When talking about playing poker hand styles, we usually think on two dimensions: loose/tight and aggressive/passive. An overlooked but very important third dimension is reactive/proactive.
Reactive Poker
Reactive players absorb everything that happens at the table. When it’s their turn to act, they process all the information they’ve gathered and choose your best line of play accordingly.
Victory in poker goes to those with an edge in the information battle. Reactive players win this battle by reading their opponents’ betting patterns and tells really well while disguising their own betting patterns and giving off virtually no tells. Reactive players often seem like stone statues at the table.
Great reactive players know exactly how their opponents will respond to every conceivable line of play. Chris Ferguson would probably be the poster-child for reactive players.
Proactive Poker
Instead of being content with quietly taking everything in and reacting to their opponents’ proclivities, proactive players take charge by inducing their opponents to act how they want them to. Often times, this means being quite skilled at chatting it up, and indeed, proactive players are typically quite chatty. Table banter and exposing hole cards are the main tools used by proactive players.
Proactive players approach the information battle differently from their reactive counterparts. Proactive players don’t try to give information away, but they realize that they will inevitably give some information away. To the best proactive players, winning the information battle isn’t about giving no information away; instead, it’s about receiving more information than they give. The information differential is what’s ultimately important.
Great proactive players know the psychology of their opponents to the point that they can turn folds into calls and vice versa. Daniel Negreanu is probably the poster-child for reactive players.
The Right Style At The Right Table
Both reactive poker and proactive poker are about accumulating massive book on your opponents. When thinking in terms of loose/tight or aggressive/passive, there’s no right style – it’s all about choosing the right style for your table. Similarly, reactive poker will be your tool of choice in some games, and proactive poker will be your tool of choice in others. Master both mindsets, and you’ll be able to use both and play effectively against both.
