How to Adjust Your Casino Play in Very Loose Live Games
5 minutes
Posted by: Ivan
Playing poker can be both profitable and very detrimental to your budget. The moment you get overconfident is the moment you will start losing.
Roughly speaking, there are two main categories of amateur players: tight and loose. Both approaches are bad, and you can take advantage of both to win more.
In this article, we will go over a few tips on how to adjust your play style to play effectively against loose players.
Tight vs. Loose Players
Tight players are easy to identify both online and in live games. They generally wait until they have a strong poker hand to play, and they fold a lot before the flop.
This is why it’s so easy to take advantage of their strategy, and the only problem is that the games can drag out.
Loose players tend to be more reckless, and they will often try to call your bluff and try to bluff themselves. In other words, you should wait until you have a good hand to string them along.
Currently, the number of players online has increased, mainly due to lockdowns and because many people simply have more free time.
This means you are likely to encounter more amateur players or players posing as an amateur to make you overconfident.
Adjusting Your Play for Loose Game
It's easy to adjust your play style for loose games, especially if you are playing against a loose passive player. They will play way too many hands and bleed out their money in a relatively short time.
You are likely to encounter these players while playing at Dutch online casino sites, given how they are relatively new to the whole online gambling thing.
So, claim your bonuses and go for a few matches to practice against newbies. Once again, all you need to do is get ready for a waiting game. Once you have a good hand, it should be easy to up the stakes.
Of course, it won’t be this easy all the way, as your opponent might figure out that you only play good hands. There is a chance you will have to bluff a few times just to keep them second-guessing their decision.
However, you won’t have to bluff at all if you are up against a loose-aggressive gambler (LAG).
These are really easy to trap, and basically, the only time you'll lose is if you get coolered. This is the situation where both of you have good hands, but the opponent has a slightly better one.
If you are at a live game and you know that one of your opponents is a LAG, you should try to sit to the left of them.
This player type will often play marginal hands, and you don't need them to constantly up the stakes. You can control the game until they burn through their chips.
Identifying LAG
It’s important to mention that not every LAG you face will be a terrible player. There is a chance you will encounter a good one, and they are difficult to beat.
Before you identify someone as a bad LAG, you need to watch them play and see them make common mistakes.
A bad LAG is someone who doesn’t know how to stop and plays recklessly, whereas a good LAG will be shifting gears every now and then.
Basically, a good loose player is more self-conscious and knows that others will try to take advantage of their style. This gives them a chance to turn the tables. Knowing how to tell the difference between these two can help you out immensely.
Good LAG Players
You can tell if someone is a good LAG player by watching how they play against tight players. If they are able to tell their opponent is only waiting on good hands, a good LAG player will put a lot of pressure on them.
They know that players who are too tight are afraid of losing and that they will fold way too often. They also know that if their opponent is pushing back, it must mean they have a good hand, so they know when to quit.
A bad tight player, or a poker nit, finds LAGs frustrating, and a good LAG knows how to take advantage of that fact.
Playing Against Tight and Loose Players at the Same Table
In all likelihood, the players at the table will be a mixed bunch, so realistically speaking, you will play against both types very often.
In other words, you will often have to shift gears if you wish to come out on top. It’s crucial to pay attention to what’s happening at all times and identify bad players or those who are too tight and too loose.
Ideally, you will want to isolate them and play as many hands against those players as possible.
If you are playing online, you will likely see a good deal of overconfident players. Being good at live poker doesn’t necessarily make you good online.
You can’t read faces or find tells, and all you have to go on are someone’s actions and how they behaved with good or bad hands.
This is why shifting gears is an important skill because you can create a situation where you take everything with just a few good hands. If opponents can’t decide whether you are loose or a tight player, they won’t be able to read you.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you found these tips useful, and they will come in handy when you play either live or online. Poker is a game of skill and a game where a player with a psychological advantage is more likely to win.
This is why playing with real money is way different than using free apps. The stakes are simply a lot higher, and that has an impact on player behavior.
The apps can be a good practice if you know you are competing against competitive opponents who truly value the sense of victory. But, the real game begins once your bankroll is on the line.
