Reading Hands
poker online would be such an easy game if you only knew what cards each of your opponents were holding. Unfortuantely, there are very few poker online players who will happily show you what cards they got and continue to play with you. Therefore, it’s up to strategy to save the day again for poker online players everywhere.
There’s no way to get a player to come right out and tell you what cards he’s got, but there are a few ways to make an educated guess as to what he’s holding. First and foremost, you need to get to know your opponents. Mentally work your way around a table and try to pigeonhole each opponent into any mixture of tight, loose, passive, and aggressive playing styles. Once you’ve got each player generalized, you will have an idea what cards your opponents are willing to play and in what situations. A preflop raise is an essential way to get an idea of what your opponents are holding. Your tight opponents will often fold, but if they don’t, you can bet that they’ve got a darn good starting hand. Looser opponents are a bit more difficult to read, but once the flop comes, you can put a bit more pressure on them to see if they’ve really got something.
