Is There a Right Way to play poker? Part 2

In Part 1 of this series I went over the changes that have taken place in the poker world during the last 10 years, and how those changes have been the genesis of different styles of play. Gone are the days of exclusively playing a tight/aggressive strategy. Now players must determine which style of play fits their personal traits, as well as which best exploits the game-type they play in.

Obviously, the best way to play is to be able to transition between any style based on the circumstance, but each person will end up gravitating towards one or the other in the end: Think of the style of play that suits you as your default style; the style you would implement if you sat in a game with nine unknown players.

In this installment I will go over three things:

• How a player can best determine which style of play fits in with their particular skill-set
• How the different style of play fit with the game being played
• How a player can shift back and forth between different styles

Of the two winning style -tight/aggressive and loose/aggressive-both seem to have different advantages and disadvantages depending on a players particular skill-set, and mental toughness.

Style of play based on skill-set

Tilt prone players tend to do better incorporating a tight/aggressive strategy because it cuts down on variance, and bad days are merely ‘bad’, not terrible. Loose/aggressive players are trying to squeeze any little bit of profit out of every scenario (which of course is correct), which can lead to some very tilty sessions when things are going bad.

Another factor to consider is how patient you are. If you are a patient person and have no problem waiting for good cards you’ll probably benefit from employing a tight/aggressive strategy. A player who is easily distracted or gets tilty from waiting for good hands will do better with a loose/aggressive strategy.

Style of play based on game

The biggest difference I see is between ‘Limit’ games and ‘No-Limit’ games. It basically boils down to implied odds: Games with high implied odds -pot-limit and no-limit-tend to favor a loose/aggressive strategy; while ‘Limit’ games favor a tight/aggressive strategy.

While tight/aggros are able to beat “soft” big-bet games, the strategy doesn’t work in tougher games, where players will not give a tight/aggro any action. As far as ‘Limit’ games go, there is only one good approach to take; tight/aggressive. Loose/agro simply doesn’t translate to success in ‘Limit’ games; the implied odds for this approach are just not there.

Shifting between styles

As I stated at the beginning, the best way to play is to be able to switch between the different styles. These changes are all situation specific, and unfortunately it’s impossible to even scratch the surface of the different scenarios you’ll encounter. For instance, you can’t say “tighten up against a locksmith”, since it depends on how the player reacts post-flop as well:

• If he always continuation bets you’d probably want to tighten up
• If he check-folds on the flop if he misses, you may want to see the flop and try to move him off the hand post-flop
• If he stacks-off post-flop you’d want to play the hand and try to catch a big flop since your implied odds are good

Those are just three examples of the different types of locksmiths you might encounter in a heads-up situation where you have position. The example can be tweaked in so many ways it’s mind boggling. Therefore, once you have a good feel for the table and the flow of the game, it is up to you to assess each situation and determine the best way to proceed.