Poker Psychology & Tells – The Loose Passive Player

Introduction – the loose passive player (a.k.a. the calling station) plays for fun. He wants to pass the time, and his main goal is not winning. In a loose passive game there will be more showdowns and more pots will be won by marginal hands.

Recognize the calling station – he tends to check or call rather than bet or raise. He socializes with the other players and is pretty relaxed during the game. He looses a lot and consistently.

Playing Against a LPP – reading the LPP’s hand is quite difficult because he plays almost every hand. Reading his bet is pretty easy: when he bets, he usually has a very strong hand and when he raises he almost certainly has the nuts or very close to the nuts.

Adjusting your game to the LPP is very important –

1. Bet and raise against them more often with good hands.
2. When they bet, call only with a very good hand. When they raise, run.
3. Don’t bluff before and after the flop. They will call with almost nothing.
4. Try to bluff after the river only if you think the LPP didn’t hit his draw.
5. Don’t slow-play. The LPP will just check you right back.

Where to sit – there are advantages in sitting to the left or right of an LPP. If you sit to his left, you can raise and eliminate the competition and go for a heads up game against him or steal the button. If you sit to his right, you will not afraid of any raises that will make you pay more for a hand that you wouldn’t have paid two bets for. On the other hand, it’s very hard to steal his blind.

In conclusion, you should make the decision after analyzing the style of the other players at the table.

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