Holdem Tells: Reading Your Opponents

When you watch professional poker players do their thing on TV, sometimes you can't help but wonder if they possess supernatural powers. Apart from displaying the same basic characteristics we've come to expect from professional athletes - things like exceptional talent, dedication, determination and consistency - it's almost as if top-ranked poker players can read minds and foresee the future.

As amazing as these abilities seem, however, professional poker players aren't Professor X or Miss Cleo. Sure, they've logged hours and hours of playtime, but in the end, they're just normal, everyday human beings like the rest of us. In fact, all that separates them from your average fish is a keen ability to notice peoples' actions and expressions and remember them. It's not rocket science or something out of the Twilight Zone. It's just a matter of knowing what to look for.

Of course, this doesn't mean that learning to read tells will be easy. Nor are we here at Gambling Planet Poker powerful enough players to give you a all-out education in the matter ourselves - otherwise, we would have already won a big pot or two and wouldn't have to work for a living. What we can do, though, is teach you the basics of reading "tells" (that is, unconscious signals players throw off during a game), then cut you loose to learn the more abstract parts for yourself.

Poker Tells and Holdem: The Basics

First of all, you have to pay attention to your opponents' every move. Whether you're in a hand or not, follow the game closely. A common beginner's mistake is to use the time between hands to check emails or break for coffee. If you want to improve your coffee making skills, keep doing just that. If, on the other hand, you want to get inside your opponents' heads, drop everything and concentrate.

Analyze and remember your opponents' actions while you've got nil on the line, then factor in their positions. Initially, you may have a little difficulty casing their pockets, but with a little practice, you'll be able to "feel it out" using sheer intuition. Getting into a free-play online community like Myspace.com's ClubWPT is a good way to do so because you'll be able to work on learning players' reactions to certain hands without losing any dough in the process. Obviously, every time you find yourself up against unfamiliar opponents, you'll have to learn their individual quirks anew. So try to practice against different players as much as possible. Each time, think of yourself as Dick Tracy or Elliot from Law and Order. Other players' actions and the order in which they are taken are the "hard evidence" on the scene. This is the way players pass information between each other, and you can't afford to miss it.

For example, in Texas Holdem you can assume a strong pre-flop raise from an early position means a premium starting hand. If the flop comes out showing an ace or a king, and the same player raises again, you may assume he at least has a pair, if not two pair or even trips. Bearing in mind other player-profiling considerations that may alter the showdown - such as bluffers, frequent raisers, blind stealers or even beginners who don't play according to position - the above is the most elementary reading of any poker situation.

From Many to One

When using an elementary reading, you must not jump to conclusions. Be flexible, and don't be ashamed to change your initial assumptions according to the changing circumstances. Deciding what hand your opponent is holding early on and then interpreting his later actions so they comply with your theory is a sure way to loose your chips. You're better off plain guessing those hands than convincing yourself you know them. A simple technique to help you avoid this is the "many to one":

To use the "many to one" all you have to do is use the process of elimination. Instead of pegging your opponent with a specific hand, you should consider a variety of hands and eliminate some of them as the game progresses. By doing so you're not only limiting yourself to correct interpretations of an opponent's actions. You're also avoiding that sore feeling we all get when we think we're right but know we should probably change our minds.

For example: Suppose your opponent limps into a pot from a late position and the pot is multi-way. At this point, she could be holding any cards that play well in a multi-way hand, including suited connectors, maybe even low ones. The flop comes out with two spades, and after a bet and several calls, your opponent raises. A diamond appears on the turn, and the same opponent checks. What's the deal?

It's likely that your opponent is on a flush draw and was raising after the flop in an attempt to buy a free card. If the river is a spade, you should probably fold anything below a flush. If your opponent's flush doesn't come, however, and you have any kind of hand, you may want to check just so you can get your opponent to bluff - and then re-raise her. If, on the other hand, you're also going for the flush and lose it, you should bet and try to make your opponent fold.

As we've said so many times before, the possibilities in poker are endless. Just as in life, the same action may be perceived as having two totally different motives. There's no way to be 100 percent sure what hand your opponent is holding, but following her actions is a must and, over time, will give you a pretty good idea what she's thinking.