Help me give a name to this playing style

I find that when posting, there is a type of regular in Vegas whom the Tight/Loose description doesn't do justice. Since so many players in this city play very similar to this, I want to know how to describe these people in future posts.


They play a tightish game. Rarely showing down garbage unless on the button. They do however make very loose calls of preflop raises. They can't seem to muck AJo (ever! this hand is a huge money loser for so many Vegas regulars), A9s and KQo to an EP raiser. So they aren't tight.....but they are. They just don't adjust enough against a preflop raiser.


Also, they aren't passive, but they are. They are just aggressive in the obvious spots, and their raise rarely means something other than what it represents. So they are willing to raise, and raise without the nuts (i.e they will raise with top pair top kicker), but rarely raise on a turn semibluff, or with second pair, etc.


What do we call this very typical Vegas player profile? Its like weak-tight-loose-ish.


Help.

Fools!


RL

I wouldn't look too far down my nose at that style. It will outperform most around here.


When I'm playing it, I call it make-a-hand poker. When I'm playing against it, I call it a safe spot.


Tommy

I'm not looking down my nose at it, I'm just trying to get a neat little phrase so that it is easily identifiable in posts. None of our typical words like tight, loose, aggressive and passive really accurately portray these players' style.


The best that I can think of is that they play "Funnel" poker. They outplay the recreational/tourist type players. But their straightforward play, and loose calling of preflop raises slowly takes those profits gained from the recreational players and funnels it to the so called "expert", "winning" and "professional" players.


I suspect you played against more than a few of these "typical" locals during your stay here. I think my portrayal of them is reasonably accurate, don't you?


"Make a hand poker" will always have that one obvious and fatal flaw. Many days, you simply won't.

Maybe "Middlemen" then. If they play an in between style and transfer the money from worse players to better players it might fit.

Dave- and you think I'M in a GOOFY mood just because I've been laughing for a week? How about "Funnel Cakes"? ROFL!! Sorry, but I found this "funnel player" label funny as hell. When I stop laughing I will read your post again and put on my "Funnel Cap". Babe.

Laughing for a week? Is the babe on an incredible run, or did something/someone tickle her funnybone?


May the flop be with you!


Fitz

Fitz- the Babe is always on an "incredible" run of some kind or another, even if simply running to the mall for new panties. But...yup, I have been laughing to the point of tears for a week. I even find it funny that I feel so damn silly, but I cannot stop laughing!. Someone may have set this off, but I won't tell who..... Hysterically yours, xxoo - Babe-y.

i know this player. they seem to be competent but they really arent. if they own hpfap they havent read it. if theyve read it they havent really understood or absorbed it. tight aggressive poker is hard to learn and even harder still to consistently practice.


im guessing some of these players are actually marginal winners if they are good at avoiding tilt and they pick good games to sit in. those are a couple of big ifs of course. i think terms like "weak", "passive", "uneducated" and "trying to play well" work well.


feeney says that watching what a player cold calls raises with will give you great insight into their skill level. ive been watching for this lately and learning a LOT from it. geez talk about your tells..

I really like Brad's description of them as self-weighting players. This does them a great deal of justice as far as their play goes. They are self-weighting for more reasons other than just their lack of understanding of poker concepts such as those related to calling raises.


They are self-weighting because they don't need no stinkin' books to learn how to play poker because they already know how to play poker as is clearly shown by their experience in both poker and life as is clearly shown by their advanced age and their superior holier-than-thou attitude because it's obvious that they know everything and you know nothing you stupid little punk brat kid you....


I call them things like crabbapple mary too. this is because these tend to be the nasty old vegas regulars who think they know it all and therefore feel justified in making everyone else at the table completely miserable.


Dave in Cali

I like Trying to play well. I think that does a good job of describing.


Its like they "Think they are playing well, but are in fact only trying to play well."


There are legions of this type of player out here.

Babe, if you are so damn happy that you are laughing all the time, I am coming back to vegas TODAY! Just keep it up till I get there, I justs loves me happy ladies!


Dave in Cali

Try "think they are playing VERY well, and FAR better than everyone else, but in fact are poor players who only maybe skate by with a small winning margin because the tourists are SO much worse then they are"

I am always happy with you around, Dave. Come back soon- Babe. And...p.s. I am still laughing like a hyena.

Hey Dave (not in Cali) - sorry you missed the list this year, but it's hard to give you a shot at it when you live in Hellville, Texas. You will have almost a whole year to remove that stigma and to prove yourself worthy of the Babe's best list. Don't give up, just get here.! Pack and leave SOON. Babe

"Its like they "Think they are playing well, but are in fact only trying to play well."


the great thing about hold em is that trying to play well is simply not enough. not even close. if youre uneducated you will fail and that's the bottom line. it's not the sort of game you can just figure out and then get good at it and then make consistent money. i see so very many players in the commerce top section who try to play well, sometimes win, but definitely cant win much in the long term if at all. some of them make up for it with strong hand reading skills, having tilt mastered, and good game selection, but they still lack a strong theoretical and strategic understanding of the game. and they probably always will, god bless 'em.

first time i've seen the word 'Panties' on this site. i guess it had to happen sometime.

Baggins- pay attention- Babe's got lots of stuff you haven't seen on this site! Ha, LOL.

i try to pay attention. i also follow your posts a bit. i figure if you've got something to say about it, its a worthwhile thread. i do appreciate your insight into this game and the world surrounding it. just the word 'panties' jumped out at me as odd. keep posting babe, im keeping my eyes out.

If you guys want some insight into this player just ask me. It fits me to a tee.


To adequately describe me (or this type) you would need a third scale or dimension. Before posting in small stakes and getting corrected, I would look down at AJo in the SB and think "cool, so many options and it's so well disguised. I normally raise this in LP and have done well. I can call a raise because no one knows I have a strong starting hand and I have lots of options post-flop like check raising or betting out with a made hand."


I think adding a third scale to add to loose/tight, aggressive/weak works well to describe this type of play. I feel this gets into the psyche of players and it really makes any categorization of player do something a little differently than they normally would. I'm starting to call it the optimist/pessimist scale.


It clouds the thinking of a normally tight/aggressive player. And it will get him doing things that are incorrect. A tight/aggessive/optimist will play AJo in the BB when there's an EP or UTG raise. The same player after two bad losses on the river becomes a pessimist who is ripe for the plucking. He won't call a heads up river bet with Ace high in the right situation.


I think it affects all categories. Weak/Tight, or Weak/Loose will do things a little differently based on whether they are an optimist or pessimist. And what happens on the table really affects this scale. A loose/aggresive player taking down all the pots, will turn many players into optimists -- you start to get more early preflop calls with KJo and the likes.


On good days, I use this scale to defeat my opponents. On bad days and I'm not in the middle of this scale, I become the ATM. After all it's still "Magithighs the early days".

Dave (just visiting) in Hellville....Please come back to Vegas soon. We will make it "all better". Babe