Quote:
Originally Posted by poisonpaws
what is a nit?
I think this is an interesting question.
Poker books talk about "weak tight" players but I don't think that's exactly it. I haven't really seen something in the books that corresponds exactly to the way "nit" is used in this forum, although "rock" comes close. 2plus2 tends to use the term "nit" disparagingly but in part I suspect it's because you can't squeeze any money out of these people.
We tend to judge players across two dimensions:
1. How tight they are, or in other words, what percentage of hands they play pre-flop.
2 How aggressive they are, which I think refers primarily to the extent to which you take the initiative in the hand. If you are the one betting and raising, even if your hand isn't all that good, you are aggressive. If you are the one checking and calling, or checking and folding even if your hand wasn't that bad, you are passive.
Note that you don't have to play a lot of hands to be aggressive. You may only play one hand an hour, but if you make a big fat pain in the ass out of yourself when you play that hand, then you are "tight" and "aggressive."
The average poker player is loose and passive. They limp into a lot of pots, and if they don't like the flop, they typically check/fold.
Nits are tight and passive, but they don't tend to run away very easily. They are actually pretty stubborn. They only play quality hands and if they call you are in trouble, and if they raise you are in huge trouble. They only fold if they don't have a hand, so you can't really chase them off anything.
My theory is that nits are aggressive, but they tend to express this aggression in indirect ways, for example by flopping the nut flush, and then checking/calling until the river, where they finally check/raise you the minimum amount, and then tell you to go **** yourself (on the inside).
Playing this way is profitable. The little old people who come to the casino every day, the little old regulars, they tend to play like nits because they don't have money to waste on bad poker and to them, even a little bit of money is cool. Most of the people on this forum would put a bullet in their head before they would play this way because it is excruciatingly boring.
Little old ladies can be weak tight. You might be able to blow them off a hand with a big bet. Little old men are nits. You won't be able to get them off a hand for nothing, if the hand has value.
Your goal is to be tight and aggressive. You don't play many hands, and when you get one, you look at it this way. Your hand is a stick. Your job is to take that stick, and start beating your opponent. You keep hitting your opponent with that stick until he either runs away, or stands up to you. If he stands up to you, its OK to look down, and wonder if you need a bigger stick. If you do, maybe YOU should run away. But if you look down and see a really big stick, like a big baseball bat with old rusty nails sticking out of it, well then you know what to do. Hit him again, only harder this time.
The nit is playing defense. He's not fighting back, he's just standing there taking it. That should make you nervous. Real nervous, in fact.