My latest poker strategy article, Hand Reading Made Simple, is now appearing in the May 2009 edition of 2+2 Magazine:
The basic idea behind this simplified hand reading technique is not to put an opponent on an exact hand or two-card combination but rather to narrow his range down to one or two of three broad categories:
Monster hands– These are the hands where your opponent wants to play a big pot. That doesn’t mean he’ll bet or raise at every opportunity- some players love to slowplay- but it means that he is confident that his hand is best and that there are plenty of worse hands that will pay him off.
Showdown hands– In these cases, your opponent believes he has the best hand, but he is not trying to build the pot. Usually players will exercise pot control with these hands, checking when they can and calling when they have to. Some may make small bets or raises as blocking bets or to “see where they’re at”.
Drawing/bluffing hands– Drawing hands are hands that need to improve or bluff to have a reasonable expectation of winning the pot. This refers not just to obvious draws such as four to a flush but to any hand which currently has little or not showdown value. Depending on their play style and the value of the draw, players may play drawing hands fast or slow.
You’ll find further description of this technique, along with some example applications, in the article.
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