You have to be able to sit down at any money or free poker table, online or live and study your opponents. I really believe patience is the key ingredient when it comes to analyzing players and the most vital stage is when the game starts.

Why you might ask?
This provides you with you a chance to sit back and take mental notes on the player’s actions. This is extremely effective during the first 30 minutes of a free poker game in particular as many players like to go all in and hope they win the pot. I myself will only call these players with a high pair, or suited low connectors because I’ve played them before, and they will go all in with any two hand cards given.

What Do You Need To Read?

The notes you should take in the first half-hour or if moved to a new table in any money or free texas hold em game are quite simple.

Determine which players are playing conservative and those that are playing loose.

Those who are playing loose can potentially bet on almost every hand and call just about anything.You will find this a lot in free texas holdem games

People who are playing conservative will continue to fold until they get the cards in hand they want or any pairs of AA’s, KK’s, QQ’s, JJ’s.

How do you spot a Bluffer?
This can be hard if you have not been watching the overall game as can happen a lot with free poker or if you are playing multiple games online.

If you have been watching the overall game you will possess more of a feeling as to who might be bluffing..

For example:

If you have an ace and king of spades you’re feeling good about your whole situation. Now you wait for the other player to check or bet, to your surprise the player bets 400 chips when the pot is at 120 chips.

So you call the player and on the flop lands Queen of spades, Jack of Spades, and ten of hearts. The other player goes all-in in order to make you think he/she has the winning hand. You know you got it won so you call the player’s bluff and go on to win.

That is very obvious but if you are facing a more conservative player then they might try to buy you in by betting low not over the pot before the flop and after. These Players really know what they are doing and most likely will have a full house against your ace high straight. Here is where your experience comes into play…have you marked who is conservative and who is loose?

Here are some practical game and player reading tips

1) Players who take too long and hold back are trying to bluff you into thinking they have nothing and wait for you to make a bet worth calling. (Note: in free texas holdem the player could be taking too much time because he/she is playing multiple games.) Filter these players out as this might be a habit for them.

2) Be wary of players who anticipate until the last second and raise you all-in. They are trying to buy the pot with a decent pair hoping you don’t have any aces in your hand!

3) Everyone knows a chip bully. Every table has one. The only way to knock a chip bully off his high priced chair is not to be affected by his/her large chip stacks. If you have it, go for it. Often, he/she is bluffing because, they want to pilfer the pot or blinds.

Every Player Develops Habits.

And from habits develop betting patterns - But What patterns might they form?

A bad habit (for them) you will witness occasionally is that some players will lose 80% of their chip stack. They get upset because they’ve taken a substantial loss but rather than cut their losses choose to carry on, often all-in until they lose the lot or earn back some chips (rare!). These players have given up and gone on “tilt”. The best course of action is to call them when the time is right. So bide your time and you’ll take their shirt!

Some players are nearly impossible to read simply because Know they are being read and are always varying their technique. They will repeat themselves at some point but these patterns are very hard to spot. These players will take up a lot of your time! When you can read players like these..well you are probably playing WSOP!

I hope this article will help you fine tune your skills and has given you some ideas you can use at the tables. No player is impossible to read but if you can’t read players you will make the game impossible for yourself!

If analyzing other players is hard or you are new to poker then I advise you get lots of practice in low risk games first. Try a free texas hold em site or play micro stakes on a money site before you start to use “real” cash

Share This