The Online Poker Player Resource

When you play Hold’em, there are always a lot of factors to keep in mind. Many things are not covered here. Considering how many books have been written about Hold’em, it would be strange indeed if we managed to convey everything there is to know on our site. But becoming a good, winning Hold’em player is easier if you possess certain characteristics. What characteristics are the most important, depends on what type of Hold’em you play, and therefore you should choose to play the type of Hold’em that best fit your own personality.

The most important characteristic for a poker player, no matter what style you play, is probably discipline. Without discipline, you will not be able to play well consistently, and you will find it is difficult to win over extended periods, as you will lose more and win less if you play below capacity. Continuously being able to maximise your winnings, and minimise your losses, is the be-all and end-all of poker. Below is a list of important characteristics for a poker player. They are not ranked in order of importance, as that depends on the game being played.

Discipline - the discipline to give it your best at all times, not to tilt, not to call a bet when you know you are beat, and not to play a draw against the pot odds. But also the discipline to exercise good bankroll management and not to play for more than you can afford.

Self-knowledge - important to all poker players, as self-knowledge may save you from committing mistakes you would otherwise make. Without some self-knowledge, it is difficult to avoid playing undisciplined, tilting, or compensating for and adapting to your personal conditions.

Knowledge of people - makes it easier to divide your opponents into player categories. In order to divide your opponents into player types when you play online, knowledge of people is less important, but if you want to add information in excess of the four basic categories, it becomes essential. Knowledge of people is also an advantage when playing live, as it makes it easier to pick up on tells.

Mathematical mind/good memory - a talent for mathematics is a benefit, in order to correctly calculate the odds and percentages during an ongoing hand. If you have a good memory, allowing you to memorise different odds, you could manage with that alone, even if you are not particularly good at mathematics. But know that a good mathematician will always have an edge, as he will se the nuances in the calculations that are lost to an ordinary number cruncher.

Attention - it is important to pay attention, not only to other players, but also to situations. A player that cannot read other players, will find it difficult to focus on the opponents at all, but that could be compensated by having a talent for reading situations. By reading situations, we mean forming a picture of what the other players are holding and how to play your hand, based on what is on the board and on how the other players have acted previously in the hand.

Courage - a player should not be afraid to lose his/her money, as that will have a negative impact on his/her game. If you are afraid of losing your money, you cannot play in full, particularly in NL. That does not mean that you should be careless with your resources, only that you should be prepared to lose your money if the odds are in your favour. Good bankroll management helps. If you only ever play for a small share of your bankroll, you never need to be afraid of losing.

Poker players are usually divided into four categories:

1. * Loose Aggressive
2. * Tight Aggressive
3. * Loose Passive
4. * Tight Passive

Being loose means playing a lot of hands and being tight means playing few. Being aggressive means that you play them aggressively, (betting and raising more often than calling) and passive means that you play your hands more passively (calling and checking most of the time). A so called calling station is a player who is loose passive, i.e. he plays a lot of hands and mostly by calling other people’s bets.

There are huge differences in difficulty between playing different types of opponents and you have to adapt your style of play to the type of player you are up against in a pot, their position in relation to you, and who the other players are. The most difficult opponents to play are the loose aggressive and the tight aggressive ones. Loose passive or tight passive players are usually considered easier to play against. Some basic tips on how to play the various types can be found below:

Loose Aggressive - Play carefully against such a player. Loose aggressive players tend to overrate their hands, but if you play aggressively against them, they will often force you to fold good hands that you may have beaten them with. If you are in a bad position against a loose aggressive player, it is best to be very selective about what hands to play because, as a rule, they will make you pay to see a showdown. If you are in position, you should still mainly play quality hands, but you can relax the starting hand requirements a bit and play a few less than perfect hands by calling your opponent down, if you can find a way to do so relatively cheaply, and you believe your opponent might not have as good a hand as he wants to project. As a rule, you should call more against a loose aggressive player, and bet less. Bluffing against such a player should be done with utmost care

Tight Aggressive - This kind of player mostly play quality hands, but is often deceptive in the hands he does play. Play a little more aggressively against this type of player than against the loose aggressive one. Calling down this type of player is normally not good tactics, as they mostly play quality hands only. Tight aggressive players usually fold their hands if they are less than perfect, if someone else gets a solid bet in first. Therefore, it may pay off to bet with a semi-bluff or a decent hand against such a player. If he responds, he probably either has a good hand, or a good draw, and you must be prepared to fold your hand.

Loose Passive - This type of player can be dealt with by betting both good and decent hands. They call far too often with bad cards, and therefore you should make sure you get well paid when you have a good hand. But you should never, or almost never, bluff such a player, because they call with almost anything.

Tight Passive - Against this type of player, you should bet often and solidly. You could even bluff a lot as it is easier to steal their blinds and what they have bet into the pot in excess of their blinds. If you do not succeed in getting a tight passive player to fold on the flop, you should be careful, as it almost certainly means that he/she has a good hand. If you are relatively certain that the player is sitting on a draw, you could try bluffing again on the turn, but otherwise you may have to fold the hand at that stage if you do not have anything. If you have a decent hand, it is better to just check it down.

When you play a hand with two or more players, you need to consider their respective positions.

For example: You are holding J♣10♣ in middle position and have a tight aggressive player in front of you, and a loose aggressive player behind you. If the flop comes 9♣8♥3♣, you are sitting on a fairly good hand, an open-ended straight draw, and two overcards. If you only had one tight aggressive player in front of you, and no player behind, you would have a good opportunity to bet if your opponent checks to you. If he bets, it might be worth raising him on a semi-bluff. But with a player behind you, who, in addition, is loose aggressive, you do not have much choice but checking. If the player in front of you bets, you must almost always fold. This is because the player behind you, who is loose aggressive, could play almost anything, and might very well have hit the flop (in spite of the low cards on the board). If he did not hit the flop, he might still decide to raise after your calling the bet from the tight player, thus forcing you out of the pot. On the other hand, if you have a loose passive player behind you, and the tight player in front of you bets, it may be worth just calling, as the player behind you is unlikely to raise, but rather to just call. If the player behind you calls, you have good projected pot odds, as the player behind you probably will keep calling even if you hit your straight.

So, when you play a hand, you must consider the type of players you are up against, as well as their positions in relation to you. You therefore need to pay attention to your opponents during the game, so that you can place them in a category.