reading opponents

[sevens]

I have a question that is related to many poker books (2+2 and others) on tournament and cash strategy, particularly on NL and PL HE.

Basically it’s on categorising opponents. To put it simply:

How do you categorise opponents based on what you see. In tournaments and cash games you very rarely see hands to the end. If you see your opponent’s hole cards, then you can make adjustments according to what you see.

However most of the time you are left guessing. IE an opponent folded on the flop/turn to a reasonable bet. AQ5 flop he could have held a weak A or an under pair. Opponent could be bluffing. However it’s very hard to make a real decision on holdings unless hands are shown down, tournaments or cash online (as tables break early either way)

Any guidelines on how you reach decisions would be appreciated.

Regards

[AaronBrown]

The first thing you notice is how many hands they play to what stage. Of course, a guy who folds preflop the first 50 hands you see him play could have 72 offsuit each time, but that doesn't happen very often. When he does come in, how often is it with a raise or against a raise, in early position or versus an early position call? Does he fold a lot after the flop, or once in does he tend to stay in?

You're right that you don't learn much from one hand. If he folds after a flop of A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], it probably means he didn't have an Ace, Queen, pair of 7's, King-Jack or two hearts, but it doesn't tell you whether he came in on K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] or a pair of 6's or anything else. But after seeing a lot of flops, even if you don't see the hand at showdown, you can get a feel for what he likes, and deduce from that what he likes to play.

One of the most valuable things to know is how often he plays a hand with an Ace versus a hand without an Ace.

Taking all this into account, you have some handle on how loose/tight he is, how aggressive/passive and what kinds of hands he's likely to have. If he's predictable, you'll have a good handle, especially if he falls into a common type. If he's good, he's mixing things up, and you may have very little useful information (except to watch out for him).

This question is too open. There's no mention of limits/games/blinds - nothing.

[sevens]

This question is deliberately left open. It is a general poker question. I only stipulate NL and PL due to the number of uncontested pots. In particular, in a tournament (especially online) where you are playing with specific players for only a relatively short number of hands i find myself in tricky post flop decisions.... not because of starting hand selections, and not because of relative tournament buy in points.

[benkahuna]

I just make guesses based on my sense of what's normal and how the player compares. However, I put little faith in my take on the player until I see some cards in a showdown or in some other way.

I just make guesses based on how I understand people to play in their particular situation (limit v. home game, etc.)