There are two distinct types of poker player. There is the “loose player“ and there is the “tight player.” Learning how to tell between them will significantly improve your win ratio. Let’s take a look at the differences.

Loose poker players are aggressive. A loose player will take a lot of risks while keeping his eye on the big rewards. For the most part they tend to play a lot of hands and are less likely to fold when challenged.

Those that obstinately call regardless of the strength of their hand, or what they believe the strength of their opponents’ hand is, are defined as “passive-loose.”  What makes them passive is that they will call almost every time, but rarely raise. Then you have “aggressive-loose” players, the daredevils of the poker world. They are highly aggressive, raising before and after the flop, trying to bully the table.

Tight players by contrast, are those that do not play a lot of hands, and will fold when circumstances and pot odds are not in their favor. They do not live for the raise, preferring to call or fold, while they strategically lay down their plans.  

Again you can find “passive-tight” players that generally  avoid taking any risk whatsoever, being more likely to call then ever think about raising. And “aggressive-tight” players that methodically choose their strategies folding when the odds are not in their favor, and calling on the flop with a decent hand.

The reason why it’s important for you to identify who you are playing with, is that you can adapt to the style of the table and this will likely be the difference between winning and losing in the long run. Remember poker tournaments are won beforehand as a direct result of the amount of practice that you put into learning the game.