Reading Online Poker Opponents

Poker Strategy Lesson - Reading Online Poker Opponents

Poker tells come in various ways and while online poker doesn’t include physical tells, there are still indicators you can pick up on. Below are suggested actions you can take to enhance your ability to read poker players. The ability to read opponents is the most critical factor of solid poker strategy.

What is the Poker Table Mood?

When you join a table, make sure you bring the maximum buy-in amount. This is important because you don’t want to come in as a short stack. Be very conservative at first. Getting a read on an opponent doesn’t happen in 5 seconds. Your first goal should be to identify the general table mood: Are players generally tight, aggressive, looking to get a lot of cheap flops? It’s important for you to understand the setting because your chosen poker strategy should always be based on a reaction to your environment. How you play poker depends on how they play poker! Never come in at a table thinking you’re going to play a certain way. Forget about developing your “personal style” because that will actually limit you in the long term. Showing flexibility and adaptability to your surroundings will make you much more effective.

Assessing Poker Opponents

Once you gather information about the table mood, keep an eye on it because this can change over time. When chip stacks of opponents increase/decrease or when players leave and new ones join, the table mood could shift. The next step is to identify a general profile for each opponent. Don’t over complicate things. Just brand them as “aggressive” or “tight” for now. How can you figure this out? By watching them play. Someone who’s involved in a lot of hands is more aggressive than someone who folds a lot of starting hands for instance. Someone who raises a lot, or reraises a lot is very aggressive. Someone who folds a lot when facing a raise is tight, etc.