Analyzing Poker Betting Behavior For Tells
Author: Connie H. Taxdal

Do you want to win more poker hands and bigger pots? Your opponents’ betting behaviors, as a component of card reading, can help you achieve your goal.

Analyzing your opponent’s betting behavior and finding patterns is one of the most accurate clues or “tells” you can get about a player. All poker players have a range of possible behaviors for a given situation although most good players will vary the way they play.

It is extremely important to classify each player at your table into common categories based on what hands they play and how they play those hands. You can break these categories into four dimensions: tightness, looseness, aggressiveness and knowledge.

Tightness:
A player’s tightness tells you their minimum hand for entering a pot. You can get a good idea of their requirements by tracking how often they stay in the pot and what kinds of hands they have at the showdown. A tight poker player may only play about one in five hands and you should expect them to start with strong hole cards. These players are sometimes referred to as rocks. They usually play passively, opting to check and call rather than bet, raise or check-raise. If you have been paying attention to the players in the game, you will be able to spot the rock at your table. They rarely bluff, so if you are raised by one of these players and you don’t have anything near the nuts, you will save money by mucking your hand. A good “tell” of a tight player is that they are usually neat and conservative in both dress and actions. How they arrange their chips and hold their cards are reliable indicators of their frame of mind.

Looseness:
A loose poker player is easy to detect because they will almost always see the flop and then still play even after it’s clear that their hands are beaten. More than likely, this person is a beginner or recreational player. This group is also known as the calling station. They will play too many poker hands but will not play them strongly. They stay until the river looking for that miracle card and will sometimes call just to keep you honest or they wanted to see what you had. These types of players are the ones who will inflict the worst bad beats on you because of the cards they play and the fact they run you down on the river. Other tells to look for are inattentiveness and talking too much. Also, watch for shaking hands, rapid breathing and mannerism changes when they have a good hand described in the Poker Tells for a Good Hand article.

Aggressiveness:
The aggressive player bets marginal hands strongly in the early rounds and raises or check-raises in the later rounds. These are the maniacs at the table. They crave action and will play many hands betting and raising at every opportunity. This is the player you want to have sitting on your right so you can fold your weaker hands when they go into action. The problem with a maniac is that you never know whether their hand is weak or strong. These players will cause the biggest fluctuation in your bankroll. They also will contribute to some of your biggest wins. An aggressive poker player will be the actor at the table with their exaggerated playing style, multiple expressions and deceptiveness. This is when you will have to decide if it’s an act or not.

Knowledge:
A knowledgeable player is a force to be reckoned with. It is very important for you to assess the other players’ understanding of the game. This type of player is selective about the hands they play but when they do play, they play them aggressively. The knowledgeable player is good enough to disguise their possible holdings and therefore keep their opponents guessing. The advanced players develop their image and make plays based on other players’ perceptions of them. They watch their opponents for tells and habits. They work hard to eliminate their own actions that might give away information about their hands. A knowledgeable poker player mixes their pattern of play. They have a strategy, a game plan and the discipline to stick to it. If this is not you, then achieving to be the knowledgeable player should be your goal. This is the type of player you want to be.

One of the key skills most good poker players have is the ability to read their opponents at the table. That is why you hear so much about “poker tells.” You may not be able to determine the exact hand a player may have, but you can get a general idea about the types of hands they play. You do this by paying attention at the table even when you are not involved in a hand.

Obtain Poker Knowledge to produce Poker Skills which equate to Poker Wins.

©2009 CHT Enterprises – All Rights Reserved.

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