Help me study my opponents.

Greetings,


I was hoping the cogncenti here at 2+2 could help me become a better. Ideally, i'd like to hear your ideas and methods for studying your opponents. What do you look for to determine if they are loose, passive, tight, etc? What else do you look for when you study them?


Cheers,

Bob

The loose/tight designation is easy to figure out. Typically, all you need to do is watch how many pots they enter on 3rd street. Noticing how long they stay with hand is a sign of post-3rd street looseness.


The aggresssiveness/passiveness of an opponent can be determined by what hands they are willing to bet and raise with.

player types:

**************************************************

Tight: Folds many 3rd Str hands.

**************************************************

Loose: Plays many 3rd Str. hands.

*************************************************

Passive: Very seldom raises.

**************************************************

Aggressive:Raises and bets to show he's the "boss"

************************************************

Tight-aggressive: Folds many 3rd Str hands--but when he plays,he usually comes in with a raise from the gate.

*************************************************

Tight-passive:Folds many 3rd Str. hands and never raise to"protect his hand"

************************************************

Loose-passive: Plays many 3rd Str hands and frequently calls several Strs.

**************************************************

Loose-aggressive:Bets and raises several rounds,starting from the gate.

*************************************************

*************************************************8

"Tells" to watch for:

(1) If a player is sitting by his wife/girlfriend,

and shows her his hand,he usually has a strong hand.

(2) Listen to the "conversations" at the table

If a player says that he never bluffs,believe him.

He's usually "honest".

In small limit games,a player will not usually bluff on 3rd or 4th Str.

His bluff will usually be on 7th Str.

Ex. A player who re-raises your split Q's on 3rd usually has you beat.

Fold your hand.

If he has a small upcard on 3rd and you have split A's and he re-raises you.

Fold your A's.

He expects you to continue to play.

***********************************************

Observe each opponent and determine how he played 3 hands. Do the same with each of the others.

You should then have a general idea of the type of player(s) you are dealing with.

Try to determine his 3rd Str. playing hand and how he played them.

Do the same for all opponents in your game --especially when you are not involved in a hand.


Happy pokering,

Sitting Bull

Take the rest of the barbecue ribs with you and turn the lights out when you leave.

Goodnight!

"Try to determine his 3rd Str. playing hand and how he played them.

Do the same for all opponents in your game --especially when you are not involved in a hand. "


This may be obvious but on 7th street watch closely for the cards that are turned over. Some players shuffle their down cards before turning them over so that it is not apparent what they started with. Pick the 2 most likely cards that would match their door card and replay the hand in your mind to determine how they played it. This will tell you alot about your opponents.