Poker is a game of adaptation, and understanding your opponents is key to gaining an edge. Legendary high-stakes pro Fedor Holz has broken down six common player types and how to exploit their weaknesses effectively.
1 – Against NIT Players
The NIT Players play very tightly; they open too tight, three-bet too tight, and play very passively post-flop. They mostly put chips in the middle with strong hands. To defeat them, you need to play a lot of small pots. NIT Players mostly lose money when they don’t defend enough and don’t play enough pots with medium strength hands.
So your plan should be to play as many small pots against them, especially from the late position. Furthermore, remember to fold out your hand when they play back. Because they won’t check-raise or bet big with marginal and weak hands, overfold your cards when they become aggressive.
2 – Against Calling Stations
Calling stations are very similar to NIT, but are very weak compared to them. These types of players are best known for tilting their opponents with weak hands, and somehow making a good hand by the end of the river with the most shitty hand. Calling stations play too many pots, they love to see the flop, love to call 4-bet with Seven-Deuce.
To win against them, you need to have value hands. You may need to bet hands that you may not want to do against other players; they will call you with the third pair or second pair. Which is why you should bet your top pair, extracting value from them. You need to play a lot of value hands against them rather than marginal and weaker hands.
3 – Against Solid Regular
Solid regulars try to avoid mistakes and play well whenever possible. These players rarely make glaring errors but often struggle with balanced aggression, particularly in spots requiring bluffs. According to Holz, their triple-barrels are heavily weighted toward value. To exploit this, you should make disciplined folds with marginal hands—a profitable adjustment—while also taking advantage of their mistakes to check-raise as a bluff by overbetting in the right spots.
Additionally, since their line construction follows conventional patterns, players should introduce well-timed aggression, forcing solid regulars into uncomfortable, under-bluffed situations where they fold too often.
4 – Against Loose Aggressive Players
Beating loose-aggressive players requires discipline, patience, and a strategy free from ego-driven decisions. These players thrive on constant aggression, believing that winning more pots leads to long-term success, which makes them unpredictable and difficult to play against. The key is to let them overextend themselves—since they regularly go beyond optimal ranges, they will create their own mistakes over time.
Rather than engaging in unnecessary ego battles, focus on identifying where they deviate most from solid play. A well-structured approach involves extending your draw range to capitalize on their aggression and using slow plays against those who bluff too often. Against the more straightforward loose-aggressive opponents who attack every perceived weakness, provocative bets can also work to lure them into costly mistakes.
5 – Against Maniacs
Maniacs are the craziest opponents you can face at the table. These players are relentless in their aggression and won’t leave any opportunity to show aggression. To beat them, you need to trap them with strong hands and play passively if possible. Instead of betting aggressively when you have a monster hand, check or make small bets to show that you may have a weaker hand.
Against maniacs, you are destined to win huge pots when you hold your value hands, which more than compensates for the extra folds you make pre-flop and post-flop. You need to tighten your pre-flop raisefold and 3-bet-fold ranges while removing the weakest hands from your post-flop calling range.
6 – Top Reg aka Against the Best
Top Regulars players are well-balanced, highly adaptable, and always improving. There are very few of them, however they are known for the ability to adjust their strategies whenever they need. Holz gives an example of Timothy Adams, who maintains a near-flawless game while effectively countering different styles.
As per Holz, there’s no easy formula for beating top regs. The best approach you can follow is to play as close to GTO as possible, minimize mistakes, and stay disciplined. Ego-driven attempts to outplay them will almost backfire. Instead, focus on observing their showdown hands, studying their adjustments, and learning from them.
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