Recognizing online poker player types

One of the key skills most poker players, if not all, aspire to have is the ability to profile one’s opponents. Naturally, you don’t really need a Ph.D in Psychology to be able to accomplish such a goal – although it helps – but you do need to be especially intuitive to everything that goes on around you and that could potentially affect your poker game. There are signs to watch out for so you’d be able to recognize what type of poker player you’re facing against. While it takes months and even years for several poker players to memorize all such signs, we’ll give you a shortcut to possessing such skills by giving you tips about each and every type of poker player you may find yourself against in the future.

The Calling Station

Are you new to poker game? Do you find the game of poker quite confusing because of all the rules when it comes to posting small and big blinds, matching bets, raising the ante or folding? And let’s not go into killing pots either and how there comes to be a separate pot in some poker rounds. If all those things are still confusing you, then definitely you’re new to poker. And much more certainly, the old-timers of poker are already quite aware that you’re what you are – a calling station.

Surprised with the name you’re baptized with? Well no can do anymore about it because that’s what poker slang has given you and you might as well live with it. But if you’re not, here are signs to watch out for in order to know which poker players can be classified as calling stations: they’re inclined to play with low stacks because they’re uneasy about losing too much money, they usually pay just to see the flop and they call almost all bets, even if it’s against better judgment to do so.

The Mouse

For me, this is the type of poker player to watch out for, even more so than a maniac type of poker player. A mouse type of poker player never ever doubts the odds he’s facing. If he feels that his poker hand has no fighting chance on the table – even though to a less paranoid poker player, the opposite is true – he would ultimately decide to fold, no matter that he has already a lot at stake on that particular round.

The Maniac

The most aggressive type of player, the maniac never ever gives in if you try to bluff against him so my advice – don’t bluff against the maniac. Even if you win, he just never learns.

The Rounder

The expert player when it comes to poker. The thing is, it’s hard to go against a rounder and you’ll know why when you become one yourself.