Alternative Tight and Loose Play For Maximum Results at the Poker Table

Alternative Tight and Loose Play For Maximum Results at the Poker Table
We've all seen players who will literally play any hand, raising aggressively pre-flop with a 2-7 off suit (statistically, the worst starting hand.) At the same time we also know players who sit patiently, folding every hand until they raise with a high pocket pair. Understanding the extremes of loose and tight play can help inform your personal strategy by mixing it up so you don't become predictable at the table.
The ability to signal what you want is the key to an effective table image. By balancing your approach between a combination of aggression and selective loose play you can keep your opponents in the dark. Having the right cards, combined with a lucky streak is vital to all players, being able to use marginal cards and good tactical play to outsmart your opponents can move you from a average to a winning player in less time.
While Poker is a mathematical game, adjusting your table image can go a long way to skewing the probability in your direction. The leading poker player and theorist David Sklansky says that the basic theorem of poker says that making your opponent play differently that they would if they were aware of your hand, puts your hand in positive expected value territory. The mixing of slow play, bluffing and aggression can assist you in the ability to make your opponents make the wrong assumption about the contents of your hand.
Using Aggressive Play
Aggression can be a useful tactic at the poker table, especially when you want to extract maximum value from a good hand or want to appear strong when bluffing. Aggressive play can help you put your opponents off guard, putting you into control of the action so you can maximum the expected value of any given hand. Importantly, there are different types of aggressive play including subtle aggression where you check and raise after you opponent bets, as well as passive aggression where you let your opponent raise in early rounds and then increase the stakes on the turn and river when bet sizes double.
The careful use of aggressive play at the table can yield big dividends when it comes to getting top value from your best hands and successfully bluffing when you determine you are facing a weak opponent. Experienced players comprehend the fine art of bluffing, and the import of careful signaling.
Using Loose Play
We've all seen players who are seemingly random and reckless with their betting, playing any two cards or entering a pre-flop raise with suited connectors. Carefully done this strategy can deliver impressive results when you hit your straight or flush, or when you want to establish yourself as a loose player.
Mixing your table image utilizing loose play will have the effect of encouraging more players to enter pots when you actually have a strong hand. Allowing yourself to loose a bit on high risk loose play early on can really be a semi-bluff with high returns when you get a full set of callers with pocket aces later in the game. The objective is to keep your opponents off guard and playing loose throughout the game can provide the table image that accomplishes that.