Starting hand selection styles
A loose player will play a lot of hands from all positions, paying to see the flop, and often playing right to the river with mediocre hands. This style of play is common at low limit and play money tables.

A tight player will increase their chances of drawing to win by selective starting hands, tight players will play fewer hands but try to capitalise on the hands they do play. This style of play is more common at the higher limit games when more logical thought is applied to the game.

Betting styles
Passive players will often call or check bets, passive players become very predictable because they very rarely lead out and bet or re-raise but when they do it usually means they are holding a very strong hand.

Aggressive players will tend to take control of a hand leading out with bets or re-raising, which is much harder style to predict.

The starting hand selection combined with betting styles then creates the four main styles of poker.

Loose-passive
A loose-passive player will play a lot of hands and tend to call bets right to the river with the smallest chance of winning.

Loose-aggressive
A loose-aggressive player will play a lot of hands and tend to lead out and bet, with mediocre hands this style of play can result in betting away your chips.

Tight-passive
A tight-passive player will play fewer hands often checking or calling a bet; tight-passive players become very predictable because they only lead out and bet when holding a good hand.

Tight-aggressive
A tight-aggressive player will play fewer hands and tend to lead out and bet, this style is hard to predict and considered the ideal playing style.

Putting the styles in to play, a tight player can often make a lot of money at looser tables, however if a table is playing extremely loose then it is possible you will lose to bad players getting lucky. If a table is overly loose then you should loosen up a little playing smaller pairs and suited cards, but be cautious if your hand does not improve be prepared to fold.

The opposite is true for playing a tight table, tight tables are often less profitable as fewer players come in to the pot, however a loose style of play can often pick up the blinds or take down a pot with a bet, but be cautious and be prepared to fold or stop betting if called or raised when playing on a tight table.