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Reading
Opponents
By Jim Connelly
Posted: 4:00 am PDT 2006-09-20 |
Courtesy Of Internet Casino and Poker Room at WagerWeb.com |
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There's truth to the fact that
reading your opponent in poker is one of the most important, if not the most important,
part of the game. But what happens when you read your opponent perfectly bet accordingly
and still can't get your opponent off his hand?
The answer is simple: you lose a lot of chips.
Here's a real-life situation from a recent home game. The game is limit hold 'em (our home
game tries to buck the no-limit trend - call us pioneers!), and we're playing an eight
person, single-table tournament. Each player begins with 2,000 tournament chips. At this
point in the game, the blinds are 100/200.
With seven players remaining, yours truly sits in the small blind and looks down to see
king-jack offsuit. When the action is folded all the way around, I bump it to 400.
The big blind, who is a very conservative, doesn't-say-much type of player, immediately
raises to 600. I put him on either ace-king or ace-queen or a pretty decent pair (let's
say pocket 9s or higher).
Given the pot odds, however, I decide to call. When the flop comes down nine-six-two, I
immediately feel there's a chance I can outplay my opponent and steal this pot. I check,
knowing my opponent will make a continuation bet. When he bets, I immediately raise to
400.
This is where I gather the necessary information from my opponent. Every time this player
has a hand, he either calls or raises quickly. When his hand is not yet made, he pensively
thinks before acting.
So when my opponent goes into the tank, I know he has either ace-king or ace-queen.
He decides to call the raise and see the turn. A three - another blank - comes off on the
turn. I quickly fire out $400, and again my opponent thinks about it. This is the time I'm
convinced that he'll lay down his hand. At this point he has to put me on a pocket pair,
maybe even a set. He'll later tell me that he did, indeed, put me on a pocket pair.
Still, he calls.
When the river fires one last blank, I once again bet 400. There was only one fundamental
problem at this point. My opponent only had 400 chips left. His way of thinking was that
he had come this far with the hand; he might as well "throw away" his final 400
chips. He pushes the chips into the pot and says, "You've got me."
Of course, we all know I don't and when I show king high, he scoops the pot.
So where did I make the mistake in this hand? As much as I'd like to say that even I don't
know, the truth is the mistake was made when I decided to tussle with this guy after the
flop.
Sometimes, amateur players (and even some pros) just can't get away from big hands. And
even if they're convinced they're beaten, they'll make a call that puts their tournament
life at stake. The ability to recognize these players is what makes a good player great.
So even when you're convinced that you've read your opponent well, understand that reading
sometimes goes well beyond knowing what they're holding. Sometimes you have to read your
opponent's skill level to gain the upper hand.
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