Poker Tactics - Player Behavior

Poker is a game that combines many disciplines to play well and win.  How many sports rely on an almost psychologist-like ability to understand a person and think fast about their true intentions?  The strength of your cards is well known in poker, and that doesn't change. The ability to spot a trap is what separates the winners from the losers on bleachers watching the action. 

The ability to sum up an opponent is an art that requires some science - theories and observation - and what better way than to watch the cards and watch the bets.  You get to see the cards that win, and sometimes the cards that lose to get some insight on that person.  Perhaps they were hoping for a gut-shot card; that tells you something. 

Of course, claiming that a person is a certain way based on how they playing right now is silly.  Sometimes people vary how they are playing.  So to assume that what you are seeing is how they really are all the time is foolish.  Daniel Negreanu argues you should vary your play a lot - and he is very successful at poker.  Phil Ivey may have won more tournaments but Daniel is the all-time money leader for a reason. So that is the prime reason why you don't want to analyze  endlessly how someone played one hand.  You are wasting your time on the wrong thing in my opinion.

I argue that reading someone has little value past the time you are playing. In fact, I try not to remember how they played since this time it might be different.  So what I am proposing is that you study the player at the time and recall a little of how they played before. Discount the history and understand how they play right now in the tournament or cash game they are in.

So based on my experience I have classified the type of players you will face. Here is my working knowledge of the different personalities - it is not complete and not perfect but it is a start.

1. Aggressive  - the aggressive player pushes the limits of playing.  Aggressive bets a lot without a sure hand in his mitts.  They run up the pots and this turns on them most times. The best way to beat them is to call behind their bets - when you have a good hand, and let them raise the pots. Because aggressive people aren't believed they tend to get others to play weaker hands trying to simply beat them with a pair.  Just stay in the wake and let them do all the work.  Then you turn your cards and make em weep.  Of course, you need to watch for other good players using them as a shield too.
2. Bluffer - the bluffer thinks you can bluff your way to win instead of holding good cards.  This kind of player plays all kinds of cards and you can't predict well what kind of cards they have.  So betting against the bluff does not always payoff.  Bluffing against a bluffer won't work because they are trying to convince you of the same thing.
3. Conservative - These players play only the premium hands;  AA, AK, KK, AQ, and suited pairs.  They are not here to gamble, they are going to play when they have a hand.  They might play suited connectors but they like to play only when they know they have a good hand on the outset.  This is a good opponent, because you know that if they have a good hand you need to get a good flop or you should fold.  Because they play fewer hands, they try and maximize the winning hands.  This is their undoing.  I beat a conservative with 7 8 and the flop came up 9 10 J making the straight.  I had that AK beat from the start, and it was a predictable outcome.   He could not accept that he was beaten and he drove to the river. A King came up and sealed his fate because that's the system and he couldn't see the end.  They are predictable, so use this knowledge wisely.   But if they re-raise and you didn't get the good flop then get out, get out fast.  Bluff work well against conservatives if they didn't get the flop or they are uncertain if you can beat their AK.
   
4. Unsure - the unsure player looks like all the other players from time to time.  Unsure wants the cards to go a certain way, or perhaps raises / bluffs to see the flop and instead of re-betting then checks and folds. Once you see a pattern that makes no other sense then perhaps that person is unsure of what strategy to take.  This can be a hard player to figure out because they are unpredictable.  If you think this player is inexperienced then you can take advantage of their bad card knowledge from time to time.  But proceed with caution and expect that sometimes they will luck out on the river.
5. Dangerous - this is the kind of player to watch for.  You will know that you ran across one of the dangerous ones if you lose half your chips and still can't figure out what happened.  These players vary their strategy on purpose.  They know the good hands and they play the good odds. And they have figured out all the other player behaviours and how to play against you no matter what the cards are.  These are the players to avoid.  If you run across one of these and you don't want to lose lots of chips then fold that good hand or follow my conservative policy - flop-then-out: play until the flop and get out unless you have a solid win hand like full house or a straight don't wade into a betting war with a dangerous player.  I would recommend that when you are starting out to stay away from any player at the table that can bust a player or several players in a single hand.  They might have been lucky - and that's just what they want you to think.