The Poker Personality Types

In this lesson we’re going to talk about different poker personality types, and how to play against them. In the level 1 (beginners) lesson, “Poker Personalities“, we talked about the basic player types based on the cards and amount of pots they play. In this lesson, we’ll take it deeper and identify some of the poker personalities you will encounter, then we’ll look at two hand examples using the same cards, and see how it plays out with different opponents.

There are many factors that make up someone’s personality on and off the tables, but most are based on their psychological and emotional tendencies. While some of these overlap with the traditional way of looking at poker player types, the following personalities provide a richer way to look at players, allowing you to more effectively play pots against them.

The Calling Station:

How to Recognize Them	Strategies for Playing Them
Always calls and almost never raises. Has a hard time letting go of a hand if he has made a pair (either a pocket pair or any pair on the flop).	Never bluff a calling station – they will pay you off enough when you have a hand. If you have a strong hand, don’t slow play. Bet as much as you think they will call. If they ever do raise, beware, they usually have a strong hand so play cautiously.

The Ego Player:

How to Recognize Them

Strategies for Playing Them

Doesn’t like to appear as if he’s being pushed around (his response is usually to raise you back). Will often re-raise pre-flop from the blind positions.

Bet fast if you have a strong hand so they get caught up in the emotions of the hand. Check-raise them with a strong hand, as they are often aggressive players and will take offense and play back at you. Conversely, don’t check-raise or bet as a semi-bluff with a draw. You don’t want to be pushed off the draw and they will often pay you off when you hit anyway. With a strong hand, raise an amount that makes them think they can re-raise and push you off your hand.

The Table Sheriff:

How to Recognize Them

Strategies for Playing Them

A hybrid of the calling station and ego player, the table sheriff will often try to “look you up” and pick off your bluff by calling. Doesn’t like to be pushed around (his response is to call). Will call a high percentage of raises while in the big blind (called “defending your blind”).

Just like a calling station, avoid most bluffing situations. With a strong hand, start off betting weak to introduce doubt about the strength of your hand, then increase the strength of your bets to make it look like you want him to fold. Overbet the size of the pot to make him think you are bluffing. Similar to the calling station, if they are betting strong, they most likely have a strong hand. Will often make quick, emotionally driven decisions.

The Chaser:

How to Recognize Them	Strategies for Playing Them
Will consistently chase draws without getting the proper odds (even gut-shot draws). Will chase over-cards and Ace high. Will call quickly on a draw.	Charge them to draw – as much as you think they will call. Don’t bet just to “protect your hand”. They will miss their draw more than they will make it, so make them pay for it. Tread cautiously if a flush or straight draw hits. If they seem to be chasing and make a big river bet when a draw misses, consider making the call if you have a decent hand.

The Flop Chaser:

How to Recognize Them	Strategies for Playing Them
Likes to see the flop – will often limp in with a wide variety of hands and almost always calls a raise just to see the flop.	If they are passive, raise when you have position and bet the flop – if they call the flop, the usually have a piece or a draw and you can slow down depending on your hand. If they are calling stations, consider limping behind pre-flop with hands you might raise other people in order to keep the pot small since you shouldn’t be bluffing them much pre-flop.

The Tricky Player:

How to Recognize Them	Strategies for Playing Them
Likes to slow play. Will limp pre-flop with big hands.	Pay extra attention to their betting patterns and be weary of strange deviations. They often do the opposite of what the “correct” play is, so make decisions accordingly.

The Poker Nerd:

How to Recognize Them	Strategies for Playing Them
Has read a few poker books and tries to tell everyone the “correct” way to play. While it is harder to recognize this player online, look for them to comment on plays in the chat box.	Expect them to play very predictably. Find out what books they have read or like to understand their tendencies. Listen to what they say. It will often reveal patterns about their own play.

---

Hand Example – Inducing a Bluff from a Loose Aggressive Ego Player

• No Limit Hold’em Tournament Play
• Blinds: 50/100
• You and your opponent both have 4,000 in chips.

Pre-Flop

You raise to 300 from the button with KK and the LAG Ego Player re-raises you from the big blind to 1,000. For the purpose of demonstration, the ego player has 77 but will often re-raise with a wide variety of hands because they don’t want you stealing “their” big blind.

Figure 1

You have a couple of choices here. You could push all-in if you thought this particular ego player was bad enough to make a mistake of calling. But since you know this ego player could be re-raising you with marginal hands, let’s assume he would fold if you pushed. We have to use a little deception here to get more of his chips, so you just call his re-raise. Another benefit of just calling is also that you can evaluate the flop if an Ace hits.

The Flop

There is 2,050 in the pot and the flop is K92. The ego player now bets 1,500:

Figure 2

There are two ways you could play this; call or push all-in. When you’re against this type of opponent and based on how much is in the pot vs. how much he has left in his stack (1,500), neither is really incorrect. Since he has taken such an aggressive lead and there is still a possibility he could be on a pure bluff, calling is the most likely play to get all of his chips. He could easily put you on a middle pair like 88 or TT and will try to represent having a King on the turn.

The Turn

The turn is a 3. There is now 5,050 in the pot. He pushes his remaining 1,500 in and you call with your set of Kings, winning a monster pot. Now let’s look at another example, using the same cards, and see how it plays out with a different opponent.

---

Hand Example – Getting a Table Sheriff to Look You up

• Same situation as before.
• Blinds: 50/100
• You and your opponent both have 4,000 in chips.

Pre-Flop

You raise to 300 from the button with KK and the Sheriff calls from the big blind. For the purpose of demonstration, the sheriff has 77, but Table Sheriffs will often defend their big blind with a wide variety of hands.

The Flop

There is 650 in the pot and the flop comes K92, and your opponent checks. Here you should consider betting around 300-400. You decide to bet 350 and he quickly calls:

Figure 3

Remember, you don’t want to bet too little into a table sheriff. He will pay more, so go ahead and maximize how much you will win here. Also, if you bet too small, he may become suspicious and think you have a monster hand.

The Turn

The turn is a 3 and the pot is 1,350. Your opponent checks and it’s now time to put some pressure on and make him think you are pushing him out of the pot. I would consider a bet from 1,200 – 1,600 depending on how much you think he will call. His justification is going to be “If he had a King, why would he be betting so much? I know he’s bluffing, I have the best hand”). You bet 1,400 and as designed, he calls leaving himself 1,950 in his stack:

Figure 4

The lesson here is that you should craft your bet size based on you and your opponent’s stack size. Bet the maximum that you think they will call that will either commit all his chips on the turn or on the river. In this case, we are betting enough so that there is enough in the pot on the river to make him feel committed to the hand.

The River

With the pot at 4,150 and you and your opponent having 1,950 still in their stack, your best move is to push all-in. A good tip is to push fast to make it look like you are making a rash emotional bluff. In this instance it works and he calls with 77 and you win a big hand.

These two hand examples show how important it is to play the player – and that poker is indeed a people game played with cards. Over the next few lessons we’ll talk more about how to play against certain types of players; including aggressive players, tight players, and beginners.

---

Next Lesson: Intermediate Level » Module 2 » Lesson 2 » Playing Aggressive Players