Learn Texas Holdem

Question/Comment: Hi.

I've been playing no-limit hold-em for about a month, in on-line tournaments. I've looked at a couple of books and a few websites, and they all talk about assessing the style of play of your opponents.

I try to be observant, and do pick up certain bits of information which I've used to my advantage. For instance when I've caught somebody bluffing for a good pot, or bullied them out of the blinds a few times it sticks in my mind. I find in on-line games, most of the pots are won without any of the hole cards being turned, and I don't seem to learn much about them, from the way they bet the hand without knowing what cards they had.

I tried keeping a written record during games of the number of flops the other players see, pre-flop raises and any bluffs or slow plays I picked up on. I'm not sure it helped a great deal.

What kind of moves by an opponent would you consider the most significant, and what sort of information should I be recording (either mentally or written) to best help me classify a players style.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Steve.

Answer: Why would you need to track another player's moves? I think if we answer that question first we will have a better idea of what kinds of information we should be looking for. I think there are two main categories for hands in holdem: those that play themselves and those that are what we can call the gray area. The hands that play themselves are ones either are really strong or really weak (the move you make is clear).

Most of poker isn't like this though and the stiffer the competition is, the more you'll have to use extra information to guide you through the gray area hands. For example, let's say you have a free look at the flop from the big blind and you are stuck in with middle pair heads up or top pair and a weak kicker against a few opponents. If you had no idea of how other players were playing and you tried to play those hands well, I think it would be very difficult. On one hand you may just play it safe and check and fold but then you may be giving up bets.

On the other hand you may overvalue your hand against a tight player and then give up some bets. Every hand you play in poker is like a puzzle. There is a limit to the information can you glean from the game but you can get very close to the correct answer if you are patient, attentive and you keep a handle on your ego and emotions. So now that we have framed the question a little more, let's get on to the specifics:

1. What do people raise with preflop? - This is probably the most important question. You can gain a lot of information about a player just by what hands they raise with. If you were to have JJ preflop in no limit holdem, you would definitely want to know if the person who raised before you normally raised every hand they played down to 44 or 33 or if they only raised better hands like AK and KK. Obviously the more raising they do preflop, the less respect their raises get. Sometimes you'll get stung because they actually have a good hand that time but that isn't enough reason to not play back at them.

2. How many hands to they play preflop? Call with? Position? - What you are looking for here is if they are a really loose player or if they just call with solid hands in the right spots. For example, if you were to see a guy call a couple raises from early position players in a row, you can assume that he probably isn't calling with great hands. You can add to this information by seeing how they play post flop.

3. Post flop what does a call mean from them? Do they always raise their good hands on the flop or do they habitually slow play or do they mix it up? - This is a really essential question for player in no limit because you want to know if you bet into a flop that you aren't sure of if the person will call you only with a better hand or if they'll call you with a worse hand too (trying to draw, etc). An example of this would be if you raised preflop with QQ and the flop came back with a King or Ace on it. When you make your first bet, does his/her call mean that he/she has top pair or does it mean they could have something worse.

4. Bluffs? Are they capable of laying down hands? Are they tricky or do they play ABC?

- This is another really important question in no limit holdem. If the person you are playing never bluffs, then you shouldn't ever call their raises unless you have outs that are justified by the pot. For example, let's say I raised with AA preflop and one tight player called me. There was a flush draw on the flop and it made it on the turn. The player raised me. I have no outs that can beat a flush so there is no reason to pay them off by calling.

On the other hand if the person was capable of bluffing in that spot, I I may have to think harder about calling or folding. Lastly, is this person capable of being bluffed out of pots? Bluffing works better against better players. I think people online bluff less than players offline because when we play online we fall into a mechanical/"the best showdown hand wins" mentality. Be capable of bluffing other players. That will make you a much tougher opponent.

Also, be able to recognize other players who are bluffing too much. Being a good player means you will be bluffed out of some pots and that is fine, it means you are playing well. Just don't let them do it too much.

5. For no limit holdem, how much are they raising each time they raise preflop? Post flop?

- Most of the time this piece of information won't be the deciding factor in how you play but there are rare occasions where it can be. One tell tail move is to limp in preflop and then get raised and then reraise all-in. That usually means AA. If you have JJ or QQ, there is no reason to pay that person off in no limit.

6. For more advanced games, does this player leverage their position against other players at the table?

- Good players will use their position to sometimes bet in a way that makes it tougher for another player to call. For example, let's say I raised preflop in limit holdem. There are a few callers. The blind comes out firing and then the person in the middle raises them. That makes it harder for me to call with a hand like overcards. Most people you'll play with won't do this sort of thing but you need to be aware of it. The good player is trying to make me fold a better hand and increase his chances of winning.

7. How do they see my play?

- This is a key question and you can answer it by how other players play against you. Do they see you as a tight player? Do they think you never bluff? Do they think you'll only raise solid hands?

8. How do they play out of their blinds and stealing my blinds?

- What you look for here is how loose people are willing to play when they call their blinds or try to steal your blinds from late position. Then you'll also want to watch how they play post flop.

That's about all I can think of right now. I'm most likely missing a few questions but that's a decent start. I wouldn't write stuff down, try to just watch the game and how it progresses. Don't just pay attention to hands that you are in.