Tight
Playing a narrow range of strong starting hands. The opposite of "loose." Tight-aggressive (TAG) is a fundamental winning style.
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What Is Tight?
Tight play reduces variance and avoids marginal, low-equity situations by folding weaker holdings preflop. When paired with aggression, tight-aggressive (TAG) play is one of the most consistently profitable styles across cash games and tournaments, since it combines hand selection discipline with the fold equity generated by betting and raising.
Examples
A tight player folding suited connectors from early position that a looser player would open.
A TAG regular known for a low VPIP but a high aggression factor.
Strategy Tips
Adopt a tight-aggressive baseline strategy if you're newer to the game, since it minimizes costly mistakes while still applying pressure with strong hands. Loosen your range appropriately from later positions, where more hands become profitable due to fewer players left to act behind you. Avoid being too tight, known as 'nitty' play, since overly narrow ranges become easy for observant opponents to exploit by folding to your aggression. Balance your tight preflop selection with well-timed bluffs and semi-bluffs postflop to avoid becoming too predictable.