Styles of Play

There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is more than one way to play poker successfully. The best players are the ones that can adapt to their surroundings and change the way that they play to suit who they are playing against, which is known as ‘changing gears’. The most common styles of poker which both have their strengths and weaknesses are Tight Aggressive (TAG) and Loose Aggressive (LAG).

A good TAG strategy is the one we suggest you start to hone first of all and it’s a great one to revert back to in times of trouble. TAG players will play few hands, but play them aggressively when they do. You might only elect to play the top 20% of hands (Pocket pairs and big aces mainly) and you will be putting your opponents to the test when you do. The advantage of a TAG strategy is that you will always have the goods to back up your raises and by sticking to strong hands, you will be the favourite more often than not. TAG strategy is best used at a loose table, where people are throwing their chips around lightly with bad hands.

Where TAG strategy falls down is that you will become quite predictable and sometimes when you raise, everyone will fold because they know you have a good hand. A LAG strategy is quite the opposite, you will be raising and re-raising with a much wider range of hands. You might re-raise someone with hands like small suited connectors and when you hit a draw on the flop. You need to be a better player than the rest of the table to play a LAG strategy and it works best at a tight table where you know people are capable of folding and when you have position. The other advantage is you will often frustrate your opponents and they might pay you off when you have a real hand. The flaw of a LAG strategy is that you can often find yourself in no man’s land with a bad hand and losing a lot of chips.

Poker School

Poker Articles