Allow me to give you a little story...

A friend of mine is the most conservative poker player. One night he was sitting next to a fellow who picked up his cards whereby my friend could clearly see what cards he was holding.

After a while, my friend quietly said, "Sir, when you pick up your cards I can see what you are holding." The fellow turned to my friend and said, "What do I care? You never play a hand anyway."

There are certain adjectives that refer to the playing style of most poker players, such as, "loose" and "tight", "passive", and "aggressive". "Loose" versus "tight" refers to a player's starting hand requirements.

My friend is tight because he plays fewer starting hands.

Poker players are also labeled as either "passive" or "aggressive". Passive players seldom raise, and favor a check or call approach. That said, I would categorize my friend's play as "tight-passive" and note that he's probably the most readable player at any poker table.

A tight-passive (or, in gamblingo, "a rock") plays few hands, and those very carefully. If a tight-passive player all of a sudden starts raising, it is likely that he's got the "nuts" (the best possible hand on the board).

The plus side of my friend's play is that he won't lose much money, but the down side is that he won't win much either.

Tight-passives like my friend are very predictable and consistent.