Styles of Play
There are four fundamental styles of play, tight-aggressive (TA), tight-passive (TP), loose-aggressive (LA), and loose-passive (LP). The first word describes starting hand selection and the second word describes betting frequency.
The TA player is considered the most profitable. It is a player who plays good starting hands and bets them for value. He bets and folds, but very rarely calls bets unless he suspects a bluff or is slow-playing.
The TP player is a player who only plays premium hands, and seldom raises pre-flop. He calls and folds more then he bets, and whenever he does bet he has a good hand. This playing style is not profitable because it is very easy to read.
There are good LA players and there are bad LA players. The good ones are very difficult to play against. A good LA player picks a passive table and bullies it. He continues until a player goes on tilt and then he takes full advantage. The bad LA player is not able to differentiate when a player is tilting or making a move. This causes the bad LA player to make calls he shouldn’t.
The LP player is a player who plays many hands, but is only seen folding or calling. This is the least profitable playing style.
Now you have learned that TA and LA are the most profitable playing styles, which one should you choose? If you are a beginner you should start with TA, but if you have been playing TA for some time now and you want to mix it up then you can start experimenting with LA. Just remember, that a profitable LA style is very hard to achieve. Watch the LA players very closely for their mistakes. This will help you learn why most LAs are losing players, but it will also help you realize how you can make money off of their style if you play it with just a little more control.
Once you have learned to play both TA and LA you will see how beneficial it is to know both of these strategies. The general rule of thumb is that if you are sitting down with a table full of tight players then you want to play LA, but if you are sitting down with a table full of loose players then you want to play TA. Having the ability to adapt to the table you are sitting at is one of the most advantageous skills in poker.