Villain guides

The Five Villains of Low-Stakes Poker

Low-stakes poker is not one game. It is five games, one per player type across the table. Every exploit that prints money against a calling station loses money against a nit. These guides teach you to spot each type in minutes and adjust before the rake eats your edge.

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Same hand. Same board. Five different answers.

These are real spots from inside Poker Ascent, with the correct play for each opponent type. The numbers are not estimates. They are counted from the app's own graded answers across 13,875 drilled hands in a live $1/$2 game. Where a row reads the same across all five columns, the opponent genuinely does not matter in that spot, and we say so.

The spot	vs a nit	vs a TAG	vs a calling station	vs a LAG	vs a maniac	Drills
A flush draw on the flop, facing a bet	Fold	Call	Call	Call	Call	1,145
Top pair top kicker on the flop, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	921
An overpair on the river, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	671
An overpair on the flop, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	617
Top pair top kicker on the turn, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	616
An overpair on the turn, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	610
Top pair top kicker on the river, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	Bet half pot	Bet pot	523
Top pair top kicker on the flop, facing a bet	Call	Raise	Raise	Raise	Raise	450
Top pair top kicker on the turn, facing a bet	Call	Raise	Raise	Raise	Raise	445
An overpair on the flop, facing a bet	Call	Raise	Raise	Raise	Raise	420
An overpair on the turn, facing a bet	Call	Raise	Raise	Raise	Raise	375
A backdoor flush draw on the river, action on you	Bet half pot	Bet half pot	Check	Check	Check	308

Two patterns run through it. The nit is the opponent you stop raising and start calling, because a tight player who keeps betting usually has it. The calling station and the maniac are the two you size up against, for opposite reasons: one cannot fold and the other will not. Learning those two habits is worth more than memorising a chart.

Before the flop, the same hand has up to four different answers.

The table above is postflop. This one is the decision you make most often, and it splits wider. These are real hands from inside Poker Ascent with the correct play against each opponent type, counted from the app's own graded answers across 2,501 drilled preflop spots in a live $1/$2 game.

Hand	vs a nit	vs a TAG	vs a calling station	vs a LAG	vs a maniac	Drills
A5s	Fold	3-bet standard	Call	3-bet large	Call	90
TT	Call	3-bet standard	3-bet large	3-bet large	3-bet standard	142
JJ	Call	3-bet standard	3-bet large	3-bet large	3-bet standard	137
KQs	Call	3-bet standard	3-bet large	3-bet large	3-bet standard	135
AQs	Call	3-bet standard	3-bet large	3-bet large	3-bet standard	57
AJs	3-bet standard	3-bet standard	3-bet large	3-bet large	3-bet standard	103
AQo	3-bet standard	3-bet standard	Raise	3-bet large	3-bet standard	55
AJo	Raise	Call	Raise	Call	Raise	60
99	Call	Call	Call	Call	Call	185
88	Call	Call	Call	Call	Call	130
77	Call	Call	Call	Call	Call	122
T9s	Call	Call	Call	Call	Call	50

A5s is the whole idea in one line. Fold it against a nit, three-bet it big against a LAG, and just call against a station or a maniac. One hand, four different correct answers, decided entirely by who is across the table.

The bottom four rows matter just as much. Against 99, 88, 77 and T9s the opponent does not change your play at all, and pretending otherwise would be the easiest way to lose your money. Knowing which decisions are opponent dependent is most of the skill.

Which opponents play alike depends on the street

Before the flop, a TAG and a maniac take the same line, while a LAG and a calling station take another. After the flop it regroups: the TAG now plays like the LAG, and the station plays like the maniac. So 'these two opponents are the same' is only ever true on one street at a time, which is why a single label for a player is not enough to play back at them.