When I entered Bethlehem Central High School in Delmar, New York, my mother told me that the most useful class she took in her four years of school was typing. In addition to my normal load of Math, Science, English, Social Studies, and foreign language, I made sure to sign up for a business typing class as well. Sure enough, my Mom was correct. I’ve used my typing skills just about every single day since I finished that class.

The same can be said about playing No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em. Of all the skills a good no limit player must master, typing is, for me at least, the most useful.

What I mean by “typing” is putting a relatively simple label on your opponent – to help you simply understand a basic context into which to put his play – and in so doing allow you to design plays against him that are likely to succeed. Here’s an example.

You’re in late position with a pair of 10s. A player in mid-position raised to three times the big blind. Everyone folded to you. What do you do?

Absent any knowledge of the type of player he is, you would be hard pressed to know how to respond. But if you knew, for example, that he was an ultra-aggressive or wild type of player, then you might be inclined to re-raise him. These wild players raise with a wide assortment of hands but then fold if they are met with resistance. So firing back is often the best counter-strategy to use against them if they raise in front of you. But if you typed him as a rock, who rarely raised without huge cards, then you could safely fold – knowing that he most probably raised with a Premium Pair – and had you strongly dominated.

Typing shouldn’t be very complicated. Don’t worry about the finer points at first. Think of yourself in the role of the historic plane spotters of World War II. They were trained to spot enemy planes if they crossed into Allied Territory. They weren’t given detailed pictures of the planes to memorize – no courses in the unique designs of the planes. Quite the contrary. They were drilled to quickly recognize just the simple silhouette of the plane as it passed overhead. It was the broad outline of the plane that was important. Details were thought to be distracting.

When you’re typing opponents in poker you just want to identify the most basic category of play.

Specifically, I suggest you type each player with one of five labels: timid, wild, rock, solid, clueless. I’ll go into more detail in later columns about how to exploit players each type of player. But for now, just learn these simple definitions.

TIMID: a player who lacks aggression, folds under pressure unless he really has a powerhouse hand, raises by a small amount when he raises, often calls when he should raise, and who is reluctant to slowplay a monster, afraid that opponents may overtake him before the hand is done.

WILD: a hyper-aggressive player who makes strong raises with all sorts of hands. Wild players often bet on the come, raise to limit the field, semi-bluff, or raise in late position with any two cards if no one has raised in front. Their aggression is not thoughtless though it is often extreme. They are not clueless, but their action does not necessarily indicate the true strength of their hand.

ROCK: a player who folds the vast majority of the time, rarely if ever raises without a super-strong hand, and who takes few risks even if they are called for because of the large pot or implied odds. Rocks rarely mix up their play or get out of line.

SOLID: a good player who raises for value, calls with draws, mixes up his play with semi-bluffs and positional raises from time to time, and generally plays well. Their raises should be respected; and they’re tough to bully out of a pot.

CLUELESS: a player, generally very new to the game, who really doesn’t understand when to call, fold or raise – nor by how much to raise; and whose actions cannot be relied on to indicate what he or she may actually be holding. Clueless players are much less likely to initiate action, but they often call, inexplicably, with many, many hands.

There are many finer points you might observe about the play of your opponents of course. Each player has additional traits that serve as windows into their hand that you can use to exploit their play. Some players, who are super-tight before the flop, can’t get away from a hand once the flop hits. Other players, immune to pressure pre-flop – calling just about any raise you throw in – toss nearly everything on the flop unless they hit it big. Still others, whom you might think of as wild, are only hyper-aggressive when they have suited connectors. They play small pairs timidly or not at all. There are as many subtle variations of play as there are players.

But when you are playing in a casino or for any other reason playing largely against people whom you seldom play against, it is much more important to remember what the general type of player they are. Work on typing them generally and then remembering that general category when you’re against them in a hand. Down that road is where your advantage lies.

As you play against people more frequently, however, you can add to your observations, by refining further the type of player you’re against. But don’t let these refinements distract you at first or you will become confused with too much information.

The key to typing, my high school teacher instructed me, was to master the simple strokes first – so that they became automatic. The same is true with typing in poker.

Ashley Adams has been playing poker since 1961 when he learned it literally at his grandfather's knee. He started playing seriously in 1993 when Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut opened their poker room. He can usually be found there at the $20/40 stud or the $2/5 no limit hold 'em table.

Ashley also runs charity poker tournaments, teaches poker privately and at the Boston Center for Adult Education, is a frequent guest on radio and television programs (having appeared on WBZ-AM, WHDH Channel 7 TV, WGBH-TV, NECN-TV), and has a regular radio show that can be heard 24/7 on www.houseofcardsradio.com.