Is there value to being able to play multiple styles well?

[4_2_it]

Things I would like to see discussed include:

1) What styles should every player strive to have in his toolbox (TAG, LAG, WT, etc.)?
2) Are there levels where a certain style works best or doesn't work at all? (Please don't link to Fimbulwinter's masterpiece or the FAQ, I am looking to generate some discussion here)
3) Should your ability to play a certain style be a factor when deciding whether to move up?
4) How often do you need to shift gears (play include the level you are playing as I am interested in answers from all levels of play)?

That's enough for starters. I'm not sure where this thread will go (if anywhere). I am just looking to see how worthwhile it might for me to learn a true LAG style (I can play TAG, but prefer/slip into SLAG quite a bit)

I have my opinion (which I will share after the posters have chimed in).

I am mostly LAG/SLAG. I would very much like to learn how to play TAG properly, and I think I might start a thread about that. But yeah I think being able to play more than one style helps a lot. I often sit down at tables, LAG is up and then switch to SLAG when players adjust. If the table is full of people who like to play back at you, I'll gear all the way down to TAG or WT. But I'm not very good at WT or TAG play so I mostly stick to LAG.

[Ghazban]

It depends on a given player's situation. If you have one style that works well for you in the game you're playing and have no plans to ever change games, you have no reason to play a different style.

If someone wants to be the best overall poker player they can be (independent of financial results), that person should obviously learn every style (as well as every game).

For a player with aspirations of moving up to the biggest games around, being able to play all styles in all mindsets is necessary to beat those games (by that, I mean being able to play well in all styles despite whatever else might be going on in the game; many players will revert to their most comfortable style when something unfamiliar happens at the table).

[4_2_it]

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It depends on a given player's situation. If you have one style that works well for you in the game you're playing and have no plans to ever change games, you have no reason to play a different style.

If someone wants to be the best overall poker player they can be (independent of financial results), that person should obviously learn every style (as well as every game).

For a player with aspirations of moving up to the biggest games around, being able to play all styles in all mindsets is necessary to beat those games (by that, I mean being able to play well in all styles despite whatever else might be going on in the game; many players will revert to their most comfortable style when something unfamiliar happens at the table).

[/ QUOTE ]

This is good overall advice. Can we take it down a notch and apply it to a player who beats NL $50 playing TAG and is considering moving up to NL $100. He has taken shots and there is no bankroll issue.

Does this TAG need to develop a LAG style or will he be able to get by as TAG here as well?

At what level(s) does changing styles really make a difference?

Most importantly, what style will you be employing tonight when play heads up? My strategy is to be a calling station and suckout g00t [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ghazban]

HU, my style is to try to figure out what my opponent thinks I think about what he thinks I'm trying to do and then get confused and do something completely random because the damn computer is beeping at me (and by "completely random" I wish I meant "game-theoritically optimal" but I don't) .

I think straightforward ABC TAG play will make money up to 2/4 6-max on Party skins. It isn't optimal, but its breakeven at worst (I believe TWP has said this before as well).

The concept of changing styles doesn't really apply at the higher levels in my opinion as the game is constantly evolving. When everybody at the table already knows the "by the book" line, deviating from it is just a mind game of zigging when they think you're zagging. It isn't about saying "For the next half hour, I will be a LAG, then I will be a TAG for 20 minutes, then I will be a rock for 10, then a LAG for 15,......" as those labels don't apply as strictly as they do at low levels where most players always play the same way.

The bottom line is that you only need to change styles when other people start changing them, too. If everyone at the table always plays one way, you play a strategy that counters that one way. If they change, you change too.

[stu-unger]

i agree with what ghazaban said. i am a supa dupa nit. that is whats comfortable to me. i realize though, that style won't work for ever. i think having a TAG basis to your game is probably the best, but the ability to change gears needs to be present at the higher levels. i also think that in order to be optimal at any level above the 50 game players need to have the ability to play LAG or TAG depending on table conditions.

i used to be a LAGy maniac, then i changed my game up and became TAG. now i want to go back, but u know what they say,"once u go TAG, u never go back..."

[arod15]

While moving up its vitally imporatant to know all styles. I was once a big time LAG and now play very taggish. The biggest factor in my decision is the table. A supper tight table i tend to play laggish a supper loose i play tighter....

[amoeba]

at some point, your opposition will be good enough where if you don't change your style multiple times ingame, you will not do well.

[4_2_it]

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at some point, your opposition will be good enough where if you don't change your style multiple times ingame, you will not do well.

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What levels do you see this? Is it really table dependent? I have seen a few players at NL $100 that meet your criteria. There seem to be a lot more at NL $200. Am I on the right track? Are TAG and LAG the two styles to learn first? Or should you work in WT or SLAG before LAG? (Assume player started out as TAG)

[Isura]

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at some point, your opposition will be good enough where if you don't change your style multiple times ingame, you will not do well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bingo.