In poker, whether we talk about complete amateurs, recreational or professional players – everyone can be categorized within 4 poker playing styles. Understanding the type of poker player you are facing against, is crucial for the win-rate and short term success.
This is why, today we will give almost like an unfair advantage to all poker players reading this article, especially those, who are still new to the game and struggle to maintain a profitable strategy.
Why Countering Different Poker Playing Styles is Important ?
”Knowing your opponent is half the battle won”, says Sun Tzu a Chinese military strategist, philosopher and author of one of the most famous books of all time – ” Art of War “. He knows a thing or two about waging a war and as we all have experienced, poker sessions are mini battles, with each battle won, we turn the tides towards winning the overall war ( the long-term poker results).
But to have much better chance at winning – understanding and exploiting the people in front of you is the easiest path towards success. Even though poker is considered gambling, you do not play the house or the slot machine – you are faced against another human beings with tendencies and weaknesses, just like yourself.
Exploit those weaknesses and you will have huge edge with only the luck factor, being the saving grace for your opponents.
Which are the 4 Main Poker Playing Styles ?
The main poker playing styles are – Tight-Aggressive (TAG), Loose-Aggressive (LAG), Tight-Passive, and Loose-Passive.
Even though players may vary their game or change their behavior based on the situation, in most cases, they stick to their traditional approach.
Here are the main stats, from which you will be able to understand which poker playing styles, your opponents adopt.
- VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money in Pot
- PFR (Preflop Raise)
- 3Bet (Re-raise Preflop)
- Steal
- CBet (Continuation Bet)
- Fold to CBet
If the poker room you play in, have built in system to track these statistics or allows the usage of HUDS and Trackers – you will have all the needed data at your disposal. Apps like PPPoker and X-Poker have built in statistics, available to players by using VIP cards ( we give those for free to regular players.
For some other soft poker apps like Pokerbros, you can use HUDs to obtain those crucial statistics.
How to Counter Each Poker Playing Style – Stats and Strategies :
First, is very important to look at your hand history and stats and realize what type of poker playing style you have been maintaining so far. Then, decide if you wish to continue to play in this way or change your approach completely.
Pro tip : If you have been playing Loose-Passively – change your style asap !
Now that we got this out of the way, now we proceed to how to exploit the poker playing styles of your opponents. Here are all the stats and info, you might need :
Tight-Aggressive (TAG):
- Stats:
- VPIP: 10-20%
- PFR: 8-15%
- 3Bet: 4-8%
- Steal: 20-30%
- CBet: 60-80%
- Fold to CBet: 40-50%
Poker Playing Style Advantage:
Beats: Loose-Passive (LP)
Why: TAG players are selective with their hands but play them aggressively, making LP players, who play too many hands passively, fold often or call with weaker hands.
Struggles Against: Loose-Aggressive (LAG)
Why: LAG players are unpredictable and put constant pressure, making it tough for TAGs to play their usual tight and aggressive game without making tough decisions.
Loose-Aggressive (LAG):
- Stats:
- VPIP: 25-40%
- PFR: 20-30%
- 3Bet: 8-15%
- Steal: 30-50%
- CBet: 70-90%
- Fold to CBet: 30-40%
Poker Playing Style Advantage:
Beats: Tight-Aggressive (TAG) and Loose-Passive (LP)
Why: LAGs play many hands and bet aggressively, exploiting TAGs’ predictability and LPs’ passivity by winning many small pots and occasionally big ones.
Struggles Against: Tight-Passive (TP) and other skilled LAGs
Why: TP players can occasionally trap LAGs with strong hands. Against other skilled LAGs, it becomes a high-variance game of who can outmaneuver whom.
Tight-Passive (TP):
- Stats:
- VPIP: 10-20%
- PFR: 5-10%
- 3Bet: 2-5%
- Steal: 10-20%
- CBet: 40-60%
- Fold to CBet: 50-60%
Poker Playing Style Advantage:
Beats: Loose-Aggressive (LAG) occasionally
Why: TPs can trap overly aggressive LAGs when they hit strong hands and LAGs overbet.
Struggles Against: Tight-Aggressive (TAG) and Loose-Passive (LP)
Why: TAGs can bully TPs with aggressive betting, and LPs don’t provide enough betting action for TPs to make significant profits.
Loose-Passive (LP):
- Stats:
- VPIP: 30-50%
- PFR: 5-10%
- 3Bet: 0-3%
- Steal: 10-20%
- CBet: 30-50%
- Fold to CBet: 60-70%
Poker Playing Style Advantage:
Beats: Occasionally other Loose-Passive (LP) players
Why: LP players are generally weak but can sometimes extract value from other LPs when they have strong hands.
Struggles Against: Almost everyone else
Why: LP players are too passive, making them easy targets for TAGs and LAGs who can bluff them out or value bet them easily.
Poker Playing Style Cheat Sheet – TLDR Version :
- TAG players generally beat LP players because they play strong hands aggressively and force LPs to fold or call with weaker hands.
- LAG players can beat both TAG and LP players by playing a wide range of hands aggressively, winning many pots through sheer pressure.
- TP players can sometimes trap LAG players, but they’re generally not profitable against other styles.
- LP players are the most exploitable and struggle against all other types due to their passive nature.
By understanding these poker playing styles and the associated stats, you can better adjust your strategy based on the types of players you are facing, which can significantly improve your profitability in poker. Good luck on the tables !
