.
Believe it or not, most poker players can be sorted into, and identified by, specific poker player types. The game of poker practically demands that players adopt and cultivate a style that becomes advantageous over time. The type of poker player you may be playing against must be understood in order to formulate a strategy to beat them. And you can bet that your opponents are doing their best to understand what type of poker player you are as well.
Below we have identified six different poker player types and what makes them unique. We’ll reveal their strengths and weaknesses and what it takes to get them to fold when the pot is full. Which of these types of poker players are you?
LAG (Loose-Aggressive)
Loose aggressive (LAG) poker players are identified by their tendency to have a broader range of starting hands. This also makes playing against a LAG poker player a bit more challenging. LAG players tend to be more advanced poker players.
You can identify a LAG player based on their tendency to be a bit more “reckless” with their strategy. They are notorious bluffers as well. These poker player types are usually extroverted and use their open and friendly personality to their advantage. Keep an eye out for their preference to use semi-bluffs with impunity.
A LAG player can be exploited by calling down a wider postflop if it is evident that their bluffing is getting out of hand.
TAG (Tight-Aggressive)
A tight aggressive, or TAG, player is the most common type of poker player, especially among the top players in the sport. A TAG poker player can oftentimes be identified early on in a game because they typically play fewer hands at the start. Generally, they will play 1 out of 5 hands after a few orbits and will typically show high quality cards when throwing.
Also, TAG poker players tend to be a bit more “tidy” with their play area. Neatly arranged chips might be a good sign you are playing against a TAG personality (or you might be one yourself). Also, take note of a “serious” or “determined” demeanor - another common personality trait.
TAG poker players play in a relatively tight variety of different ranges, the most common being QQ+. However, they tend to move into middle positions (TT+, ATs+, KQs, QJs, and JTs ) when it suits them.
Exploiting a TAG player can be as easy as identifying their predictability. A TAG player’s starting range is usually pretty restricted pre-flop, and you can use that to your advantage by forcing them into a narrow. Be aware if this is happening to you!
Calling Machine (loose-passive)
If, when dealt a hand, you automatically think you are likely to win, you might be a “Calling Machine,” i.e. a loose passive poker player. This type of poker player usually calls every bet, and will raise based on the belief that there is even a small chance of winning. In fact, it is the belief that every hand could be a winning hand that is detrimental for this type of poker player.
The calling machine poker player normally likes to “play it safe.” In other words, their reluctance to take risks will ultimately result in lower rewards. Poker is a sport that requires a level of uncomfort in order to obtain a highly desirable result, and the calling machine will have a hard time with this fact.
When playing against a calling machine poker player, you’ll often find that games can drag on. This is because they are constantly calling and checking, even when they hold cards that are very much guaranteed to win with.
You can beat this poker player type by reducing the frequency of your bluffs while also going for the razor-thin and lower value bets. You will throw them off guard by employing these strategies while making it harder for them to pin down your playing style.
Nit (tight-passive)
The type of poker player that meticulously pours over what the “experts” have published will usually end up playing very little hands. That is until they have a hand that they “know” they will win with. The Nit poker player is one who can be expected to fold pretty much any hand that isn’t a KK or AJ. You can usually identify a Nit by their tendency to fold most of the time and then going all in (or betting very high) when they believe that they have an unbeatable hand.
Neuroticism is usually a personality trait of the Nit player. They believe that when it’s their time to win, they are going to win. And this is what makes them easy to identify. They tend to be introverted and will rarely engage with other players. After all, they believe that they hold the ultimate secret to winning and they simply will not risk giving away their valuable knowledge.
The Nit poker player can be beaten over time. When they bet very high, it is likely that they will win. This is the time to fold and get out of the game. If all players at the table follow that strategy, then the Nit only ends up winning back what they bet and little else.
ShortStack
When a player has less than 100 big blinds left in their stack, this is an indication that the poker player is a ShortStack. The difficulty with playing against a ShortStack player is that you’re going to need to understand how to play effectively when the stack is shallow. There are professional ShortStack players who intentionally play this way because it can throw off other players who are inexperienced with playing a shallow stack. A ShortStack poker player can be a very formidable foe. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you do your research to understand how to exploit this type of poker player.
Profiler
Finally, there is the Profiler poker player. While this type of poker player doesn't necessarily fit into a “player type” category, they can be identified by their willingness to engage with other players. They want to get as much info from other players as possible so that they can understand who they are playing against. The strategy, as it may seem, is to try to adapt their own style to take advantage of other playing types. Yet, this oftentimes comes at a disadvantage because the profiler poker player needs to be a “jack of all trades.” And, as we all know, a jack of all trades is a master of none.
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Learning to identify the different poker player types that you and your opponents closely resemble will give you an edge on the poker table. It will help you make better bluffs. It will also help you call bluffs more successfully. Hopefully, learning the different types of poker players will help you bring home more winnings.
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