Confessions of a Nit

A few years ago I started hearing the word "nit" applied to a particular type of player- one who is extremely tight and cautious (I like the word "cautious" but you could also use the word "passive"). Being called a nit is kind of an insult. A lot of players equate a nit to a chicken-shit - a player who is simply afraid to take chances. Some dislike nits because it is so difficult to win big pots off them. Some players like to insult the nits in hopes it will make them play more recklessly.

The truth (and of course I'm generalizing) is that playing like a nit is profitable at low-stakes games. Why is that? I think it's because at $1/$2 NLHE, players generally make bigger bets in relation to the blind. It is not uncommon, in my experience, to see guys make $20 pre-flop bets. $20 doesn't seem like a lot of money, but when you view it as a bet that is 10 times the big blind, it is quite a lot. In a $10/$20 game, you would very rarely see a $200 pre-flop bet. Because the blinds are low at the $1/$2 level, lots of players are very loose with their starting hand requirements and want to see a lot of flops. By playing fewer hands, the nit has the advantage of usually holding the better starting hand, and only winning a few pots can be profitable because they are generally large compared to the blinds.

The big disadvantage to being a nit is that your opponents will quickly target you as a guy who can be pushed off hands. You can turn this to your advantage, however. The prejudice against the nit is that they have neither courage nor imagination - therefore when you do bet you will be given credit for having a legitimate hand. You can steal pots. as long as you don't do it so frequently as to endanger your nit status. If you have established yourself as a nit, when a bully tries to bluff you, you can bluff him back, and because at the low stakes these pots are usually several times the big blind, you only have to scoop a few to have a winning session. Let yourself be pushed off a lot of pots; you only have to scoop one here and there to stay in the positive. Don't get greedy.

Playing tight for the first couple of hours at the poker table has two advantages. 1) You develop a nit image which you can turn to your favour later on. 2) You can focus on trying to identify which of your opponents are the most likely to try to take advantage of you; these are not necessarily the most aggressive players, but the ones you think have pegged you for a nit. These are the ones you have to try to isolate and attack later on.

If this style of play appeals to you, you can do certain things to develop a nit image. When you are the only person at the table not to enter a "family pot", especially when you are in late position, it is so obvious that you are tight that even the dullest opponent will take note. Once I refused to enter an unraised family pot when I was in the small blind. This fold is so rare, particularly at the low-limit games, that the dealer remarked, "Everyone's in...except for one incredible tight-ass." I got away with murder for hours after that!

Remember, often what your opponent thinks you are holding is much more important than what you are actually holding.