Player Profile Countermeasures

[mrbocephus]

Newbie here. I've got a question. What is generally considered to be the correct countermeasure for the following opponent profiles:

loose/passive
loose/aggressive
tight/passive (weak-tight)
tight/aggressive

Thanks.

[J.R.]

loose/passive-- Bet your hands, be leery of calling raises, play drawing hands after limpers, bluff less frequently, show down good hands, rack chips.

loose/aggressive -- Bet your hands, be more inclined to call people down, check-raise, isolate loose preflop raisers, play fewer drawing hands (because the pot get raised more) rack chips.

tight/passive (weak-tight) Bet your hands, bluff and semi-bluff frequently, isolate pre-flop with position, respect raises, rack chips.

tight/aggressive- table change.

[felson]

Al Schoonmaker's book _The Psychology of Poker_ has an excellent discussion of this. Here are some ideas to get you started...

loose/passive. If you have a hand, keep on betting into them. On the river, you can even bet relatively weak hands like second pair, etc., and find them paying you off with weaker ones. Don't semibluff them as they won't lay down hands, although you can sometimes raise for free cards.

loose/aggressive. Again, your weaker hands may be good here, but you don't necessarily want to play back at them when you have something. Sometimes it's better to call them down and let them keep bluffing into you. You'll need to vary your play here (and with the other types as well).

tight/passive. Don't bet your weaker hands for value here, but semibluff and bluff often. If they raise or 3bet you, though, be ready to lay your hand down.

tight/aggressive. Avoid these players. Sit at a different table, or if they're playing a hand, fold your marginal hands. You don't want to confront these guys.

Your question is a very good one. It's important to characterize your opponents' playing styles and especially their mistakes. As Sklansky's Fundamental Theorem of Poker says, you make money when your opponents make mistakes (i.e., play less than optimally). It's your goal to identify those mistakes, then exploit them by giving them more and more opportunities to make those same mistakes.

felson