Sports & Gaming
Player Profiling
Lesson time 14:16 min
Daniel profiles the different types of players you’ll encounter at the tables, the quickest ways to identify them, and how to adjust your strategy to beat each type of player.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: Pay Attention • Pay Attention Even When You’re Not in the Hand • Create a Road Map of the Players You’re Up Against • There Are Endless Categories • Player Types Change Based on the Stakes • Player Tendencies Change Based on Their Opponents • Spotting Beginners • Take Note When Passive Players Show Strength • Allow Aggressive Players to Trap Themselves
Teaches Poker
Join Daniel at the poker table. Learn his strategies to advance your cash, tournament, and online play.
Sign UpPreview
So when I'm trying to profile a player, obviously, I'm watching the action. Most importantly, I'm watching, OK, how often are they playing? Are they raising? Are they playing aggressively? But in addition to that, I'm trying to profile them sort of away from the table. And the personality traits I think that best do that is simply how talkative and engaging they are, right? Typically, a player who is more chatty and whatnot is going to be a little more loosey-goosey, probably gets-- has tilt issues maybe, because they get bored in certain situations, and they-- they're there to have some fun and action. Personality types that are typically more quiet, I would expect to be maybe a little bit more on the conservative side. Now, these are not steadfast rules. These are general stereotypes. And you should first and foremost focus on the cards you're turning over. But what someone does for a living, if they're professional poker player, it's quite obvious that they're going to be relatively tight and aggressive for the most part. But otherwise, age, other mannerisms that they may have-- there's a whole bevy of things you can look at outside of just simply the way that players play their cards that'll give you information in terms of who they likely are in terms of how they're going to play in big stressful situations. The best way to exploit your opponents, first and foremost, pay attention. Not only pay attention to the hands they turn over. But if it's a player you've never played with before that just sat down, pay attention to his mannerisms. Pay attention to what he's wearing. Pay attention to how well-kept he is. You'll find little tells and little nuggets that will tell you a little bit about how this person thinks about life and how they're going to approach poker. So imagine, you know, you have a guy. He's got yellow fingernails. He smokes a ton. He's sweaty. His hair is unkempt. It's growing out of the back of his neck, right? And you look at this guy, and he's coming in, and he's limping into the first pot. Self-discipline may be a struggle for this guy, organizational skills. So he's more likely to be, like, a looser player. Conversely, maybe you take a person who comes in wearing a pressed shirt, you know, with a pocket pen in here, and perfectly kept hair. Now, this player more likely to be on the conservative side and careful. So all these little things are not always or nevers, right? But they can help you to make decisions better. And ultimately, what's really going to help you is when you start to see what hands they're turning over, and the ways in which they're playing their hands. And are they aggressive, are they weak? And that first 20 to 30 minutes you play with somebody new, super important to focus on them and try to get an understanding of who you're dealing with. While it's obviously important to really pay attention when you're playing a hand and you're on the flop, turn, and river, it's equall...
About the Instructor
Put yourself across the felt from Daniel Negreanu, the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time. The six-time World Series of Poker champion teaches poker strategy, advanced theory, and practice through hand-reviews of his winning games. Learn how to sharpen your mental game through demos on reading opponents and spotting tells. Join Daniel at the table to increase your win rate, grow your ROI, and get your game “in the money.”
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Daniel Negreanu
Join Daniel at the poker table. Learn his strategies to advance your cash, tournament, and online play.
Explore the Class