Tight, aggressive, loose: discover the main poker styles

• The pros of being a loose player
• When to play loose
• How to play against a looser player

So what makes a loose player? They’re the players who seem like they’re throwing money around and putting pressure on everyone else. This is because they’re playing more hands than would normally be considered a good idea. They know they’re often in a worse position pre-flop so they play aggressively to force others to fold or put themselves in a position to win big when they have a strong hand. They leave their opponents little room to breathe and are always asking if you’re really, really sure you want to carry on with that hand.

There are two major benefits of playing loose:

1. You’ll pick up a lot of small, abandoned pots where everybody folds
2. You cultivate an appearance of never having anything good, which comes in handy when you’ve got something awesome
   
   

The simple answer is no. The danger with playing this way in lower-limit games is that everyone’s happier to call more so the game is more likely to make it to the showdown and then it’s down to your hand. You’re also in a weak position pre-flop and need to really outplay your opponents, which is harder work than it looks.

To make playing loose really work, you need to be able to read hands and players very well. You need to be targeting the right players for bluffs and be able to take the risks of piling on the pressure.

If you’re sold on playing loose, here are a couple of things to bear in mind:

• You’ll have a very specific table image. While this can work to your advantage with a good hand, be aware that players will catch on quickly and be more aggressive, hoping to drive you to a showdown
• Position is king. Acting in as late a position as possible is not just an advantage but a must
• Play loose in deep-stack games. You’ve got a better chance at betting players off their hands after the flop in games with a stack of more than 30 times the big blind

How do you play against a LAG (loose-aggressive gamer)? There are a couple of things to try:

1. Wimp out. Just stay out of their way. It’s better to lose a little face than a lot of chips
2. Take the call. If the LAG is playing for big money, raising and re-raising you, call to limit the damage
3. Out-loose them. If your opponent is playing for little pots, try and force them into playing for bigger stakes. They might not have the guts to take you on
   
   

• Who maniacs are and how to spot them
• How to beat them

Wild-eyed and crazy-haired they might not be, but maniacs can be a whirling dervish of destruction through the placid waters of strategy and technicality that usually make up a poker game.

Like a loose player on a spending spree, maniacs play more hands, bet more, raise more and re-raise even more until the game is played for significantly higher stakes. This kind of crazy play changes the dynamics of the game.

Here’s how to spot a maniac player:

• They’ve got more than an average number of chips at a table
• They play more hands than normal
• They raise and re-raise more often than normal
• They bluff far more than normal
  
  

There’s a couple of ways to take on a maniac:

1. Position is critical. Sit immediately left of the maniac if you can, but never sit on the immediate right. Play tight in an early position and aggressive or tight-aggressive in a late one
2. Get the better hand. This might seem obvious, but if you’ve got a great hand you can coax a maniac into pouring cash into the pot by raising and re-raising them
3. In a tight game, check and call and/or check-raise more often. Induce bluffs and call down the maniac’s bets
4. In a standard game, re-raise more often to isolate the maniac. Call down bets and raises
5. In a wild game, don’t try and isolate the maniac. Play suited-connectors, pairs and ace-suited hands more often. Check and call when the odds are in your favour
6. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever attempt to bluff a maniac
   
   

Here’s how you keep a maniac happy while you take all their money. By definition, maniacs are usually losing players because they’re playing too much. They’re here to enjoy themselves, whether they win or not, so let them. Don’t be mean or make negative comments as they’ll soon take their piles of cash elsewhere. Let them think they can dominate the table and that you’re easily manipulated, then pounce on a big pot!