Reads

[Asim]

hey guys... heres another question with regards to reads. when it comes to reading, online I sometimes have a difficult time, normally when I am playing.. I get this feeling, I have always assumed its just me takign in all the info and somewhere in the back of my head its all getting processed then a voice just goes off in my head saying "you have the best hand, push". However, I dont exactly know what information I am taking in. I know one of the best things to pay attention to is bet patterns, but a lot is happening at once on the table. how do you guys keep track of everything so quickly, what are you paying attention to, what are you not paying attention to? do you think anyone could somehow suggest an order... sort of phasing the elements of reading in, one at a time so that its not overwhelming... this may be a difficult question to answer, but its interesting to learn. right now I ask these questions

loose? tight?
aggressive? passive? (never bets, or bets and raises"
willing to fold his BB? (good for SnG's in later levels and that free blind here and there)
multitabling? (normally if ppl are multi tabling, esp 3+, i notice they end up paying attention more to the cards they have and if they hit they will continue, I tend to do the same thing)

what other things would you wanna look at?

[MrWookie47]

Some of the most important questions are, "What does he bet/raise with?" "What doesn't he bet/raise with?" and "What does he call down with?"

Liberal checking of the hand history is good for this.

Once you have those questions, look to answer where he folds (or doesn't fold). Does he always peel on the flop and then fold the turn? Is he willing to fold a whiffed flop? What will he call with when he isn't getting proper odds?

As for multitabling, I find that I can't get good reads with 4 tables. Playing 3, I do alright, and 2 is optimal. One table, I tend to get bored and distracted. However, I play 3 tables mostly, so that I'm getting a better hourly rate. I'd probably be doing better still playing 4, but I want to learn and enjoy the intracacies of the decisions, not just play on autopilot to the tune of 1.5 BB/100.

[deception5]

I have been trying to focus more on taking good notes while playing 4 tables. Basically I'm trying to keep hand histories open all the time so I can see how people are playing their hands. I don't worry about whether the person is limping with garbage as pokertracker will quickly reveal that.

The types of things I take note of:

Preflop:

Coldcalling - with what and after how many callers?
Open limping in late position - this is usually a sign of a weak/bad player.
Completing/calling raises in the blinds.
Ignorant of position.

Post-Flop:
Plays fit or fold
Will call down (or play aggressively) with bottom/second pair
Will call down with overcard(s)
Will play draws aggressively
Will bet until meets resistance (only heads up or into a large field?)
Will fold to any resistance
Will usually peel one off
Slowplays (and with what)
Check/raise capable
Bluff capable

I do not agree with this one and you will probably find that if this is the case they are just weak/tight (most good multitablers will still be playing the situation, taking good notes and punishing weaker players):
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multitabling? (normally if ppl are multi tabling, esp 3+, i notice they end up paying attention more to the cards they have and if they hit they will continue, I tend to do the same thing)

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[Asim]

bump

[@bsolute_luck]

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do a search in the micro forums for "when a read is not a read" by Entity- i think there is some good posts in there.

my suggestion: don't get bogged down with nitty-gritty and hand specifics, but rather preferences: does he like any Ace, overcards, suited cards, connectors- this goes for postflop as well: do they call frequently to see the turn? if the board doesn't look scary, how far will they call down? what are they showing down?

preflop most people don't pay attention to position and if they open limp with A6o, then they will definitely limp with many people. BIG things to look for are:
1. raises (even weaker players have some positional awareness with this one)
2. cold calls
3. how tight are they in the blinds (for future steal attempts).
4. frequency of limping in and open limping- i've found alot of weaker players like early positions because "hey it hasn't been raised, so i can play this hand"

postflop there obviously is a lot here, but again most people at this level are fairly straight forward. more BIG things:

1. check/raises
2. big aggression (reraises and caps)
3. betting when checked to (especially after preflop raises)
4. calling the flop and folding non-scary turn (whether to continue with semi-bluffs or overcards)
5. betting into a preflop raiser
6. when faced with aggression after they are the preflop raiser and either get c/r or bet into( possible weak-tight).
7. showdown hands - this is obviously the only way to find out what they are playing and solidify your reads. i mention it only because, until you start seeing these, the previous other points are baseless, so don't assume you have a good read on people until you've seen a number of showdown hands.

a minor edit: short-handed (~3 people) vs HU vs multiway (4+): this could be a read if they play differently, but i've found most players just play the 2 cards in their hand in relation to the board and play the same regardless, but you'll find the occasional more aggressive/trickier opponent- i think you'll see them pretty quickly.