Before you start playing poker, you definitely should learn about the styles of playing and types of players. The main styles of playing are tight and loose. You play tight when you enter the game with strong hands only, fold when the hand is not very strong i.e. play very few hands. You play loose when you call and place bets even with weak hands i.e you play a lot of hands. There are aggressive players who usually raise and re- raise quite often. Against aggressive players you should call, raise and re -raise only in case you have a strong hand. On the other hand, there are passive players who don’t raise often, no matter how strong is their hand. Passive players usually raise when they have a really strong hand, otherwise, they call. But against a passive player you should not play a passive style. You can use this strategy only in case other players are aggressive.
Loose aggressive players are called Maniacs. As you can guess, these players play many hands and raise or call very often. The best technique against such players is to play only the strong hands and play tight and passive. Extremely tight players are called Rocks. They play don’t play a lot of hands and bets only on strong pairs. This technique is good only if you are playing against maniacs. Loose passive players are called Calling Stations. In the beginning of the game they usually call (very often) and later fold. Calling station is your goldmine (if you have it as opponent). Tight players usually win the calling stations. There are also weak tight players who know very well which hands are to be played but they don’t do it always right. Their decisions are usually standard but you need to be very careful when they bet or re- raise. TAGs are the tight aggressive players and they are probably the most successful players. They almost always play the right starting hands. Many professional players are TAGs. This technique is good when you play against passive players. LAGs are loose aggressive players. They play more hands but they are not very predictable. Anyway, the best technique against them is the tight play.