There are players who will try to play solidly when they first sit down, and continue to play solidly if they start off winning. But some players can change their styles drastically if they start to lose, particularly if they take a bad beat. All of a sudden, these players will go from playing solid to being a bit more aggressive. Then they will semi-bluff and bluff more. If they continue to lose and get some of their bluffs called, or worse, they get more bad beats, then they could wind up opening up their game and could turn into a maniac-type of player.
This is a situation where having played against the player in the past and knowing this particular characteristic is very useful. If it is the first time you ever played with him and he plays like this, you may assume this is how he plays and use that information the second time you play at the same table with him. But the second time around, he may be running good and playing solidly, in which case, your perception of him will be completely off.
Players can change styles depending on if they are winning or losing
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The professional players
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Professional players are sharp and are constantly thinking about the game and their opponents. They are the best players and the ones that you least like to see at your table. They could be playing poker as their main source of income or they could be playing it as a supplemental income. They are playing poker to win unlike other players who may be playing for the gamble, the entertainment or just the competition. Professional players understand the importance of playing aggressively when they have a solid hand and they also understand the importance of choosing their hands selectively. They will try to extract the most amount of edge from their opponents when they have the best of it, but try to get away cheaply when they have the worst of it. Professional players have thought about and studied the game, be it through reading, talking to other players or just thinking about the play of hands on their own. Professional players will still have a wide range of characteristics in their style. Some will be more aggressive than others, some will bluff a bit more than others. Of course, there are always those who consider themselves as professional players who really are not.
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The maniac
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The maniac is Mr. Hyde to the loose aggressive player’s Dr. Jekyll. The maniac is completely out of control and raises sometimes even without looking at his hole cards. Everyone is licking their chops to get a piece of this guy. Maniacs will raise and bluff way too often and they will usually lose their money quickly. Maniacs may not play like maniacs all the time. Sometimes players who are just having a bad day turn into maniacs when they are on full tilt. This can happen after they have been dealt a couple of bad beats which could lead them to play very aggressively in order to get back to even. The maniac is a horrible player and is great for the game.
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The loose aggressive player
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The loose aggressive player likes to play a lot of hands. Unlike the calling station, he likes to play them aggressively. He will raise and bet when his cards are warranted, but he may sometimes bet and raise when it is not clear that he has the best hand at the moment. The loose aggressive player likes to bet on the come. He will use the free card raise as often as he can, even if he just has overcards. Once he raises for the free card, he oftentimes feels compelled to keep betting due to the perceived weakness of his opponents if they are just calling him. It may feel necessary to rope-a-dope (to play passively so the aggressive player will keep betting) the aggressive player by calling him instead of scaring him off with a raise or a re-raise. The loose aggressive player is always trying to steal the blinds, even from middle position. He will bluff more often than the average player and he loves fancy concepts such as semi-bluffing, raising for free cards and check-raising. But he will overuse these concepts. Because he plays so many hands and is aggressive with them, it may be harder to predict his holdings. He may sometimes run over his opponents when he has the better hand, since other players are more willing to call his bets and raises. Loose aggressive players are usually not good players, however they can get in some streaks where it may seem like they are the best player around.
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UNPREDICTABLE PLAYERS
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Unpredictable players are not necessarily good or bad players. When they act, it is tougher to pinpoint their hand compared with pinpointing a predictable player’s hand. Unpredictable players will use strategies such as bluffing and semi-bluffing often, sometimes too often. Even though good players can be somewhat unpredictable, there is only so far they can take this. If they are too unpredictable, it will mean they are playing too many hands, and giving up too much edge for the quest to be unpredictable. Instead, good players will choose spots to be unpredictable, spots where playing unpredictably may give them the greatest edge. Players who play unpredictably all the time invariably play too many hands and are giving up too much edge for their trickiness.
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The solid player
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The solid player is a player who has an idea of correct play. He knows he needs to be patient to win at this game, but he is not overly tight. He will play more hands than a rock and he will usually be aggressive when he does play. If he raises from early position, he is predictable because he will have a quality hand. If he open-raises from late position, his hand will be harder to predict because he understands he can loosen up in that position and he is not afraid to steal the blinds. You normally want to avoid the solid player when he is raising. He may not bluff or semi-bluff enough because he does not usually take too many chances. Some players will play like a solid player only to morph into a different type of player after a while at the table. The solid player is a good player.
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The rock
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A rock is not a sharp player, but his strategy will make him a small winner in most limits. As strange as it may sound, the rock and the calling station have some similarities. Like the calling station, the rock will only bet with good hands and only raise with strong hands. As with the calling station, you must be careful when the rock bets or raises and give them respect when they show aggression. That is where the similarities end. The calling station plays a lot of hands, while the rock plays very few hands. The rock may sit there for hours folding his starting hands and will have no problems folding his blinds, thus making him a prime candidate to steal the blinds from. When he does play a hand, watch out, he’s got something good. The rock usually thinks he is a better player than the average player. He values patience above all else, and since he is the most patient at the table, he usually thinks he is the best. In some games, he may be right. A rock is typically a good player, although he will not extract as much edge out of the game as better players will. Rocks can be long term winners in low limit games and some middle limit games, but they will need to expand their game and creativity in order to win in the higher limit games.