In poker, playing loose is where the player is more likely to put money into the pot. It’s the opposite of playing tight and involves playing a higher number of hands and either raising or calling a higher number of raises. Sometimes you might hear this termed as an aggressive player. However, you can play tight and aggressive. Aggressive play is usually raising later on in the game, while loose aggressive players will raise early and often.
Loose players tend to be more experienced, although some beginner players will often play too loose without realizing it. Naturally, they can present a target to exploit, as they’ll often call raises and play a higher number of hands. However, it can also be a dangerous target if you’re up against a loose experienced player.
Why It’s Important to Exploit Opponents in Poker
In online poker, your main goal is to make as much money as possible. The money you make is always coming from the other players at the table, and each of them is trying to achieve the same goal. Naturally, you want to discover their weaknesses and exploit them as much as possible, all while avoiding them exploiting yours
It’s not always possible to learn enough information about your opponents to exploit them successfully, but the times that you do, you should always press your advantage. Failing to exploit a player will put you at a disadvantage, as one of your opponents may be doing it anyway. If you want to be successful, recognizing that poker is a competitive game is the first step.
Using Your Position Against Loose Players
Your position at the table is a major factor in your success. Early positions have a disadvantage over late positions, as they make a move first. If you’re in an early position and need to call or raise, you’re giving away information about the cards you have. On the other hand, when you’re in a late position, you can see the decisions that your opponents have made and can start to work out their hand ranges.
If you know a player is loose, you can expect them to play aggressively from the start, even if they’re on your left. As a result of this, you can plan your strategy before your pre-flop decision. You know that if you bet, you can expect a call or raise, and if you check, it’s likely that they will raise. Knowing how they’ll play before they make a decision will help you even if you might be at a disadvantage positionally.
Pre-Flop Strategy Against Loose Players
Most loose players can be depended on to either open the betting or 2 or 3 betting. Sometimes, you might find that they call pre-flop before betting more aggressively post-flop. In either case, you can use their loose play to your advantage. If you’re going to see the flop with a loose player, you have to know what kind of situation you’re getting yourself into. Consider your position, how many players are in the pot, and current stack sizes. You should also note their post-flop behavior.
You have a few different options in terms of strategy, depending on which you prefer. You can choose to tighten your range, only playing strong hands to better defend against their 3 bet. Folding more often will help you defend better and mean that when you do face them, you’ll have a much stronger hand.
Alternatively, you can keep your same range and choose to call their 3 bet more often. This is easier when you’re in a late position on the table so that you have a slight advantage over them in post-flop. If you know your opponent will still 3 bet even with middle-ranked hands, you still have a good chance of getting a positive expected value.
Finally, you can keep your same range and choose to 4 bet more often with positive expected value hands. For example, a hand that you would normally 3 bet, you would know 4 bet. You can also add in some more bluffs, but you have to be careful with this strategy. Watch out for other players at the table who might also be able to exploit you when you play with this strategy.
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