Player Types You'll Encounter in Your Home Game.

As an avid poker player, you’re probably not a stranger from throwing together a nice home game where you play your friends for bragging rights or even for money. There are all types of players you’ll encounter at these home games, some of them easier to beat than the others, but all of them beatable nonetheless. It is seldom that a reasonably good poker player (who is not a loser online) will encounter any sort of real challenges in such games. Here’s a run-down of the most common player types you’ll encounter in these amateur games, just to make your task of breaking your opponents down even easier.

The first type of player you’ll definitely meet at your home game table is the absolute beginner. This guy may have heard of poker, and he/she may even have seen it in movies, but that’s about as much as he/she knows about it. You need to teach the rules to these players before the action gets underway, otherwise they won’t be able to play at all. The problem with beating such players is in their utter ignorance towards the game. I have heard the game of poker likened to a language. Those who speak it, can argue with one another, but the guy who doesn’t, doesn’t really have a place in the argument. He will not understand that you’re putting pressure on him, he will not yield to a bluff, and he will definitely not shy away from calling your raise on a couple of rags.

How do you beat such a root-level beginner? You can’t. You can try, but given the fact that this guy couldn’t probably even predict himself, you won’t stand much of a chance to secure an edge over him. Let the other players struggle with him and focus on taking chips from the others, while avoiding the newbie.

Regular beginners are probably the easiest to handle. These guys know the fundamentals, but they’re all stuck on the first level of poker thought. That means they’re unable to consider anything other than the two cards they hold in their hands. These guys are easy pickings because – unlike the utter beginners who don’t even know the rules – they’re extremely predictable. Such a player will only put money into the pot when he/she has a strong hand and will fold the rest of the way. These guys are also the ones who are well capable of tossing a huge percentage of their stack into the pot, only to fold in the end with only a few chips remaining.

The way to beat them is through aggressive play. Since they’re practically begging to be dominated, don’t let them take a healthy breath: keep them under constant pressure. Whenever they make a stand, let them take the blinds.

The intermediate player is the third and final type of home game player (you almost certainly won’t find any pro level players here). This guy plays on the second level of poker thought, considering his starting hand and the board texture. Most home game players will end up stuck on this level of thought forever, and almost all beginners shall sooner or later progress here, so this type of player is by far the most numerous of all.

Aggression is the key to beating intermediate level players too. You want to have control of the pot against these guys, and therefore, you need to be the aggressor. If strength is shown, don’t shy away from folding. Keep them under constant pressure and make sure your non showdown win ratio stays high.

While live games such as home games offer no promotions such as rakeback, once you take your game online you should definitely sign up for such a rakeback deal. Several online poker rooms offer excellent rake back percentages (that is higher than the industry-standard 30%) and there are even poker prop deals offered, which basically pay you to play.

Remember, playing against your friends doesn’t have to be live only. Several online poker rooms offer private tables, where you can play your friends for real money while signed up for rakeback.