What do you think determines what type of player you are

have you ever stopped and wondered what determines what type of player you are???

I have been playing a lot more in the past few weeks. You may have noticed from my posts that im alalysing a lot of my plays - if anything i analyse some situations too much.

I would love to call myself a tight agressive player....however occasionally tight and agressive at the wrong times. Adapting to the table your at is a great asset and something i really need to imrpove upon

My game is certainly in transition. I won a lot of games when i first started playing...but i didnt know why i was winning the games i was and losing the games i lost.

Which got me thinking. What do you think influences the type of player you are?

Now clearly the number of games youve played, the players you play against, the level/limit you play and the books youve read etc are all major influences on your game. Though whilst the top 100 players in the world are all great players, they are also very different players.

Im from a mathematical background which is why i think analysing my play helps my game - ie. i like the facts etc. Whilst im silly with money in real life and spend my cash on computer game, gadgets and general garbage, with gambling i have always been pretty sensible. Which is why i think my nakroll management is pretty good.

However, gus hansen came from a mathematical/backgammon background and hes a very agressive player (im quite tight...something ben took of advantage of tonight). Now, clearly as a pro he can switch his game when needed though im sure youd agree against the average pro hes more agressive - is there a reason?

Do you think a persons view on gambling is a big factor? I know guys from the pub who bet on the horses a lot and love poker. However, they are incredibly loose and sometimes i think theyd rather bluff someone with garbage than actually finish in the money

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Well, Im more like Fonz. I have a degree in chemistry and I am very analytical. I dont lean so much on the math though. More the analytical side, analyzing the way people are playing and the possible hands they might have.

PS homeville, I would love to see a pic of that mustang. I want to get one to restore one day.

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theprofessor@texasholdemforums.com

should have explained myself better. I dont spend loads of time working out math - obviously though i work out roughly my odds of catching the cards i need etc. However, what i meant was i have a mathematical brain in that analysing what ive done helps me improve or rather helps me not make the same mistake again

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Well I think that everyone has a natural style of playing. Myself it is guess what.... TIGHT PASSIVE. That is my natural style - you wont see me playing that way often in THF games but that is my natural style nonetheless. Fonz has touched on two key points 1) what is your poker style in the tight/ loose etc. mould, and 2) what is your general approach to poker.

I have to say whilst the idea of online poker costing me money is something i find repulsive - fortunately I am good enough to make a profit. I employ solid bankroll management to ensure I make a profit rather than a loss and have enough money to play key games (thf, 10MTT's etc) but after that I am a little careless. When I am playing in a tourney I really don't care what happens money wise - I am competitive as hell but if I finish on the bubble SO WHAT!!! To me whilst i try real hard to will it there is something unreal about the money. When I reach big final tables I don't offer deals - I am playing for 1st. That being said I am a math player - everything has been (if i havent had a drink or two) anylised etc odds, likely holdings, flop percentages etc and I am not someone who likes things being decided by the turn of a card so I am risk adverse but not totally. If it is a large enough pot I will sometimes even call all in on less than 50%ers - assuming I don't have solid enough reads on the field to exploit more safely.

Despite being a tecnical player I am also a play who - when playing well studies the other players closely. I will often target one or two players on the table (fonz last THF game for one) and study them VERY closely - send feeler bets - be willing to play strange hands against them etc.

In terms of playing style i try to exploit tight aggressive but when I feel that wont get me far at a table or people are reading me - I will change. If I have slowplayed a bit and people are wary I will either fast play or bluff a little.

I can play loose passive, loose aggressive, tight aggressive tight passive. Sometimes these will be governed by me exploiting what will work best at the table - sometimes it is just my whim and may actually be costing me chips... any way thats me. My stats show that i generally play =fairly tight - particularly after the first few rounds of blinds but VERY AGGRESSIVE but this is not my natural style.

Unlike many players I am willing to risk my entire bankroll on a bluff or on even q high if I think that is the best hand and I am confident about it. I take the view if i have a strong read on someone then unless it is the difference between bubbling and winning then I will risk ALL on that read. If I dont have that degree of conviction then I will revert to tight passive play.

I think everyone underpressure is either risk adverse or a gambler and also fits one of the tight passive etc moulds. Under pressure they will revert to that style and it can be expolited.

To put someone under pressure you need them either to lose a big whack of chips or to give them for 10-30 min consistantly difficult decisions. Never give them easy calls or folds etc. It is something that is most easily acheived at short stack games but it is always worth bearing in mind.

I think folks often forget two types of players that you find more online than you do B &M. One is the guy that will gamble on anything no matter how slight his chances are or even how bizzare the bet is. He is the guy that if you meet him in the 3 dimensional world out at some bar will spend the evening betting with you and others on whether he can guess the name of the next person to walk in the door, whether the barkeep will open your next beer with his right hand or his left, or whether the guy three tables over has a sister in Scranton with a left tit larger than the right. Be leery of this fellar for although the percentages that you ardently study are against him always; his magic is that he just doesn't give a shit. To him his win is when the gambling gawds see fit to go against all equations of proability and deliver him the entertainment that he is most willing and usually well funded to pay for. Take solace in knowing that his future is probably one of bankruptcy, divorce, and in the more extreme cases a front row seat at gambler's anonymous!

A second type of player we often forget exist, who is much like the first I have mentioned, is also a seeker of entertainment but motivated from a different psychological stimulus. He too flagrantly disregards the science of statistics and probability. One might liken him to the followers of many a cultish religion for indeed he has a bizzare faith. A thorough treatise on this exotic faith can be read about at The Temple of 2 7 Off Suit. His reward that he is willing to tithe greatly for is the angst he is able to summon among all those at the tables he plays who he sees as profaning his faith. The tilt that his bad beats almost instantly invoke send him into religous ecstasy the likes of which he considers priceless. The best defense against a temple member is to ignore his bad play for by cursing and ranting you have unwittingly given this person exactly what he pays for each time he sits down at a table.

I hope these descrptions are helpful. Just remember that over your long poker journey that your game will greatly out perform the two types of individuals mentioned above. You have chosen a path of science and economics whilst they have chosen a path of ignorance and superstition. You exact your profit in the long run and they receive a blast of endorphins intermittently resulting in their religious fervor. Both have come to the table and played and both have received what they have payed for!

Dont know if it stands for any value here, but I took an IQ test a bit ago, results= Iq of 138, Highly Intelligent with Very Exceptional Math and Visualization Perception. I am extremly creative and imaginative, I pick up on patterns very easily, and most people i can read like books. I am every style of play, depending on the situation. I play a wide variety of hands, but when theres a ton of $$$ in the pot, I just happen to have the right ones.

138 isnt that high - mensa require more that that and I am well over 145 myself and still I know many people brighter than I am but to me poker isn't really about masses of intellegence but about observational skills, patience, discipline etc - moderate intellegence is more than sufficient.

I don't know the technical lingo to explain what type of player I am so all I can do is describe it.

To me, the money doesn't seem to matter. Don't get me wrong I like to make a little dough as much as the next guy. But it doesnt drive me. It's the competition that gets my blood pumping. I love the fact that I learn something new about the game each and every time I play. I love that it is a different game each time I play. The cards are different, the opponents are different, and the outcome is different. When i was younger i enjoyed playing Pac-man ( Remember that one?) But a point in time came when I could play the thing blindfolded. It was merely a repetitious movement after a while ( Right, up, left, up, down ) Same thing for the rubik's cube. Once you master it, it isn't fun anymore. Nobody can master this game of Poker. But I'm driven to find out just how good I can get at it. If we won all the time we would get bored and move on to the next new phase. I never have to worry about this happening.

I love the art of studying my opponent and take bliss when I can bluff someone off a pot based soley on their play and not the 2 cards that are in my hand. When I first joined this forum i wrote a post stating that I was a "Student" of this game. And that is the type of player that I am. Just a student. Not money driven, Not ego driven, just a student. The more I learn the better I'll become. Some games I'm aggressive and some I'm tight. It all depends on my opponents. I adapt to their style of play. I think good players can do that. But I'll never get bored learning as I'll face new players and new flops, turns, rivers, etc.. each and every time I play. I don't think it will ever get repetitious but I'm looking forward to the day when It feels that way. Because that will be the day when the "Money" will become a factor in my game.