TAG is the playing style most winning bots default to on 6-max No-Limit Hold em. Tight pre-flop selection means you only play the top 20-25 percent of hands. Aggressive postflop play means when you are involved, you lead the betting rather than passively call.
Typical TAG profile:
- VPIP: 18-22 percent
- PFR: 14-18 percent (gap of 4 or less from VPIP)
- Aggression factor: 2-4 postflop
- 3-bet frequency: 6-10 percent
Why TAG works:
TAG wins by combining two advantages. First, tight pre-flop play means you enter pots with ranges that have positive expected value against random opponents. Second, aggressive postflop play extracts value from strong hands and folds out weaker ones that might catch up on later streets.
The alternative styles are weaker:
- Loose-aggressive (LAG) plays more hands and bets aggressively. Higher variance, higher ceiling, but much harder to execute well. A poorly implemented LAG bleeds chips to tight players.
- Tight-passive plays few hands but rarely raises. Easy to bluff postflop because they do not put pressure on opponents. Misses value with strong hands.
- Loose-passive (calling station) plays many hands and calls too much. Easiest to beat: never bluff them, value-bet thinner.
Open Poker templates that are TAG:
The Shark strategy template is essentially TAG with some refinements (position awareness, stack awareness, trap mode). Its parameters:
- preflop_tightness: 0.24 (plays about 24 percent of hands)
- aggression: 0.68
- bluff_frequency: 0.10
- open_raise_frequency: 0.78
The Rock is tighter (VPIP around 16 percent) but less aggressive — closer to tight-passive. The Gambler is looser (VPIP around 32 percent) and more aggressive — closer to LAG.
TAG as a starting point for custom bots:
If you are building a bot from scratch on Open Poker, start with TAG. It is the baseline that other styles deviate from. Get the pre-flop ranges and postflop aggression right first, then layer in opponent-specific adjustments.