Since you are banking how good your hand is versus the people that you are playing against it's important to know the player types. This is some good knowledge that you can store away after you identified the different types as you can see the cards they have and how they usually play. The professionals sit down and figure this out fairly quickly but any knowledge you can pick up in this area will improve your game a ton so lets go over the different types of players.

The Caller

This player is one of the worst types and is called the "fish". His style is very simple he does what his name implies he calls. The selection of hands that he plays is very poor and will usually call all the way to the end. Usually they play every hand in every circumstance they don't have the usual discipline of a good poker player. This is a player that you will make the most money from. When you play every hand its difficult to win in the end actually impossible if you play long enough because they currently have the odds working against them. They will have a night where they keep catching cards and getting lucky but they are few and far between. Its hard to figure what hand they usually have since they play them all but if you play your hand with good selection in the long run you will smoke them. When they do raise its predictable to see what they have after you have identified this type of player. If the raise before the preflop hey the usually have a good hand (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, etc.) Now if you see that they are raising quite a bit with about any hand that is dealt to them you may have found the next category of player.

Loose Aggressive

This player is like the calling station but just the complete opposite. This players likes to raise a lot and raise often. They also have poor hand selection and raise on hands that they should not for (like A5 offsuit, Q9s, etc). These players are very easy to spot as well. A person is not going to catch cards all day so if they raise 3 hands in a row chances are they are not all great hands. When you have a couple sitting down at the table the pots can get big quick so there are a couple pointers you want to stick to and be careful. When they raise you can bank on them not having AA all the time so you can win against them with hands that you normally would not. If they re raise you and you have a solid hand trying to isolate this player is not a bad strategy but an important point to remember if they continue to re raise it does not mean they are not going to catch a good hand every now and then. Some you will notice are Maniacs and they will go crazy before the flop then tighten up some. Last but not least don't let them intimidate you because they like to raise if you have a strong hand make them play you.

The Rock Solid:

This player is the one who is extremely discipline with his hand selection and only plays the top premium hands. He will fold quite a bit sometimes you wonder if he is going to play at all. When they come in they raise and this is not the best strategy either. Its important to have strong selection of course and you should do this too, but if you are at a table with 7 people and you have an AA you can still get beat. With being too conservative it can work against them. The other players at the more advanced levels will be able to read this type of player well and if they all know your style that is bad news for you. Try to stay of the Rock Solids way if you can because they do pick good hands to play. The problem is they don't play enough hands to get ahead of the game and get enough chips in their favor. You will see this type of player at the lower levels because they don't rise up very easily at all.

The Weak Tight:

This type of player is very knowledgeable about the game and has done his homework (like you are doing now). He has skills that he will bring to the table and win some hands and go home a winner from time to time. There is one exception to him and that is he is a little scared. You will notice this when someone moves up they slide into this category. These players sit down and with the loose aggressive types since you fear them and a lot of times the weak tight players get bullied around at the tables folding hands that would of won. You should not be relying on any particular system or book and remember that poker is all situational adapting to the different players. Its important to gain experience and let that shape you into a great player. These players will not try to bluff you at all and instead of playing his hand selection based on the table he is waiting for the good cards. If you are playing this type and something messes up your hand this might be a good time to bluff. These weak tight players are big believers they get bluffed easily if you are playing by general rules and playing like you just caught the card.

Tight Aggressive:

This is the goal that you should strive to become. These are the players at the top of the Texas Holdem food chain and usually sit with the large stacks at the final table. This player is the strong investor and the sniper of the poker world. He/she has the ability to adapt to different players and different situations on a dime. When they play they play with the utmost confident to back their bank roll and this makes them one tough opponent. To recognize this type of player is you will see a player who doesn't play many cards but when they do they dominate the table. The use their position at the table to get in on some weaker hands when the odds favor it. They don't hesitate to fold deep into a hand when they know they are beat (other players get trapped in). The best advice is to play your very good hands against them and hope to break even to be honest you will not run into many of these players they work their way up quick to the big tables. So at low limit tables you will not see this type much.