1. Playing to have fun;
2. Playing to pass time;
3. Playing to satisfy the ego;
4. Playing for combat;
5. Playing for the thrill;
6. Playing to win;
7. Playing not to lose;
8. Playing to lose.

5.  Playing for the thrill

These people are your action junkies who play because they love the gamble of it.  Sure,  they love to win.  Everyone does.  But in the words of that famous gambler and poker player Nick the Greek,  “The next best thing to betting and winning is betting and losing!”  This is their motto.

These guys will often bet or raise not because they think they have the best hand but because they want to have more money riding on the outcome of the hand.  They have also learned that being aggressive,  especially early on,  will increase their chances of winning the hand  --  tending to push out players with weak hands and with less temerity.  But you must keep in mind with these players that their raise doesn’t necessarily indicate the true strength of their hand,  coming as it does from a desire to gamble.  You must take countermeasures  --  lowering your standards for

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When playing against a poker player who is motivated by the gamble,  you need to gamble it up too.  You do this for two reasons.  First of all,  since they are playing many hands,  you can play many hands against them  --  including those mediocre hands that you would otherwise throw away against better players.  Here,  your mediocre hands may well be better than the trash these guys are raising with.  All you need to be is better than they are to have a positive expectation.  So don’t be chased away with their strong betting,  as it doesn’t necessarily represent the true strength of their hand.

You want to be gamble it up with them for another reason.  You want to play heads up against these guys and isolate them from the other players.  You do this with aggression  --  raising their bets and re-raising their raises.  This will discourage opponents who might have wanted to play against this gambler themselves.  Your aggression will usually convince other players to fold,  leaving you one-on-one against the gambler  --  which is what you want.

6.  Playing to Win

Those who are motivated by winning are usually your toughest opponents.  And it’s the motivation that you want to embrace.  You are looking first and foremost at the bottom line,  considering the odds,  the opponents,  and the size of the pot.  It isn’t about winning the most hands but winning the most money in the long run.

Just saying that you’re playing to win isn’t the same as actually doing so.  It’s easy to fall victim to many of the other motivations listed here.  To really play to win you must learn to detach your emotional engagement from the moment of decision-making  --  so the powerful forces of ego,  survival,  fear,  and anger don’t overpower your rational decision-making skills.

Opponents who play to win may sometimes be exploited by

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7.  Playing not to lose

Superficially,  this seems a lot like the above  --  playing to win.  But I assure you that it is very,  very different.

Playing not to lose is a motivation rooted in fear.  It is something shared by many serious but inexperienced poker players new to the higher stakes and greater speed of casino play.  They want to win,  to be sure,  but they are terrified of losing and sabotage their best game accordingly.

A player who is afraid to lose will play strong hands strongly but often concede too soon with hands that aren’t the nuts.  They assume that their opponents’ aggression indicates great power,  even if it doesn’t.  They are often afraid to tangle it up when they are less than a prohibitive favorite,  and they back down from a fight rather than risk losing at showdown.

These players don’t properly apply the concept of pot odds to their decisions to fold.  They tend to be rigid in their thinking about playable hands,  folding hands that might not be listed in the top category of hands,  even if everyone in front of them has already called.

Here are a few examples of how this type of motivation torpedoes otherwise good play.

There is a 10-handed $1/$2 blind no limit holdem game.  The fearful player is in the small blind.  Eight players call the $2 big blind.  Our hero looks down,  careful as he was not to demonstrate the strength of his hand by looking at his cards too soon,  and sees the Kc2c.  He folds, knowing that K-2 suited is a weak hand.  He should have called for the extra dollar,  given the fact that so many people were in the hand.  But he doesn’t think about that nor the huge implied odds in a no limit game.  He thinks about avoiding conflict with a sub-par hand.  This is a mistake that will cost him money in the long run  --  even while sparing him a likely loss in this particular hand.

Eight guys are playing $20/$40 7-Card Stud with a $3 ante and a $5 bring-in.  A 3c brings it in for $5.  Two guys fold.  Our fearful guy has a pair of Kings and raises to $20.  The guy after him,  an experienced player with a lot of moves,  raises to $40.  A third guy known to play just about every hand until Fifth Street calls the $40.  The Kings folds,  fearing a pair of Aces.  He shouldn’t have folded.  The chances that the guy with the Ace was just raising to limit the field to a heads-up contest,   perhaps with a pocket pair,  are good enough that a call or even a raise was called for  --  especially with the third player tagging along for the ride.  But the fearful player,  who doesn’t want to lose,  would rather concede than risk being second best.

In a limit $10/$20 holdem game our friend raised in early position with a pair of Queens.  The big blind,  a veteran at the table with a huge stack,  calls.  Everyone else folds.  The flop is 79J rainbow.  Our friend bets $10.  His opponent calls.  The Turn is a 6.  Our friend nervously bets $20.  His opponent calls.  The River is an unsuited King.  Our guy checks.  His opponent bets.  Our guy folds,  saying,  “I have to give you at least Kings;  maybe even a straight.”  He was getting $105 for his $20 call  --  odds of better than 5:1.  There’s surely more than a 20% chance that his opponent was bluffing against this mouse,  making the call essential to winning play.

These are all terrible plays.  While it’s certainly true that the hand our hero had might have been beaten,  the size of the pot and the other circumstances warranted at least a call if not a raise.  But players who are afraid to lose don’t consider the other factors.  They crumble at the possibility that they might lose the hand itself.  And they give up a huge amount in the process.  This is known, generally, as being weak/tight.  It’s something you want to look for and encourage in your opponents.

The proper play against players like this is obvious.  Be aggressive and then more aggressive.  In those rare instances where you are met with more aggression,  assume that they are truly loaded and back down.  But most of the time,  against players who are playing not to lose,  face them with the prospect that they will lose and watch them fold.

If you notice this in your own play then consider dropping down in stakes.  Perhaps you’re playing over your head and are therefore afraid of the financial consequences.

8.  Playing to Lose

It’s sad and maybe even pathological,  but some poker players play to lose.  They are gamblers to be sure.  And they may even be halfway decent poker players.  But their motivation is all negative.  They want to lose.

Their mission at the table is to fulfill their prophecy that they will lose.  You hear their fatalistic pronouncements,  made with a slight smile,  pleased as they are with their ability to accurately forecast their own doom...  “I just cannot catch a break  --  watch this," they say as they anticipate another losing hand.  And it actually makes them feel fulfilled,  in some perverse way,  to be proven right about how they will eventually get busted out.

Why are they so eager to lose?  I have no idea.  Maybe they are masochists who take some perverse pleasure in the pain of losing.  Maybe they’re seeking to punish themselves for some real or imagined sin or shortcoming.  Maybe they have substance abuse problems and can’t help themselves in their downward spiral of self-destructive behavior.  It doesn’t matter.  Just know that this motivates them and respond accordingly.

Sometimes this is something that temporarily affects otherwise good players who have had a very long losing streak.  Sometimes it goes away when the bad streak subsides.  But other times it is a permanent condition  --  linked often with drug or alcohol abuse or depression. ( Know too that if you are gripped by this perverse desire during a playing session that you will lose.  If you notice it in yourself get up and leave immediately.)

Do not try to bluff out these players.  They are there for the duration.  They want to see their pair crushed,  their flush draw not come in.  Be mechanical.  Be ruthless.  No need to trick them into calling or folding.  They will play out their hand,  for better or for worse.  Pound them with your quality hands and draw cheaply if you can with your drawing hands.  They will call until they are broke  --  and then borrow some money and play until they are less than broke.  They want to lose.  Help them.

There is one alternative that you might consider.  Since this behavior may cross over the line into an illness,  you might take pity on some of these poor souls.  You might decide that you really cannot in good conscience take their money, seeing as they can’t help themselves from giving it away.  But don’t soft-play them;  don’t lose to them intentionally.  You’re just using them as a conduit for your money to pass to other players.  Rather,  if your moral code prohibits you from exploiting the helpless,  just refuse to play if they are playing.  Don’t invite them to your games and leave if they sit at your table.

After all,  sleeping well at night will help you play your best game in the future.

Summary