Reading opponents at the poker table: what do you look for?

[ms_attack]

Basically, in terms of pure play, there is no difference between a player being weak or strong when playing online. However, some players have tells in live poker that you can't see online. For example, a player may be extremely nervous when he bluffs or scratches his neck or somewhere else on his body. Also, many players talk more live than online and so you can experience some tells. Professionals often try to engage their opponents in conversation and can gather information that they can use to their advantage. Pius Heinz, for example, attended a few courses on tells and psychology before winning the wsop in order to use this information to his advantage and ultimately win the WSOP. It can be the smallest micro moves that tell you something about your opponent at the live table. You don't see and hear things like that online.

 

[Dejana]

Every single thing, first - I would watch while they coming to the table to "check" that confidence...

Staring at the whole table like they are diamonds, watching everything, even little spark of happiness in they eyes when they have winning hand...😃

Online is different story - especially in CC games, if you play with our regular players, you don't need to take notes...we have some great players and we have some not great one...😉

 

[bablovod]

For me, there is no difference between a strong player and a weak player, everyone can bluff and everyone can show their strength and weakness. Everyone knows the ropes of poker very well, and the river will always be like a sword at home

 

[Igor Popadyk]

some moves in the game show the level of the player, so to speak, for example check raises - a weak player rarely uses or 4-bet raises

 

[Marshmalo1994]

In online play, I try to get information of the cards showed by unknown players, and what were their actions with those cards. I guess that this works for live play too, but the difference is that I use the hands replayer to see latest hands.
While I never played in a casino, I guess that I could recognize a beginner if he lift the cards to see them, or if he doesn't wait his turn to see their holding cards.
I don't know how I could recognize a good player at first tho

 

[Margo17]

Knowing how they play, whether they are more passive or aggressive, whether they play a lot of hands, whether they open different or standardized sizes, whether they are bluff hunters...

 

[Atararo14]

When I play poker live I notice the time the player takes before playing, the grimaces on his face when he is looking at his cards and also his looks towards his stack and that of his opponents.

 

[millya5]

Unfortunately I can’t say anything because I play online poker. Well, if this happens, I will look at the eyes and hands of my opponent

 

[makisaa]

Watching the changes of the behaviour, the moves and the expressions and also the changes and the evolutions of the betting. These can be valuable while we observe, analyse and make conclusions which can give us critical informations for our moves in the game.

 

[Lena M]

Hi
I always carefully observe what hands and exactly how my opponents play. 20-30 minutes of such observations is quite enough for me to form an approximate idea of who and which player is among my opponents at the table.

 

[amonlima]

I do a mapping, I observe if they have any idea of the game, I pay attention to the calling satiton, these are the ones I want to see at the table, as they will be the ones who will give me chips.

 

[Flyer35]

I forget the most important tell - the size of the stack of chips that they have.

 

[olejean]

Unlike online poker you can see everything in live poker: emotions, movements, manifestations of nervousness. All of this together can help you to draw a characteristic portrait of your opponent which can help you during the game.

 

[Newzooozooo]

Hi
I look at what ranges my opponents play, how they use their table position and what their betting strategy is. Such nuances, in my opinion, are the most important and quite informative.

 

[TheKAAHK]

First thing is how they enter the pot and from what position. Early limp? Late raise? Cold call? Overcall? Etc. This is really important, especially in bounty tournaments.
As the hand plays out I'll note the action to start pitting them on a range. It's great if they get to showdown for that extra info too.
I'll also see how they use their time. Snap call/fold/bet or if they think a little.
With just these two types of observations it's easy to start putting then into categories.
Some will be labeled as Fish right off the bat, ( all the hallmarks of a bad or new player) and I'll not really pay any further mind to how they play and instead keep eyes on players who can actually think.
As the game progresses, I will add to or refine my notes and labels when I see something noteworthy or worth changing. Especially when someone changes gears and goes into a different play style in different situations such as short/bug stack or nearing the bubble.

 

[Shooter74]

I try to observe the betting pattern, aggressiveness and what range of hands the opponent usually plays...

 

[kaynbergo]

I monitor the number of hands opened, the size of bets, the number of bluffs

 

[Brigistul]

-a player who plays repeated hands is weak.
-if preflop thinking time is different it is weak
-if it shows repeated aggression it is weak

 

[Rumengh]

Quite an interesting question and I will try to answer based on my observations. Sitting in a game with strangers is like jumping into the sea, you never know what might happen to you. Before you've played a hand with him, there's no way to tell if he's strong or weak. I follow the same rule for poker. - A dog that barks does not bite. That is, the more restrained a player is at the table, does not speak or makes facial expressions, the stronger he is. In the online game things are difficult, it's nice to have a sifware and track any of the player's hands and see some stats. The time a certain player uses a certain hand. I also look at the avatar in the photo and it may be a bit sketchy, but people with a real picture of their profile at the table play quite hard.

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Отзиви

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[dreamer13]

Even the best have weaknesses that can be revealed through their stats or tells. Your job is to find these clues and analyze them. And without observation and experience such an analysis is impossible.We humans tend to show emotions and behave differently depending on situations. Psychologists put a lot of meaning into our gestures and actions. The same thing happens during distributions. Tells in poker can say a lot about how a player is feeling or what cards he was dealt.Tells can also manifest themselves in the nature of bets. This allows you to see your opponent's uncertainty in his hand or even an attempt at bluffing. Experienced players rarely deviate from their intended strategy, placing bets in the desired range. But when something doesn’t go according to plan or the player doesn’t act in his own manner, this is a tell that needs to be noticed and correctly interpreted.

 

[userX]

First of all, I look at what hands my opponents are playing with. In addition, I watch and evaluate their betting tactics, their level of aggression and emotional state in general.

 

[thejuice1]

never just looking for one thing... essentially, i am looking for anything... people give info by numerous ways. the way they talk, the way they move their hands or play with their chips, the way they sit, betting habits, etc. the important thing is to always be paying attention to everything everyone does when they are acting on a hand... and then piece all that info together as the game goes on, in order to really get a good read on them. but because there are so many ways a player can give you information on the strength of (or lack there of) their hand, you need to always being paying attention to every last detail.

 

[Sebbour]

When you sit down at the table in a tournament with unfamiliar people, what are some telltale signs that tell you whether a player is strong or weak? Can you give examples of how these tells may be different in live play vs. online?

Special thanks to @hobojim1247 for this topic idea!

First I should say that when I sit down at a table (both live and online) I perceive all players (before any hand is played at all) as strong until proven otherwise.

Live - although I haven't played live for a while I still remember something. Players who are calm, quiet, follow the game, re-raise someone should be strong players and players who are in constant need to be corrected by the dealer (for example they say raise instead of bet) or they squirm at their seat are the ones that could be weak players.

Online - much harder to tell. I would say that one tell is tightness. If someone has folded all hands pre flop one or two whole orbits then he is more likely that he is waiting for stronger hands and therefore he is patient and the assumption is that he should be strong player.

 

[Toruk Makto]

Always information about your game!
So that it's easy to let go of a few hands or move on safely.

 

[Leandro6803]

My tip for live poker is:
- always pay attention to the players' facial expressions when receiving their cards.
- how they pick up the chips, if the hand shakes or the chip drops from the hand constantly, this is a strong sign of nervousness or anxiety in the play.
- pre-flop and flop bet sizes.

My tips for online poker are:
- if the villain gets involved in many hands, it is a sign of weakness in his range.
- limping into the hand and a strong sign of a beginner poker player.