There are many different styles of poker that you can play. It’s also important to know that no two poker players will have the same strategy. Even though this is the case, two players can have a similar playing style. If you want to find out more about playing styles or if you want to find out which strategy is going to work best for you, then you have come to the right place.
TAG
TAG means “tight-aggressive”. This is the style that most people tend to go for when they are trying to win a poker game. The playing style is as you can imagine. You will be making tight plays that are very aggressive. TAG players tend to be incredibly selective when it comes to their starting hand, and they rarely enter the pot with trash cards. A TAG player will usually play around 25% of hands, but this determines whether there is a full ring or short-handed players at the table.
If you have a TAG player and they choose to play a hand in the pre-flop, then their post-flop will usually be very aggressive. They will also much prefer to bet and raise as opposed to checking and of course, calling. If you want to come up with a strategy that will help you against TAG players, then there are numerous guides out there. Ultimately though, if you want to better your strategy, then it is wise for you to practice online. Sites such as GGPoker tend to have a fantastic range of options available and you would be surprised at how easy it is for you to perfect your strategy for physical games.
LAG
LAG means loose aggressive. Most LAG players tend to be losing players. That being said, the very best LAG players often come out winning way more money when compared to TAG players. The LAG style of playing involves more skill when compared to TAG and if you are a fantastic player then you may certainly find that you can make much more money this way. LAG shares some similarities with TAG, especially with the post-flop. The post-flop play is characterised as being way more aggressive when compared to being passive.
The main difference is that LAG players tend to play more hands and sometimes they will play bad hands if the situation calls for it. A normal LAG player will play up to 30% of their hands. This depends on whether there is a full ring or a short-handed game. If you are a LAG player and you find that you are consistently losing, then you may need to switch up your strategy. If you do this then you need to try and adopt the TAG or the Rock playing profile, more on that below.
Rock
If you don’t fit into LAG or TAG, then you may fit into Rock. Online games tend to increase in toughness as time goes on, and this is increasing the amount of Rock players that there are out there. In some instances, a Rock player may have spent quite some time playing LAG or TAG, but they have since shifted their playing style so that they can adopt a much tighter strategy. It also helps them to remain as a winner in this day and age. In most cases, Rocks are not skilled players. They suffer from strategic issues, most of the time, but what they lack in skill, they make up for by having a strong range and they do not throw money away on marginal holdings. This is often enough to give them a good win rate.
