Observing Opponents
June 9 2008
When you sit down at a poker game, you don’t just play the cards that you are dealt. Poker involves much more that that, and profiling your opponents is one of the important skills you should practice. This isn’t a tough thing to learn to do, and with some practice it will become second nature and quite simple to execute.
It can be difficult to label players as a certain type, but it’s useful to gauge their level of aggression with consistency. Each player will have their own level and once you get a feel of how aggressive they are, you can decide on what they’re capable of attempting in the way of bluffs. If a player is coming in with a raise to almost every pot, you know that he will be full of it most of the time. It can often be profitable to call down hands like second pair or a smaller pocket pair against them.
If the opponent rarely plays a hand and shows good cards at showdown every time, you know that they’re a tight player who waits for good cards. This type of player can be pushed off pots early in a hand, usually after the flop, but will most likely have the goods if they call any of your bets.
Profiling players is important because you can make decisions based on how they play when in hands against them. Knowing what a player is capable of is a real edge in poker, and all the information is right there for you to study and profile.
Find more tips for
observing your opponent in the Bodog Poker Guide!
