Chapter 20: Other Opponents of Online Poker
Not every online poker opponent will fall under the fish, TAG and LAG umbrella. These types of players are less common but it is worth knowing who they are and what makes them what they are. Remember this, though — they are all bad and losing players.
Tight-passive. These opponents are usually pretty easy to play. They play tight so they are usually only playing good hands. Unlike aggressive TAGs however, they only bet when they have a hand. This makes them very easy to play against as whenever they are betting a large amount or raising we can fold pretty much everything. Their stats generally look something like 19/3/1.5 (VPIP/PFR/AF) or 12/5/2. Don’t pay them off, but be sure to continuation bet if they call you preflop. They’ll only continue if they hit the flop big.
Slightly loose, slightly passive. This guy isn’t tight enough to be a tight-passive but he’s not exactly a fish. These players are usually OK postflop and just would need to read a book like this to become a TAG. Their stats are usually something like 30/10/2 or 25/9/2. There’s no special way to play them; they are usually making enough small fundamental mistakes they will slowly bleed money to you.
Maniac. The maniac is the fish on steroids. Raising, reraising, bluffing and going all-in with virtually anything he feels like is the trademark of the maniac. Their stats will often be out of this world, such as 60/40/4. A true maniac postflop will usually bluff virtually every single hand. To play against these guys is pretty simple: don’t fold anything decent.
Remember with every player to observe their postflop tendencies. Preflop stats can help you a lot but won’t tell you everything. Some players with tight stats are terrible postflop and have no hand reading skills. Some players with loose stats are tough players postflop who won’t pay you off lightly. The best advice I can give you is to look at every hand history where the players went to showdown and look at their cards. You can piece together so much from observing how an opponent played one hand.
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