PK-Guía Sobre La Lectura de Manos
PK-Guía Sobre La Lectura de Manos
PK-Guía Sobre La Lectura de Manos
Para dar una referencia MUY aproximada sobre la que se pueden traducir los porcentajes anteriormente vistos, enumero unos posibles rangos de ejemplo: 5% = "parejas 77+, AK, AQs" o "parejas 99+, AK, AQ." 10% = "parejas 66+, AK, AQ, cualquier as con otra carta del mismo palo, KQs, QJs" 15% = "cualquier pareja, AK, AQ, KQ, conectores del mismo palo 54+, cualquier as con otra carta del mismo palo" 20% = "cualquier pareja, dos broadway cualesquiera, cualquier as con otra carta del mismo palo" 25% = "cualquier pareja, dos broadway cualesquiera del mismo palo, cualquier as, conectores del mismo palo 54s+, KQo" 30% = "cualquier pareja, cualquier as, cualquier rey con otra carta del mismo palo, dos broadway cualesquiera del mismo palo, conectores del mismo palo 54s+, KTo+, QJo" o "cualquier pareja, cualquier as, cualquier rey con otra carta del mismo palo, dos broadway cualesquiera" 40% = "cualquier pareja, cualquier as, cualquier rey, dos broadway cualesquiera, cualesquiera conectores del mismo palo 32s+" 50% = "cualquier pareja, dos cartas cualesquiera del mismo palo, cualquier as, dos broadway cualesquiera, K5o+"
Como siempre, recuerda usar el rango que afecta al movimiento del jugador: un jugador que sea 65/10, ser menos selectivo que el rango del 50% cuando vea una apuesta antes del flop, pero tendr un rango bastante selectivo si sube. Tambin es preciso sealar que algunos jugadores que son poco selectivos y pasivos, subirn con las segundas mejores manos como 88-JJ, AJ, KQ, y 54sJTs, pero no con las mejores como QQ+, AK y AQ (aquellas que jugarn despacio para ocultar sus manos). Vigila a estos jugadores en el showdown para ver cmo juegan sus manos grandes. La agresividad despus del flop tambin nos dice mucho acerca de un jugador. Cuando un rival con una AF media de 8 sube antes del flop y pasa hasta ti, sospecha una trampa: normalmente llevar una mano fuerte y tiene la intencin de pasar en falso. Si se da la misma situacin frente a un oponente con una AF de 1'3, es mucho ms probable que no haya ligado y abandone la mano. Cuando la misma jugada la realiza un jugador como una AF de 0'4, no obtienes informacin de su movimiento (pasar es lo que hace casi siempre este tipo de rivales). Debes separar mentalmente a los jugadores en tres grupos principales: agresividad alta, agresividad media y agresividad baja. Es crucial aprender a adaptar tu juego a cada rival dependiendo en qu grupo lo clasifiques. Teme lo peor cuando un oponente acta de manera distinta de la que se le supone: el jugador pasivo despus del flop que apuesta y sube, casi siempre lleva una gran jugada, pudiendo abandonar sin pensrtelo. El ultramaniaco que pasa y ve durante dos calles, tambin lleva una gran mano y est esperando sacarte todo lo que pueda. No caigas en su trampa. Todo esto nos conduce al segundo mandamiento: 2. Conoce a tu enemigo Un leopardo nunca cambia sus manchas. Este refrn se puede aplicar perfectamente a microlmites. Combinada, la trinidad del HUD (VPIP, PFR y AF media) nos dice mucho acerca de un jugador. Los jugadores poco selectivos juegan seleccionando poco sus manos; los jugadores selectivos juegan seleccionando cuidadosamente sus manos. Los jugadores agresivos juegan agresivamente y los pasivos pasivamente. Clasifica a tus oponentes dependiendo de tres factores independientes: Seleccin de manos antes del flop: un jugador poco selectivo antes del flop tiene un VPIP por encima del 40% (este porcentaje es una aproximacin, pero se ve por dnde van los tiros). Estos rivales pueden llevar cualquier cosa antes del flop y, cualquier mano que ests dispuesto a jugar, va a superar a la de su rango. Sin embargo, estate atento despus del flop, puesto que tu enemigo ha podido ligar en cualquier flop que aparezca. Preprate para jugar con cuidado cuando no tengas una gran mano. Esto no quiere decir que debieras simplemente pasar y ver; por contra, espera ir por delante y apostar con tus manos hechas, pero mantn las apuestas pequeas e intenta controlar el tamao del bote. Alternativamente sube poco y mucho antes del flop mientras tu mano domine al rango de tu oponente. Su error es jugar demasiadas manos, expltalo castigndole antes del flop siempre que vayas por delante. Por el contrario, un jugador selectivo tiene un VPIP por debajo del 20%. Estos rivales no participan en una mano a no ser que tengan algo que merezca la pena. No van a cometer grandes errores antes del flop, y la nica forma de obtener ventaja de sus caractersticas es robando sus ciegas sin piedad (aunque tendrs que abandonar inmediatamente si te pillan robando y no llevas una mano aceptable). Agresividad antes del flop: un jugador se considera pasivo antes del flop si tiene un PFR por debajo de una cuarta parte de su VPIP. Esto quiere decir que es una escala variable: mientras un 10% es pasivo para un jugador de un VPIP del 55%, es agresivo para uno con un VPIP del 15%. Por contra, un jugador se considera agresivo antes del flop si tiene un PFR por encima de la mitad de su VPIP. Cuando intentes averiguar la mano que lleva un jugador antes del flop, deberas usar su VPIP y PFR para llegar a una conclusin. Imagina que un rival tiene un VPIP del 40% y un PFR del 20% y simplemente ve delante de ti. Qu tipo de manos esperas que lleve? Bien, sabemos que est dispuesto a jugar el 40% de sus manos, el rango de los analizados anteriormente se corresponde con "cualquier pareja, cualquier as, cualquier rey, dos broadway cualesquiera, cualesquiera conectores del mismo palo 32s+". Pero, podemos afinar su rango algo ms: sabemos que con el 20% de esas manos el villano hubiera subido, y no lo ha hecho. Si asumimos que sube con el 20% de sus mejores manos, el rango de este jugador para subir puede ser algo como "cualquier pareja, dos broadway cualesquiera, cualquier as con otra carta del mismo palo". As que eliminamos esas
manos de su rango actual (igual que descartas 72o cuando una roca est en la mano, descartas QQ cuando un maniaco ve). Un rango aproximado en esta situacin va a ser la diferencia del rango original del 40% y las mejores 20% manos que hemos sealado, es decir, "cualquier as con otra carta de distinto palo, K9s o peor, K9o o peor, T9s o peor". Este es un rango mucho ms sencillo contra el que jugar. De todos modos, fjate en las manos que muestra tu oponente en el showdown; debes comprobar que la suposicin de que sube con el 20% de sus mejores manos es correcta. Si tuvieras un rival tricky que viera con el 10% de sus peores y mejores manos y subiera con el 20% restante, la asuncin anterior de su rango sera incorrecta, y te encontraras en problemas por una mala lectura. Un aspecto importante a tener en cuenta: la gente a menudo ve el VPIP alto de un jugador y concluye que es un idiota poco selectivo. Despus, ve su subida y se queda de piedra cuando descubre en el showdown que el idiota llevaba los cohetes. Recuerda, si te sube antes del flop un 65/5, tiene aproximadamente el mismo rango de manos que un 12/5. No confundas su laxa seleccin de manos antes del flop con un rango mayor del que realmente tiene cuando sube Agresividad despus del flop: despus del flop comienza un nuevo juego. La gente suele cometer el error de asumir que un jugador poco selectivo antes del flop lo es tambin despus del mismo, o que uno agresivo antes del flop lo es tambin a partir de ste. Esto slo se puede descubrir mediante la observacin (y por sus estadsticas de AF). Cualquier combinacin de estilos de juego antes y despus del flop es posible, y ninguna especialmente infrecuente. Los verdaderos TA/TA (selectivoagresivos antes y despus del flop) y los LP/LP (calling station antes y despus del flop) son solo una forma de oponente. Otro tipo de jugador muy comn es el TA/LA: siempre agresivo y bastante selectivo antes del flop, este rival juega tan pocas manos que cuando encuentra algo (CUALQUIER COSA) que est dispuesto a jugar antes del flop, no puede abandonar. Se convierte en un maniaco despus del flop, basando sus ganancias en el folding equity y en su mejor rango inicial de manos. Otro tipo de jugador frecuente es el TP/TA: se transforma de una roca pasiva antes del flop a un mono agresivo tras el mismo. Si no liga, estn fuera de la mano, pero si lo hacen, van a pegar en cada calle e intentar llegar all in al showdown. Menos comn en microlmites, pero ms frecuentes conforme se sube de nivel (y mortalmente peligrosos cuando son buenos) son los LP/TA: este tipo de jugador es un completo idiota calling station antes del flop. Normalmente tendrn nmeros entre 75/11 y 68/6. No te dejes engaar! Es un ardid. Estos oponentes se meten en tantos botes como puedan y lo ms barato que puedan, y tras el flop juegan a PQUER. Abandonarn una gran parte de las veces en el flop, gastando 1BB, pero cuando liguen, sern astutos como el diablo y slidos, slidos, slidos. Se transforman en modo agresivo, apostando increblemente fuerte confiando en que jugadores TAG despistados les vean con poca cosa porque: Oye! Este idiota es un 72/7, mi TP3K (top pair 3rd kicker) tiene superado su rango de manos. Ellos limpian ms TAG que t y yo podamos algn da soar, porque su imagen lleva a los TAG a volverse locos con sus buenos movimientos despus del flop. As que la regla de oro es sta: despus del flop se inicia un nuevo juego; espera que la gente juegue un estilo diferente antes y despus del flop, e intenta averiguar rpido cul de los dos estilos juegan en cada situacin. A partir de aqu, una vez que estamos en el flop y calles posteriores, necesitamos usar la AF media y la seleccin despus del flop para decidir qu llevan los rivales, afinando nuestro rango original basado en su juego antes del flop. Esto nos lleva al tercer mandamiento (para el prximo da): En el texto original, la frase es: I had ten, but one of the tablets broke when EMC dropped it -sorry, blame the mod. El ttulo de los Cinco Mandamientos es una clara alusin a la Biblia y, como originalmente los mandamientos son diez, hizo un chiste sobre por qu su artculo solo tiene cinco. La traduccin literal es tena diez, pero una de las tablas se rompi cuando se le cay a EMC; EMC no s lo que significa, pero he encontrado por internet que es una banda callejera peligrosa o tambin un grupo de artes marciales de entretenimiento. Como no estaba seguro, he usado la alusin que hace sobre la Biblia y la he adaptado como me ha pasado por el forro (de los huevos). Contina posteriormente el guio a la Biblia escribiendo los mandamientos en el ingls arcaico empleado en el libro sagrado (thy es la segunda persona del posesivo, actualmente se utiliza you).
http://www.poker-red.com/foros/showthread.php?7269-Gu%C3%ADa-incre%C3%ADblemente-larga-sobre-la-lectura-de-manos-Parte-I
frecuencia para realizar grandes faroles o semifaroles. Pongamos que un rival 30/11/3 sube antes del flop desde MP y t ves con posicin llevando 33. Solo estis los dos en la mano; el flop sale 765. ste es un flop REALMENTE bueno para atacar de manera agresiva: teniendo en cuenta las estadsticas de tu oponente, su subida significa cartas altas (ovc) un mayor porcentaje de lo normal, as que la probabilidad de que no haya ligado nada es tambin ms alta de lo normal. Subir en el flop o flotar puede tener un gran valor para ti. En este anlisis estoy ignorando completamente la escalera interna (no tiene prcticamente valor porque es bastante improbable que se complete y, asimismo, bastante improbable que pague mucho mientras tenga la mejor mano). No, lo que estoy diciendo, es que este flop es bueno para ti porque es bastante improbable que haya mejorado la mano de tu rival. Meter presin con fuerza debera hacerte ganar este bote bastante a menudo sin llegar al showdown (NT: Ojo en microlmites con los jugadores que suben parejas bajas y los que no se saben tirar parejas medias en este tipo de flops por mucho que subas). El valor de las cartas altas: a tus rivales les encanta jugar cartas altas. Seguro que ya has dejado de ver subidas con KJo y A9o (porque, lo has hecho, verdad?), pero ellos no. Jugar estas manos que estn dominadas con facilidad le saldr muy caro a tus rivales despistados, pero ten presente esta regla general: un flop lleno de cartas altas es mucho ms probable que haya mejorado a tus rivales que uno que apenas las tenga. Si un As cae en un bote con mltiples jugadores y no tengo al menos AQ, normalmente doy la mano por perdida. No hay cosa que les guste ms a los rivales que jugar ases (un As con cualquier otra carta), y cuando uno caiga sobre la mesa, se quedarn enganchados a ellos como si los ases estuvieran hechos de oro macizo. Lo que es an ms grave, una pareja de ases con kicker J o peor va a encontrarse en serios problemas a no ser que empareje tambin el kicker. Fjate en esta situacin: Pongamos que tienes AJ en una mesa con un As. La siguiente carta ms alta es una T. Si algn otro jugador tiene un As, Qu probabilidad tiene su mano de batirte? Bien, obviamente AK y AQ te tienen superado por el kicker, y el improbable AA te tiene machacado. Sin embargo, hay otros CUATRO ases que te superan (aquellos que han logrado doble pareja). Eso quiere decir que vas por delante casi con la misma frecuencia que la que vas por detrs, y eso simplemente asumiendo que tu rival "solo" tiene un As! Aades las otras dobles parejas y tros posibles, y tu mano ganar en el showdown menos de la mitad de las veces. Lo que es an peor, muchos oponentes comprendern que estn batidos y tirarn sus ases con kickers bajos, pero no abandonarn con ninguna mano que te tenga superado. Si de alguna forma logras crear un gran bote, es MUCHO ms probable que vayas por detrs. En mesa corta, acta con precaucin en mesas con un As como carta ms alta, incluso aunque lleves uno. Las mesas con Rey como carta ms alta tambin son bastante peligrosas, porque los rivales menos selectivos jugarn muchos reyes, especialmente con otra carta del mismo palo. Reinas y Jotas son menos peligrosas como la carta alta de un jugador, pero MUY a temer como su carta baja. Alguien dispuesto a jugar KJo antes del flop no va a tirar prcticamente nunca una mano en un flop cuya carta ms alta sea una J. Resumiendo, la probabilidad de que a tu rival no le haya favorecido la mesa es muy alta si son cartas bajas, y mucho menor si son cartas altas. Esto es especialmente cierto si en la mesa hay ms de UNA carta alta. Una excepcin importante a esta regla: si has SUBIDO antes del flop, no abandones la mano si en el flop cae una carta alta, especialmente si es un As. Es una gran oportunidad de robar el bote. Estadsticamente hablando, cualquier rival al que te podras enfrentar tiene menos del 50% de probabilidades de tener un As, pero si t apuestas, asumir que t S lo tienes. Una apuesta de continuacin estndar te har ganar el bote la mayor parte de las veces. Si te contraatacan, abandona y a por la siguiente mano. Mesa emparejada: normalmente, una mesa con dos cartas iguales es un motivo de alegra. Por qu? Porque en una mesa sin emparejar, hay 9 cartas distintas que podran dar una pareja a un rival. Sin embargo, en una mesa EMPAREJADA, ese nmero baja hasta 5 cartas. Dicho de otra manera, es casi un 50% menos probable que un oponente tenga una mano suficientemente buena como para poder continuar. Deberas usar esto en su contra si es razonable hacerlo. Por ejemplo, ten presente que, si viste antes del flop y la mesa es AAK, puedes normalmente pasar tirar tus cartas porque tu rival no se va a creer que tengas algo decente. Sin embargo, si subiste antes del flop y en la mesa cae 884, una apuesta en un bote contra un solo jugador es prcticamente OBLIGATORIA: tu
rival se dar cuenta de que no ha ligado, asumir que llevas una pareja de mano, y se tirar ms a menudo que frente a una apuesta de continuacin tpica. Las mesas emparejadas son perfectas para continuar con la agresividad mostrada antes del flop. Por otro lado, ten en cuenta que los jugadores ms agresivos saben todo esto, as que si por casualidad ests en un bote en el que otro subi, el flop viene emparejado y tienes una gran mano oculta, considera seriamente jugar despacio el flop, por ejemplo pasando en falso o incluso pasando y viendo en el flop, y pasando y subiendo en el turn. Tus rivales ms agresivos harn una apuesta de continuacin muy a menudo y, es entonces cuando puedes tirarte un farol y ganar as un bote mayor al que hubieras ganado de otra forma. Obviamente, esta jugada es depende especficamente de tu oponente, pero mantn tus ojos bien abiertos para detectar y aprovechar estas situaciones. En el turn y en el river, tambin influyen aspectos relativos a los descritos en los puntos anteriores definiendo la "textura" de la mesa. Como regla general, un rival selectivo seguir en una mesa wet (altamente coordinada) cuando lleve una mano o un proyecto fuerte, pero uno poco selectivo puede hacerlo con tan poco como TP. Un oponente agresivo puede apostar en mesas wets con un proyecto, un proyecto combinado (escalera y color), una pareja ms proyecto, e incluso apostar de farol total. Si un rival pasivo apuesta en este tipo de mesas normalmente es porque tiene una gran mano (es raro que un jugador de este tipo apueste proyectos). Ahora, para empezar a juntar todo lo explicado, pasemos a la siguiente regla (para el prximo da...):
http://www.poker-red.com/foros/showthread.php?7332-Gu%C3%ADa-Incre%C3%ADblemente-Larga-Sobre-La-Lectura-De-Manos-Parte-II
accordingly. Be VERY afraid when a player is playing out of character: the passive postflop player who leads and raises almost always has a monster, and you can fold without a worry. The ultramaniac who check/calls two streets also has a monster, and is waiting to beat your brains out. Don't fall for it. All of this leads us to our second commandment:
Preflop aggresssion: a passive preflop player has a PFR under a quarter of their VPIP. That
means that this is a floating scale: while 10% PFR is passive for a player who has a VPIP of 55%, it is aggressive for a player who has a VPIP of 15%. Alternatively, an aggressive preflop player will have a PFR over half of their VPIP. When we're trying to decide a player's preflop holding, we should use their VPIP and their PFR to come to a conclusion. Say a player has a VPIP of 40% and a PFR of 20% and they limp in front of you. What sort of holdings do you expect them to have? Well, we know the player is willing to play with 40% of his hands; our sample range for this looked something like "any pair, any ace, any king, any two broadway, any suited connectors 32s+." But we can already refine this range some more: we know that with 20% of those hands, villain would have raised, and here he didn't. If we assume that villain raises with his top 20%, our sample range for that looks something like "any pair, any two broadway, any suited ace." So take THOSE hands out of his current range: just like you discount 72o when a nit is in the hand, you discount QQ when a maniac limps. A likely range here is going to be the difference between the two ranges, or "any unsuited ace, K9s or worse, K9o or worse, T9s or worse." That's a much easier range to play against. Be sure to watch this opponent's showdown hands, however -you'd really like to know if your assumption about him raising the top 20% of his range is correct or not. If you have a tricky opponent who raises his middle 20% and limps the top 10% and bottom 10%, your range will be significantly wrong, and you'll be in a good deal of trouble with your hand reading. One huge word of warning: people often look at a player's VPIP and conclude that the player is a loose idiot. Then they call his raise and are shocked when they find out at showdown that he had rockets. Remember, if you are raised preflop by a 65/5, he has roughly the same hand range as when you're raised by a 12/5. Don't mistake his typical preflop looseness with a wide range when he raises....
Postflop aggression: after the flop, a new game begins. People often make the mistake of
assuming that a tight preflop player is tight postflop, or that an aggressive preflop player is aggressive postflop. This can only be discovered by observation. I will tell you that every combination of preflop and postflop playstyles is possible, and none are terribly uncommon. The true TA/TA (tight-aggressive preflop, tight-aggressive postflop) and LP/LP (calling station pre and post) is only one form of opponent. Another very common player is the TA/LA: always aggressive and solidly tight preflop, this opponent plays hands so infrequently that when he finds something -- ANYTHING -- that he's willing to play preflop he cannot bring himself to let it go. He turns into a maniac postflop, relying on folding equity and a better starting hand range to win money.
Another common player is the TP/TA, who goes from nit preflop to aggro-monkey postflop. If they miss, they're out of the hand, but if they hit the hand they're going to hammer every street and try to get all-in by the showdown. Less common at uNL, but increasingly common at higher levels (and deadly-dangerous when they do it right) is the LP/TA: this player is a total calling station idiot preflop. You'll often see preflop numbers of 75/11 or 68/6 for these folks. Don't fall for it! It's a ruse. These folks are splashing around in as many pots as they can as cheaply as they can, and then postflop they play POKER. They'll be folding a tremendous fraction of the time on the flop, escaping for 1 BB, but when they hit it will be with something sneaky-as-hell and solid-solid-solid. They then go into aggro mode, betting incredibly hard and relying on unobservant TAGs to call them down lighter because "hey, this idiot is 72/7, my TP3K dominates his range." They stack more TAGs than you and I could ever hope to, because their image gets them mad phat postflop action. So the rule is: postflop is a new game; expect people to play a different style postflop from preflop, and try to quickly figure out BOTH of these styles. Now, once we're on the flop and beyond we need to use average aggression and postflop tightness to decide what a player's holdings are, refining our original range based on their preflop play. This leads us to the third commandment:
Suitedness: flops can come "rainbow" (three different suits), "two-suited" (two of one suit
and one of another), or "monochrome" (all three cards in the same suit). The more "suited" a flop is, the bigger the hand most opponents will need to call. However, note that many hyperaggressive opponents will be more likely to bet out, check-raise, or "float" (smooth-call on the flop with the intent of taking the pot on the turn) with either a pure bluff or a semi-bluff (draw) on these types of boards. If you are first to act, you can often steal these pots for a reasonably small (2/3rds-pot) bet; if you are called, beware of the flush draw! One small bit of math: let's say that the flop comes with three spades and you have none in your hand. The odds that your single opponent flopped a made flush are 3.3% and the odds that he flopped a flush DRAW are 15.8%. If you've hit a solid hand (say, TPTK) DO NOT PANIC AND START CALLING! Bet out and protect against the draw that is 4.75 times more likely than the made flush that has you killed. Besides, if your opponent actually has a second-best hand, he'll be more likely to pay off a bet on a monochrome flop than he will to pay off a bet when the turn has FOUR spades (assuming he doesn't have one). Bet while your hand is best and charge him well to try and outdraw you. Incidentally, if your board has three spades and you have one in your hand, the odds that your opponent has two spades drops to 2.6% and the odds that he has one spade drops to 14.4%, so the odds that your opponent is drawing to a flush are now 5.6 times higher than the odds that he flopped the monster. Bet and protect!
Connectedness: here we're talking about how many cards to a straight the board has. A
monochrome flop of J-T-9 is MUCH more dangerous than a monochrome flop of J-7-2. Always be aware of straight draws -- they're a gold-mine to the savvy poker player because so many people miss them. When the flop comes A-K-Q, the player holding JTs just stacked the preflop raiser holding AK. When the board is connected, you need to beware of two separate possibilities: your opponent might have two pair and your opponent might have an open-ended straight draw. Often, two pair is the scarier event, because your weak-but-made hand is often drawing very thin against it. A straight draw can become an almost unbeatable monster, but it has to GET there first. Two pair is already there. At small stakes games, many players will play very passively with a draw, check/calling in the hopes of improving, but they will play aggressively with two pair. Your more aggressive opponents will bet BOTH hands strongly. When someone plays back at you on a fairly connected board, you need to decide if they're likely drawing or if instead they've flopped some powerhouse hand. Then you'll proceed based on the strength of your hand in relation to the range you think is likely for your opponent. Much like a suited board, a connected
10
board can often be used as a powerful bluffing or semibluffing tool. Say your 30/11/3 opponent raises preflop from MP and you call in position with 33. Heads-up, the flop comes 7-6-5. This is a REALLY good flop for attack aggressively: considering your opponent's stats, the raise makes overcards much more likely than usual, so the odds that this flop has completely missed your opponent are higher than usual. A flop raise or a flop float can prove extremely valuable to you. In this analysis I'm completely ignoring your inside straight draw -- that's virtually worthless since it's highly unlikely to happen and also highly unlikely to get paid in any significant way by your opponent while still being the best hand. No, I'm saying that this flop is a good one for you because it is unlikely to have improved your opponent in any meaningful way. Pressing back hard should win you this pot quite often WITHOUT getting to a showdown.
High Card Value: your opponents love playing high cards. Sure, you've outgrown calling
raises with KJo and A9o (you HAVE outgrown that, right?) but they haven't. Playing these easilydominated hands will prove very expensive for your inattentive opponents, but realize this general rule: a flop that is high-card heavy is much more likely to have connected with your opposition than a flop that is high-card light. If an ace hits the board in a multi-way pot and I don't have AT LEAST AQ, I'm usually done with the hand. Opponents love nothing more than playing aces, and when those aces hit the board your opponents will hang on to their aces like they were made out of solid gold. Worse yet, a pair of aces with a J-or-worse kicker is going to be in oodles of trouble unless that kicker connects, too. Think about this: say you have AJ on an ace-high board. The next highest board card is a T. If one other player has an ace, what are the odds that his hand beats yours? Well, AK and AQ obviously have you outkicked, and the unlikely AA has you decimated. However, there are four OTHER aces that beat you -- the ones that have made two pair. That means you're behind about as often as you're ahead in this situation, and that's even assuming that your opponent "only" has an ace! You throw in the other random two-pair and set hands and your hand will win at showdown less than half the time. Worse yet, most opponents will get the message and fold their aces with weak kickers, but they're unlikely to fold any hand that beats you. The odds are that if you somehow create a big pot, you're even MORE likely to be behind. In short, proceed with great caution on ace-high boards, even if you have an ace. King high boards are pretty dangerous, too, because the looser opponents will play many kings, especially suited ones. Q's and J's are less scary as a player's high card, but VERY dangerous as a player's LOW card. Someone willing to play KJo preflop is virtually never going to fold that hand on a J-high flop. Recognize that the odds that your opponent has missed the board are highest on low-card boards, and much lower when the board has high cards. This is especially true if the board has more than ONE high card. One major exception to this rule: if you RAISED preflop, don't give up when the flop comes with a high card, especially if that high card is an ace. This is a fantastic chance to steal the pot. Statistically speaking, virtually any opponent you could face has a less-than-50% chance of having an ace in this situation, but if you bet the flop they will assume you DO have one. A standard continuation bet will win the pot a surprisingly large fraction of the time. If they play back, fold and move on to the next hand.
Paired Boards: usually, a paired board is a cause for celebration. Why? Because with an
unpaired board there are nine separate cards in the unseen deck that could give an opponent a pair. However, with a PAIRED board, that number falls to only FIVE cards. In other words, it's now almost 50% less likely that an opponent has made a hand good enough to want to continue. You should use this against them if it is reasonable for you to do so. Mind you, if you limped preflop and the board is AAK, you can usually check-fold, because your opponent is not going to believe that you have the goods. However, if you raised preflop and the board comes 884 a bet in a heads-up pot is virtually MANDATORY: your opponent will realize he's missed, assume you have a pocket pair, and fold even more often than he would fold to a typical continuation bet. Paired boards are perfect for continuing preflop aggression. Also, realize that most aggressive players know this, so if you happen to be in a pot that someone else raised, the flop comes paired and you've got a sneaky monster, consider a slowplay like a flop check-raise or even a "check/call flop, check/raise turn."
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Your aggressive targets will fire off a continuation bet quite often, and you can then "snap off a bluff" and win a bigger pot than you otherwise would. Obviously, this will be opponent-specific, but keep your eyes peeled for such opportunities. On the turn and river, similar issues with connectedness, suitedness, high card value, and board pairs will continue to pertain, and will define the "texture" of the board. As a general rule, a tight opponent will continue on "wet" (highly coordinated) boards when he has a strong hand or a strong draw, but a loose opponent may continue with as little as top pair. An aggressive opponent can bet "wet" boards with a draw, a "combination draw" (straight and flush), or a pair+draw, and may even bet these boards on a pure bluff. A passive opponent betting into a "wet" board usually has the goods -- these folks rarely bet their draws. Now, to start to put this all together, let's move on to the next rule:
Check-raises: when an opponent check-raises, he is sending the message that his hand is
unusually powerful. He knows you are betting and he doesn't care. What's more, he was confident enough to risk your checking behind in his quest to get more money in the pot. These types of bets will usually mean one of three things: either your opponent was monsterously strong and slowplayed an earlier street, or the last card just helped your opponent in some way, or he is bluffing in a situation where he thinks he can scare you off your hand. As a general rule, trust check-raises from passive players. Completely. If you don't have a sneaky MONSTER (and I mean MONSTER with a capital *everything*) you should be folding to this raise. People often ask "can I ever escape from pocket aces?" This would be one situation where escaping would be easy. Another general rule is that the more aggressive a player is, the more likely a check-raise is a bluff. I would say that until an opponent has an aggression factor of at least 2 you shouldn't worry much about a check-raise semi-bluff, and until he has an aggression factor of at least 4 you shouldn't worry much about a check-raise bluff. People are very quick to put a player on a bluff when he check-raises; I believe this event is much rarer than most people think. One caveat to this: check-raises on the flop are far more likely to be bluffs or weak hands than check-raises on ANY other street. On the flop, people will often take a check-raise line against a frequent cbettor, even with hands like "bottom pair, no kicker" because they know that their opponent will frequently have pure air. So: a check-raise on the flop usually means "I can beat ace-high," but a check-raise on a later street usually means "I can beat YOU."
Check-calls: this play is highly player-specific. Against a passive calling station this means "I
have two cards. Look! Spades are pretty. I like pie." Against a tight and moderately aggressive player this often means "I'm on a draw." Against a highly aggressive player this often means "I have a monster and I'm going to let you bet yourself to death." Check-calls are precursors to check-raises on later streets from very aggressive players; from very passive players, they just precede more check-calls.
Donkbets: a "donkbet" is when someone who does NOT have the betting lead makes an
unexpected bet. For instance, if a player called your preflop raise but then leads into you on the flop, that would be a donkbet. Similarly, if a player calls your flop bet but then leads on the turn, that would also be a donkbet. At these stages, a donkbet should be interpreted as saying "that card helped me." The more passive your opponent, the more straightforward this interpretation is. When a passive player comes alive on a third straight card, or a fourth flush card, or a pairing of the board, or some odd-looking random card, you should expect that the card has helped his hand out and he is now value-betting. Of course, how strong his hand is remains to be seen, but the card has improved him. Don't expect that this means he has the nuts: I've seen passive players wake up and bet the fourth heart...because it gave them two pair. On the other hand, very aggressive players love to donkbet on scare cards. This is a cheaper bluff than a check-raise but it works just as often at these levels, and many aggressive players will take advantage of a turn ace or a third/fourth club, or a board pair to try and steal the pot. Be aware of this.
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Unexpected checks: a player who has been betting steadily in the hand suddenly starts to
check. What does this mean? Well, one obvious interpretation is that he has been bluffing and has now given up on the hand. Most players are straightforward enough that this will be the case. Against a medium-aggressive opponent, this will often be a good opportunity to bet with any two cards, since your folding equity will be through-the-roof. Another common situation is that a player flops a decent hand -- say top pair on a T-high board -- and then slows way down when the turn brings a K. They are worried about the overpair, and so have stopped betting. That does not necessarily mean they are ready to fold; some players will go from betting/raising to check/calling all the way to showdown. However, when an aggressive player stops being aggressive, that's usually a sign that your situation is not as dire as you thought it was. Beware of the hyperaggressive opponent who unexpectedly checks, ESPECIALLY if he check/calls a scare card. For some reason, these players have taken the "strong = weak, weak = strong" philosophy to heart, and will often bet with little or nothing but immediately slowplay the moment they get a hand. Watch your opponents carefully to see if the turn check usually means they are giving up or if it usually means they are trapping you.
Bet-check-bet: a strange-looking but rather common three-street line is "bet the flop, check
behind on the turn, bet the river," where the opponent has check/called the whole way. Against an aggressive opponent, this river bet is often what we call a "desperation bluff." The hand has no showdown value so the villain bets in the hopes that you will fold the best hand. Since you've shown little or no strength the whole hand through, they feel they have strong folding equity (which is true), and they are now attacking in a last-ditch effort to scoop up the pot. However, you need to be aware of what the board looked like. Another common reasoning behind this line is that the flop bet was with nothing, the turn gave the opponent a draw, and the river either made the draw or missed. If an obvious draw arrived on the end, you would really need to know more about your opponent before you knew if this was a bluff or not. Calling against some opponents will be extremely +EV even with bottom pair; against other opponents it will be -EV with anything short of a powerhouse. Again, watch your opponents and take notes on what their lines mean. Our fifth and final commandment ties in to everything we've already discussed:
Only worry about image with second-level thinkers. For some of you, this is
your first segue into third-level thinking. First-level thinking is asking, "what is my hand?" Second-level thinking is asking, "what is my opponent's hand?" Third-level thinking is asking, "what does my opponent think my hand is?" Obviously third-level thinking is irrelevant against a first-level thinker. However, most opponents will at least make some token effort to guess your hand, so against your better opponents understanding your image will be important. When you have a complete idiot who never looks past his own hand while playing the game, don't worry about image -- you'll just be wasting your time and effort.
Your cards only affect your image when you SHOW them. In the last five
straight hands you've had AA, KQ (flopped trips), QQ, JT (flopped straight), and 55 (flopped set). You won all five hands before showdown, and you never show your hands without being forced to do so. Recognize that your table image is now absolute CRAP. Yes, you had the goods. Sure, your hands were actually powerhouses. Of course, your starting hand selection is tight. None of that matters. All your opponents have seen is you betting and raising every hand. They doubt you, and they're very quickly going to get sick of your crap and start looking you up. This is NOT the time to get cute with QJs or 33 -- this is the time to play squeaky-clean poker as tight as you know how. Alternatively, if each of those five went to showdown and you displayed to the table your powerhouse winners, your folding equity will be HIGHER than usual, because people will begin to believe that you don't get involved with a hand unless you've got the goods. Be aware of this.
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Recent history matters more than ancient history. Very few of your opponents
actually have Poker Tracker. As a result, their image of you will be determined by their own personal observations. Most people have a relatively short memory, so concentrate most on your actions in the last two orbits. If your table image has fallen apart and your bluffs have gotten picked off several times in a row, tighten up and fold for the next two orbits -- in that short period of time you will rebuild most or all of your table image and you can then go back to doing your nasty deeds. Conversely, if you've been at the table for three hours playing a 12/8 game but you've gotten involved in 10 of the last 12 hands, people will think of you as a maniac, and play back at you with all sorts of crap. It's the recent history that counts, so remember how your last two orbits looked at the table.
Personal history matters more than table history. A player may not remember
that you bluffed Seat 3 off his hand five times in a row, but he WILL remember that you bluffed HIM off his hand once an hour and a half ago. People have much longer memories for hands that involved them personally. If you stole a player's big blind three times in the last four orbits, he's going to know that, and he's going to play back at you with any reasonably strong hand. Your folding equity on a steal will be particularly low against HIM, but won't be low at all against the other players at the table.
Opponents will usually assume that your lines always mean the same thing. If you bet 3/4ths pot on a river scare card with the nut flush, then the next time you are
in a pot against that opponent and the river comes with a three-flush (not yours), bet 3/4ths pot! Your folding equity will be tremendous. Alternatively, if the flush card DID help you, bet a DIFFERENT amount -- push all your chips in, or bet 1/2 pot, or do something else. When you want a call, don't do what you did the last time he saw you with the nuts. When you want a fold, do exactly what you did the last time he saw you with the nuts. People will remember these things. ---------I realize this post is longer than even MY usual posts, but hand reading is a tricky, subtle, complicated, and ever-changing concept. Hopefully, this material will help you do a better job of reading hands at the table. As long and detailed as this is, know that I am just giving you the tip of the iceberg, here. Experience and study will help you to understand the rest of it.
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Here are some probabilities of getting a hand in a particular preflop range: Super-premiums: AA, KK, QQ, AK. Premiums: AA-TT, AK, AQ, KQ. Any pocket pair: AA-22. Any two broadway: Two cards, both T+, Any suited ace: A2s-AKs. Unsuited ace: A2o-AKo. "Maximum suited connectors": JTs-54s. Any ace: A2o+, A2s+, AA. Any two suited: literally. Any two connectors: 32s-AKs, 32o-AKo. Total probability: 2.6%. Total probability: 5.9%. Total probability: 5.9%. including pairs. Total probability: 14.3%. Total probability: 3.6%. Total probability: 10.9%. Total probability: 2.1%. Total probability: 14.9%. Total probability: 23.5%. Total probability: 14.5%.
To give you a VERY broad feel for what different percentages translate into, here are some potential example ranges: 5% = "pairs 77+, AK, AQs" or "pairs 99+, AK, AQ." 10% = "pairs 66+, AK, AQ, suited aces, KQs, QJs" 15% = "any pair, AK, AQ, KQ, suited connectors 54+, any suited ace" 20% = "any pair, any two broadway, any suited ace" 25% = "any pair, any suited broadway, any ace, any suited connectors 54s+, KQo" 30% = "any pair, any ace, any suited king, any suited broadway, any suited connectors 54s+, KTo+, QJo" or "any pair, any ace, any suited king, any broadway" 40% = "any pair, any ace, any king, any two broadway, any suited connectors 32s+" 50% = "any pair, any two suited cards, any ace, any two broadway, K5o+"
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preflop range: Super-premiums Premiums: Any pocket pair: Any two broadway: Any suited ace: Unsuited ace: Max. suit,connect.: Any ace: Any two suited: Any two connectors: % 5%
hand in a particular: AA, KK, QQ, AK. AA-TT, AK, AQ, KQ. AA-22. Two cards, both T+, including pairs. A2s-AKs. A2o-AKo JTs-54s. A2o+, A2s+, AA. literally. 32s-AKs, 32o-AKo. Some potential ranges:
Tot.probability 2.6%. 5.9%. 5.9%. 14.3%. 3.6%. 10.9%. 2.1%. 14.9%. 23.5%. 14.5%.
10% "pairs 66+, AK, AQ, suited aces, KQs, QJs" 15% "any pair, AK, AQ, KQ, suited connectors 54+, any suited ace" 20% "any pair, any two broadway, any suited ace" 25% "any pair, any suited broadway, any ace, any suited connectors 54s+, KQo" 30% = "any pair, any ace, any suited king, any suited broadway, any suited connectors 54s+, KTo+, QJo" or "any pair, any ace, any suited king, any broadway" "any pair, any two suited cards, any ace, any two broadway, K5o+"
40% "any pair, any ace, any king, any two broadway, any suited connectors 32s+" 50