There are mainly three factors that play into successfully reading opponents.

1. Their bet. The least reliable of the methods, it’s the first indication they give of what they could be holding. For instance, if they bet the flop, at face value, they are saying they hit the flop. However, as poker is a game of deception, this could be true or not true. You have to figure out that based on other information.

2. Observation of previous hands. People, especially at the lower stakes, tend to fall into betting patterns. If you’ve been watching the player for a little while, you can start to pick up possible patterns. For instance, on the flop does the player always bet top pair but check/call middle pair or lower? Do they check or bet flush draws? What happens when they hit a big hand? Do they slow play it or push as much money into the center as they can, as fast as they can? These are observations that you pick up that will help you determine where you are in the hand against them and will help guide your actions.

Let me just say, this is the biggest mistake that I think beginning players make. Often times, I’ll see beginning players disinterested in the hand or only watching the cards, if they aren’t involved in the pot. If you’re not observing all the hands and the players, even hands that you’re not involved in, from the time you sit down at the poker table until the time you leave, you’re throwing money away (and I’d love to invite you to join any table I’m at).

3. Tells. What is a tell? A tell is a detectable change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player’s assessment of his hand. What did they do last time they had a flush draw? How did they bet? Did they aggressively throw their money in the middle or nervously put it in? Everything they do at the poker table is information you can use in future situations to figure out how to read them when you’re up against them.

At the higher levels of play, you won’t be able to depend on this, but at small stakes, tells are nearly ALWAYS reliable and sometimes painfully obvious. Of course, observation of previous hands will give you more accurate gauge of how reliable a tell is. For instance, you observed a previous and noticed that when your opponent bluffed, their eyes darted around nervously while they sat up in their chair. Now your in a pot with them and they bet big at the flop like they did when they were bluffing, but this time they are calm and leaning backing in their chair. What does that tell you?

Putting it all together:

Armed with these three pieces of information, you can usually form a pretty good picture of the possible range of cards that your opponent could be holding. This will tell you what you should do.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to make a mistake. You will be wrong from time to time. Don’t let it upset you. Instead, analyze it. Why did you think the way you did? Where, in your deduction, did you err? If you do that every time you make a mistake at reading an opponent/situation, in no time you’ll be making less and less mistakes.

Reading opponents is a skill. It can be learned, but it takes a lot of practice and a lot of errors… and even if you are a 11 time WSOP bracelet winner, you’ll still make mistakes at reading opponents correctly.

Bookmark to: