What is a Poker Player?

Poker is a family of card games in which the players wager over the hand they consider the most desirable as per the specific rules of that game. Professional poker players are individuals who have made a career out of poker by playing as an expert. 

In this article, we discuss types of poker players including the poker fish. 

Learn what skills does Types of Poker Players develop to be professional

A professional poker player is someone who performs the following duties:

• Gains in-depth knowledge of the poker game by conducting research and networking with other players in the industry
• Engages with the game at different difficulty levels in order to develop key strategic skills wherever necessary
• Manage finances effectively and choose stakes and tables that are in perfect alignment with skill and budget
• Maintain records of previously played games and evaluate the data in order to minimise past mistakes as much as possible going ahead
• Professional poker players are expected to keep track of most popular tournaments and play them either offline or online
• Is a pro at identifying types of poker players whether online or offline

Living the Life of a Player

While some professional poker players do this for a living on a full-time basis, others have to balance a day job in addition to practising the strategies for the game. An expert or professional poker player signs into tables first thing in the morning in order to participate in a live game. Many players balancing a day job need to spend their breaks reading poker books or browsing various websites in order to pick up on game strategies or poker rules. Once a level of expertise is reached, a player can travel frequently throughout the year and attend real-time tournaments. This would involve sitting at the poker table for many hours and being calm and composed about having to play against other equally skilled players under a lot of scrutiny.

Work Schedule of a Poker Player

To become a professional poker player means to invest quality hours daily for practice and hone your learnt skills. Additionally, you may be expected to travel frequently throughout the year in order to participate in poker tournaments. The game requires long hours of isolation and concentration at the poker table. There are high risks at play and this causes even the best of players to remain in highly stressful environments.

Career Growth

Poker presents an exciting alternative career once a player gains sufficient knowledge. It guarantees huge profits in very little time. There is also less opportunity for career growth since the game is fiercely competitive.

Typical Players

Some professional poker players choose to work independently in the field while others supplement poker winnings with a part-time or full-time job. Some poker players even work as poker dealers meaning that they deal cards at the poker table in casinos. Dealers often get the opportunity to travel to live tournaments and participate in prestigious games. Another alternative employment is to join the casino’s staff as a writer or host or floor manager.

Also Read: What is Flop, Turn and River Cards in Poker

Types of Poker Players

As part of the poker strategy, it is important that a poker player stays fully engaged in the strategy-building and pays attention to the smallest details. As a player, you need to learn how to watch your opponents. If you don’t give this step due importance, other players will watch you and gain an advantage. Poker is fifty percent a game of chance based on incomplete details and so the more details you have, the better will be your decision-making power during the course of the game. 

When cards for poker hands are dealt and you know nothing about your opponents, your first move should be categorising the players into one of the four types. Typically, there are four types of poker players:

Tight-Aggressive Player (The TAG)

A tight-aggressive player is someone who plays a limited number of starting poker hands preflop and follows aggressive strategy postflop. For an improving poker player, this could be the perfect style to aim for. Playing too many hands loosely makes the player’s postflop strategy quite difficult. Aggressive poker strategy is more profitable as compared to passive play. This is due to the fact that aggressive players are most challenging for other players to tackle.

Loose-Aggressive Player (The LAG)

A loose aggressive player plays in a manner that is similar to a tight aggressive poker player. The only difference is that the loose aggressive player opens and raises hands more preflop. According to some experts, this can be more profitable as opposed to being tight-aggressive. If someone plays wider ranges preflop and postflop then the player puts themselves at greater risk of making errors. The positive side to this situation is that opponents are pressured into making more mistakes.

Tight-Passive Player (The Rock)

A tight-passive player is someone who plays sub-optimally. The key point lies in being proactive. Poker is a game that cannot only be won with good hands. One needs to work hard in order to win big pots against other possible weak opponents even with the worst hand possible. Such types of professional poker players will play too tight preflop. Tight-passive players bluff almost rarely, so other opponents need to tweak their poker strategy accordingly.

Loose-Passive Player (The Calling Station)

A loose-passive player is the most ideal opponent because they tend to play many hands with a greater degree of mistakes. Someone who plays with a loose-passive style will eventually lose money in the long run. If you are wondering how to identify a player like that, these players can be easily spotted in online poker games, especially if you are making use of the heads-up display. Such players will have the tendency to play with more than 50% of their hands. If you want to make profits, you will need to maximise the most of your available opportunities against a loose-passive player type.

While talking about the calling station, it is important to mention that they happen to be one type of a poker fish player.

What is a Poker Fish Player and How to Spot One?

A poker fish is a technical and often derogatory term to refer to an inexperienced or weak player. A poker fish on the poker table is mostly an inexperienced or recreational player always targeted by professional players when it comes to winning pots. There is a saying that goes, ‘’if you cannot spot a poker fish at the table, then you are the fish’’.

The best way to spot a poker fish at the poker table is to look for them at low-stake tables. Some other ways how to identify a poker player who is a poker fish are:

• The fundamental strategy that all professional poker players apply is to enter the pot by raising in place of calling the big blind. There can be a handful of instances where the limping poker tell rule comes across as the only option. So, if someone enters the pot with a call preflop signals that such a player is unaware of this strategy.
• Another big giveaway is that poker fishes have the tendency to play nearly 50% of their hands. So, a player with 60 or 70 ‘voluntary put in a pot’ (VPIP) is the fish you are looking for.
• A poker fish does not have the habit to raise often and stays overall very passive during the game.
• A poker fish player will end up making fundamental mistakes such as calling in place of folding and checking in place of betting. A fish will try to think of a big bet as a bluff. As a player, if you have a big hand, you should bet big and give the fish a sound reason to call and fall into the trap.
• Inexperienced players insist on going all in with respect to every hand when blinds are low.

Conclusion

The ability to identify types of poker players such as the poker fish will be very beneficial for you at the poker table. Fishes are inexperienced and weak players who lack basic knowledge of poker strategy  and their play is inconsistent. So, to improve your ability to spot a poker fish download first games poker app. The first games poker platform is very safe and verified where you can play as much as you want for free. You can keep on playing in an online mode until you have developed the skill to identify types of players such as the poker fish in every poker game. Once you feel you are ready, you can progress to real-live tournaments where you can bet big money.