Reading Opponents

At the critical point at the end of a poker hand, a player bets, and the maestro glares at him. Does the bettor have what he is supposed to have for this bet, or doesn't he? The maestro picks up a tell, reads his opponent as having a strong hand, and makes a good fold. Once again, the maestro's tremendous poker skill of reading the opponent has paid off, as the opponent flashes the nuts before raking in the pot.

What can we say about this scenario? There's one thing I am sure of: If this was a hold'em hand, the game was probably no-limit, not limit. Here is why I say this. Tells are often the product of nervous tension. There is naturally a lot more tension when a bet is a big one, so there are more tells available in a no-limit game, and they are also more reliable. It is rare to think you have picked up a tell and be certain in your own mind that the tell is accurate. It is much more likely that you get a feeling that is right most of the time, so you go with it. In limit poker, when the opponent makes a bet at the river, the amount already in the pot will be many times the bet size. There are countless times in limit poker when I get the feeling my opponent has a strong hand for his bet on the end – and despite this feeling, I pay him off. If I fold, I cannot afford to be right "only" 80 percent or 90 percent of the time. No doubt, this is the same for everyone else, because it is the nature of limit poker that your card-reading skills can be applied to only certain situations. Pot odds and your hand quality make many decisions automatic, regardless of gut feelings. In no-limit, reading the opponent is an indispensable skill. In limit poker, it is neither as reliable nor as critical. (Some of my limit opponents can show up with anything under the sun for their actions, and I would be nuts to put them on a particular hand and base a critical decision on my read.)

The most important information emanating from the opponent does not even come from mannerisms. It comes from repetition of betting patterns. To profit from a player's repeated patterns, you have to watch him closely and see what he likes to do in the betting.

Here is what I watch for in a player's behavior. The first thing I want to know is how experienced a player he is. A rookie is easy to detect. He does not act in turn smoothly, fumbles chips, does not follow the action with his eyes, and so forth. Such a player invariably plays too many hands, does not bet without a whopper, and calls if within runner-runner of making a winner. Of course, most of the time such a person will be found in a low-stakes game, but sometimes the bigger games will have such a player.

Whether you are in the pot or not, watch the opponents and see what kind of hands they show up with for their actions. Whenever someone shows up with a hand that does not suit the action he took on it, you should make a mental note of it. If you know the game well, you know what the appropriate play is on a hand, and when a player shows up with something different, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

It pays to watch how people play their strong hands. If a player is prone to check when he has a good hand, you will pick up on this quickly. Some players would rather fool the opponent than make money. One of the most dangerous plays you can run into is the check out of turn. Many times, a player is nervous after hitting a big hand – and his first instinct is to check. I sometimes respect a check out of turn more than a raise!

In a hold'em game, here are some things I want to know about my opponent: Does he play hard at the blind money from late position? Does he three-bet with A-K or J-J? When? How often does he check when making aces or kings on the flop? Does he limp and reraise very often? With which hands? How aggressive is he with a draw? If he raises or check-raises on the turn, can he be putting a play on someone? Does he respect the number of players in the pot with him in deciding whether to bet a marginal hand? Does he bluff on the end if he misses a draw? This is a short list of important items to pay attention to, excerpted from practically limitless possibilities.

When I look for something in the manner a player bets, raises, or calls, the first thing I notice is his tempo. Before you draw any conclusions by how slowly or quickly he acts in a given situation, you must know what his normal tempo is, since there is no norm followed by all. So, get a player's "signature" and you will better be able to detect a forgery.

What may it mean if a player departs from normal tempo? Often, it is a "Hollywood act," meaning a faster than usual action shows weakness, and a slower than usual action shows strength. Note that I did not use the word "bluff." Yes, a fast tempo could mean a bluff, but more often, the player has a moderate hand and wants you out of there, or is betting a draw. A slow action, feigning indecision, could easily be a hand that is loaded for bear and wants you to call. But it sure helps to know a player's normal tempo, and to see what it means on several occasions when he departs from it, before you can have confidence in your interpretation of variations in it.

You can sometimes draw a conclusion from a player's tempo even when he has not done anything different than normal. For example, you are in the big blind with A-K offsuit, four players limp in, and you raise. (Oh, you wouldn't raise because you can't get anyone out? Well, what's wrong with getting some more money into the pot when you have a better chance to win than any of the others?) The flop comes A 9 3. You bet and the player on your left raises. If one of the other players cold-calls the raise with a no-problem tempo, what else could he have but a flush draw? If he had A-Q, aces up, or a set, wouldn't he at least have something to think about? (And he probably would reraise with anything that beats your A-K, because of the flush draw on the board.)

As a poker consultant, I am often asked by a client player to help improve his hand-reading ability. He usually attaches too much importance to hand-reading in limit poker, but it is still a useful art. It is also the hardest part of poker to teach, so I hope the material I discussed here helps.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's new book, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available now (332 pages, $25 plus $5 shipping and handling). This work and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free.