Motives part 2: What A Player’s Style Means

In part 1 of this series I went over some of the basic reasons people play poker: In this part I will do the opposite, and show you how a person’s style of play can shed some light on their motivations, and their decision making process.

Remember, these descriptions are not set-in-stone, there will always be outliers who fall outside of any category, but for the most part the traits I ascribe to each group usually match-up very well to their style of play.

Some of the traits of Aggressive Players:

• Want to take control
• Are proactive, not reactive
• Do not like to be told what to do
• Would rather be feared than loved
• Have an Alpha-Male mentality
• Attempt to intimidate
• Feel challenged, and are unlikely to back down, when another player pushes back

Aggressive players are basically trying to show their dominance, which could be for any number of reasons, such as; they are good players and are superior; they are full of testosterone and hate the idea of losing or being ‘outplayed’.

Some of the traits of Passive Players:

• Would rather follow than lead
• Would rather be loved than feared
• Tend to waffle on important decisions
• Back down during confrontations
• Have ‘learned’ to lose

Passive players are your fun-loving people who don’t like to rock the boat. They simply want to play cards, hopefully win some money, and go home after an uneventful evening.

Some of the traits of Tight Players:

• Look for reasons to fold
• Look for advantages
• Play to win
• Are patient and disciplined

To play tight you have to have some knowledge of the game, and also have the patience to continue to play tight hand after hand. You can encounter a horrible aggressive player, a horrible passive player, and a horrible loose player; but a tight player will always be at least ok.

Some of the traits of Loose Players:

• Look for reasons to call
• Always thinks “What if”
• Are playing to have fun

Loose players are either ignorant, on tilt, or simply do not care. When you see a true loose player (not a semi-loose/agro style like some of the top pro players utilize) you know you have found a gold mine.

Additionally, some players are quicker to go on tilt than others; I call these emotional players - as opposed to logical players.

Some of the traits of emotional players:

• Is easily rattled
• Takes losses personally
• Can be manipulated
• Does not like criticism
• Tend to belittle and berate other players

Some of the traits of logical players:

• Is very hard to rattle
• Don’t rush decisions
• Is able to shrug off cold streaks and bad beats
• Tend to be introspective