The Online Poker Player Resource

In poker you talk of tight or loose play and aggressive or passive players.

Loose play

Loose play means that you gamble more and play more hands than the statistically most favourable ones.

Tight play

Playing tight means that you wait patiently for good starting hands before you play. You do not gamble.

Aggressive

An aggressive player wants to control the game and bets and raises more often. Sometimes, an aggressive player wants to scare the others into folding. With aggressive play, you can win the pot even if somebody else has a better hand.

Passive

A passive player lets the others control the game and determine the size of the pot. With passive play, you glide along and only win when you have the best hand.

Choosing how to act

The ideal player is often described as tight aggressive. It means that you act rationally and wait for the right opportunity, but act aggressively the times you judge your chances to be good.

The more players there are seated around the table, the more important it is to play tight. With fewer players, a loose aggressive style may be a winning strategy.

When you have been playing for a while, you can start adapting your style of play to your opponents and switch between tight and loose depending on the number of players and how they act.