'Tight' Play or Player (Poker)

A tight poker player is a player who's style of poker doesn't get involved in a lot of marginal hands. They tend no to show much sustained aggression instead waiting for premium hands. This is a trait often found in new players who are happy to sit about for hours without playing a hand in wait for one of the top starting hands.

Players who are tight will either be tight aggressive (referred to as a TAG) or tight passive player - often referred to as a Rock. Tight-aggressive players are tight until they see what they like and then they're aggressive. You know these players probably have it when you see them come out firing. Tight-passive players don't really show any aggression, even when they have a monster hand.

Is it Good to play Tight?

Play tight all the time isn't good. You need to mix things up. If you're tight all the time, you'll become very predictable in terms of the hands that you play. This makes it fairly easy to work out whether you've hit when the board is dealt. In only playing premium hands and will find it difficult to extract money from your opponents when you play a hand. Tight players often fail to change gears and this is key to keeping your opponents guessing. Changing gears will catch your opponents off guard and keep them guessing..

In terms of profitability, tight players don't risk as much - and so there's less to win. They are very patient and do not play many hands and when they do generally won't commit too much unless they have a very strong hand. The tight player will be folding too many hands, chasing less and won't be protecting their blinds very often. This makes them an easy target.

That said, there is nothing wrong with tight play at times. Getting involved in every hand is not a recipe for success. Change gears and exploit table position, chip stacks and the weaknesses of your opposition.