How to Read a Poker Player

The first thing that you have to know and remember that no matter how good you are, poker is still a game of chance. However, with that being said if you are a good poker player over time the odds of you making money will be in your favor. This article is a guide to reading what I considered to be the main types of poker players.

The best place to start reading people is in a friendly game of poker. Invite 5 or 6 friends over and only concentrate on trying to figure out their hands and betting strategy. You can also try to play with other players through online poker games like Bandar judi bola online terpercaya. It starts with reading people, you have to know how to read people. You can do this in everyday events, at work, home or parties. People you work with or friends and family all have different personalities. I like to break the poker player down into 3 groups, timid, aggressive and calculated. Take the first 30 minutes to label the players at the table.

Timid: These players I believe are the easiest to play against. It is not hard to tell when they have a good hand or not. You can usually push them off a hand with a large bet. These players typically make mistakes with there betting (fumbling chips, betting out of turn, string betting, etc.) It is typical for this player to only bet when they have a good hand. Be careful calling their bets because you typically need a good hand to beat it. Look for indecisive betting by this type of player for the best time to push your chips all in.

Aggressive (or drunk): This type of player is probably the most difficult to play against because of the inconsistencies in there play. Typically you can tell this person by the amount of hands that they are playing. It is often that these types of players will raise more frequently and play more hands than most other types of players. These players are looking to catch cards. They will often play their hand longer looking for that card. These types of players will often bet hard until 3rd street or the turn and then check if they don’t have anything. This is the time to push all in. These types of players are aggressive but not stupid and should back down if they don’t have anything.

Calculated: This is another difficult type of player to play against, however if you understand the game of poker and you gain their respect as a poker player, you can use it to your advantage. If you hang around the poker table long enough you see the trend in play. There are many unwritten rules to poker and this type of player knows them all. I personally don’t agree with some of the unwritten rules. For example if one player is all in and two other players are still playing, there are a lot of calculated players that think you should check it out and try to put someone out in a tournament situation. My philosophy is bet it if you have a strong hand. You could even end up pushing that extra person off a hand that they would eventually end up drawing out on. When you check it to the river it becomes a game of chance and not skill. Push as many people off the hand as you can. This increases your odds of winning (with 3 people in you have a 33.33% chance of winning, with 2 people in you have a 50% chance of winning). This type of player understands betting strategy better than any other type of player. Watch for the raises when they are on the button or blinds. These types of players will bluff more when they are in the proper position and not out of position. This being said you can typically bluff this type of player off of a mediocre hand if you play it right. Don’t be afraid to come over the top of their bet with a bigger bet, they will usually only call if they have a really good hand. Remember to act like a poker player around these types of players. This will give them more respect for you and allow you to make poker moves against them. If they believe that you are an aggressive player and don’t respect the game, you could find your self being called. Pushing your chips all in against a player like this is usually not a good idea. Typically they are only going to call you if they have the nuts or are 99% sure that they are going to beat you. Some times it is just better to call and take your winnings than being wrong and out of the game.

If you can get good at figuring out these main characters of poker it will serve you well. Remember this is a game of chance that is influenced by skill. No matter how good you are you will never win every time, but with a little skill you should be on the winning side of the table more than 50% of the time.