Beginners' Poker - Choosing What Type of Poker to Play

Players with different personalities can choose what type of poker they'd like to play according to their personality traits.

Poker players can choose what type of poker game they wish to play based on their strengths and their weaknesses. There are many different types of poker games, which makes it quite likely that all personality types will find their niche in the poker world.

Aggressiveness

In poker, being aggressive is a good character trait in all games. Those who are passive will find it difficult to win consistently, while those playing an aggressive game can do so. Players who are particularly aggressive in their style of play will find that they should avoid full games, and rather concentrate on shorthanded or heads-up play. If a player makes a mistake in shorthanded play, it is usually best to make a mistake while playing aggressively. Those who have an extremely aggressive style of playing will find that online games suit them better than land-based games since they carry a large selection of heads-up and shorthanded games.

Patience and the Ability to Focus

Poker players that find their strengths in this area will be suited to play in full games. They will have the patience to play tight for as long as necessary, all the while continuing to focus on the game and not getting distracted. Although this is easier in online games because many more hands are played per hour than in land-based games, this focus will benefit the player wherever they decide to play. These players would do well in games such as ring games of Omaha eight-or-better.

Flexibility

Players who are able to be flexible in the way that they play will be able to keep their fellow poker players confused, since they will constantly be difficult to read. Having the ability to change gears in mid-play is a very valuable trait in shorthanded games, and is vitally important in heads-up play. Of course, this is mostly an important trait when playing with the same opponents for a decent length of time. In land-based games, other players will be somewhat distracted since they will constantly be trying to read where you are at, with much difficulty! It is important to make it as difficult for your opponents to read you as possible. If you are not a flexible poker player, and find it difficult to go back and forth, it is probably best for you to play poker ring games in online poker rooms. These games are played with a minimum amount of bluffing, although some partial bluffing is usually needed.

Combination of Skills

Those playing in live tournaments will do best with a combination of all the skills discussed above. Players who need to develop some of these skills should do so before playing in high-stake poker games. There are, of course, other poker personality types that can be taken into account when choosing what type of poker to play, but these will put you on the right track if you can be honest enough with yourself as to which personality trait best fits you at this time.