We Read it Differently

Reading hands and applying your conclusions to your strategy is both an art and a science. The art comes from analyzing your opponents’ thoughts, knowledge, emotions and psychological preferences along with how those characteristics affect their poker decisions.

It’s an equation that gets mighty complex at times, one that even the best players repeatedly get wrong. That said, stronger players by and large draw better conclusions than your average poker Joe. Comprehending and applying the correct concepts to reading hands and situations is one of the most important differences separating great from merely good players. It a skill you should continually work on if you want to take your game to a higher level.

It was late afternoon at the $40-80 limit hold’em table at the Bellagio. A generally tight-passive woman bought the button, posting both blinds and thereby making herself the only blind. The field folded to a local pro on the button who is one of Las Vegas’ best limit hold’em players. Mr. Great-Pro, peeked down at the A Q and raised it up to $80. Ms. Tight-Passive called his raise, and they took the flop heads-up.

The flop came the K 9 4. Ms. Tight-Passive fired into the pot. Mr. Great-Pro, thinking that the lead-out was likely a bluff, raised her with the intent of playing her off her hand. Most often, knowledgeable players who hold a strong hand check-raise in a situation when an opponent is going to bet all of his range, as Mr. Great-Pro would likely do in this situation. With that thought in mind, Mr. Great-Pro thought Ms. Tight-Passive’s range leaned more heavily to bluffs, or likely a weak hand in which she was testing its strength. Ms. Tight-Passive called the raise.

The turn card came the K, pairing the top card. Ms. Tight-Passive led once again, and Mr. Great-Pro, with his hand-read mindset still centered on his flop thinking, thought he could fold any hand of hers that didn’t possess a king, and raised her again. The raise-bluff play didn’t succeed; she called.

The river came the 6, Ms. Tight-Passive checked and Mr. Great-Pro, thinking she must have a king, knuckled behind her. She turned over the K 2 having flopped top pair and turned top trips. Mr. Great-Pro tossed his hand into the muck.

Mr. Great-Pro, questioning his decision to raise the turn, brought up the play in conversation. He felt that getting $400-to-$160 on the turn raise-bluff was a good enough price to warrant the play. Since Mr. Great-Pro believed that Ms. Tight-Passive would fold all hands that didn’t contain a king, she had to be betting about 30 percent of her range of hands without a king, hands that she would fold, in order for Mr. Great-Pro’s bluff-raise to be correct. That is, of course, assuming his read she would fold all hands without a king was correct.

I read the situation differently. Since Mr. Great-Pro raised the flop and Ms. Tight-Passive was generally timid, among other things, I didn’t think she had it in her psychologically to fire a bluff into an opponent on the turn after being raised on the flop. In short, I didn’t think she would bet the turn without a king. I thought folding the turn was the best play.

When I am reading an opponent, I try to determine which plays this player is capable of in the current situation. I base my thoughts on my opponent’s knowledge level, how he thinks, his emotional state and how they have historically reacted to situations similar to the current one.

In Mr. Great-Pro’s situation I thought Ms. Tight-Passive’s knowledge level was about “basic book level.” By that I mean that she had probably read some books, played solid cards and understood the fundamentals of poker. But I hadn’t seen anything from her that indicated she was capable of making any highly creative plays. In any of her previous plays, nothing made me think that she thought through situations beyond an immediate level. If someone raised, she put them on a hand. Not wanted to be bluffed off the best hand, she paid them off if she had a “hand to pay off with.” But she always seemed to give her opponents respect for the quality of hand they were representing. And if that’s the case, then she put Mr. Great-Pro on a solid, non-folding hand on the flop. Not a situation to bluff or bet weakly into. In my thinking, she had to possess trips or better on the turn.

The hand speaks to the complexity of reading hands and why otherwise great players occasionally play a hand poorly when they read an opponent/situation differently/incorrectly. We all have different worldviews and interpret things differently. That fact exposes itself in many different contexts, from politics, to religion, from values, to emotions. Your worldview will also influence how you read your opponents in poker; your interpretations will be cognitively constructed from associations with past events or thoughts you’ve experienced. In this case, two players, myself and Mr. Great-Pro, both of whom I think are excellent hand readers, read a situation significantly differently. And truth be told, neither one of us has to be right. Hand reading is a subjective undertaking.

It’s important to develop objectivity in your hand reading. Hand reading is the highest attribute in great players. Playing poker is so much easier when you have a good idea of your opponents’ holdings. That said, it’s a difficult skill to acquire, requiring knowledge, concentration and recall in high degrees. It also requires coming in tune with yourself, recognizing your miscalculations, and adjusting them. When you misread situations, reason out why you did. If you keep making the same general mistakes over and over, (for example, underestimating your opponents) adjust your core thinking to a place which is more real. Over time you’ll grow your hand reading “feel.”

And when you get good feel, you’ll feel great about the number of chips you’re cashing in. ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman in 1989. Should you wish to any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-396-6575 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @RealRoyCooke.