Thinking Through Your Poker Hand
When it comes to thinking about your hand in poker, there are three basic things you need to cover as an amateur. As you progress and become better you can advance on to higher levels, but for now let's stick to the basics. On top of that once you have the first three basic levels down to a tee the others are just repetition. This way the next time you sit down you won't find all your poker chips on the other side of the table.
The simplest train of thought that you will use is figuring out what you, yourself actually has. This is the easiest level by far, which is why it's the first one! When you are just starting out you will need to be able to look at your cards and figure out what you already have and what your chances of improving your hand are in the blink of an eye. This will allow you to weight this against the other levels.
After you figure out what you have, you have to find or guess really what you opponents are holding. Now the trick to this is using their betting patterns against them. By finding patterns in your opponents betting patterns you can develop your opponent's tendencies. Then you can essentially tell whether you opponent is bluffing or actually has the nuts most times if they are a weak player. A word to the wise, do not attempt to use this on players that are more advanced. They will be able to do this much faster and be able to confuse you by switching up their game.
However when the flop hits this thought process becomes a little bit more involved. Now you have to include the added factors of their post-flop play (do they like to slow-play, continuation bet etc...).There are so many variables to consider when you are trying to make a guess at what you opponent has. So the next time you watch the World Series of Poker, you know what Daniel Negreanu or Phil Ivey is thinking about when they take longer than expected to make that amazing call.
Now that you have your hand and an educated guess about what your opponent has, it is time to use some upper level thinking and to ask yourself "what do they think I have?" This is where things can get a little bit confusing, but you have to remember that the entire time you are trying to figure out what they have that they are doing the same to you. So if you have bluffed ten straight hands in a row, it is probably not a good idea to throw your poker chips in again with a bluff. Essentially this third level of thought is all about using your table image, or in general terms using what others think about your playing style. So if other players peg you as a tight passive player, it might be time to throw a change up in there and bluff'em. Or even on a higher level if you remember that the last couple of times you had the best hand you tried to set a trap, throw a big bet their way. Chances are if they remember they will put you on a bluff and you will get paid off big time.
So as you progress further you can see that this is a never ending battle of they have, I have thinking. When you start to realize things like "this player to my right has bet one third of the pot every time he has had a big hand" you know you are becoming a better poker player. The key though to winning is thinking faster, smarter and always staying one step ahead of your opponents.
When it comes to thinking about your hand in poker, there are three basic things you need to cover as an amateur. As you progress and become better you can advance on to higher levels, but for now let's stick to the basics. On top of that once you have the first three basic levels down to a tee the others are just repetition. This way the next time you sit down you won't find all your poker chips on the other side of the table.
The simplest train of thought that you will use is figuring out what you, yourself actually has. This is the easiest level by far, which is why it's the first one! When you are just starting out you will need to be able to look at your cards and figure out what you already have and what your chances of improving your hand are in the blink of an eye. This will allow you to weight this against the other levels.
After you figure out what you have, you have to find or guess really what you opponents are holding. Now the trick to this is using their betting patterns against them. By finding patterns in your opponents betting patterns you can develop your opponent's tendencies. Then you can essentially tell whether you opponent is bluffing or actually has the nuts most times if they are a weak player. A word to the wise, do not attempt to use this on players that are more advanced. They will be able to do this much faster and be able to confuse you by switching up their game.
However when the flop hits this thought process becomes a little bit more involved. Now you have to include the added factors of their post-flop play (do they like to slow-play, continuation bet etc...).There are so many variables to consider when you are trying to make a guess at what you opponent has. So the next time you watch the World Series of Poker, you know what Daniel Negreanu or Phil Ivey is thinking about when they take longer than expected to make that amazing call.
Now that you have your hand and an educated guess about what your opponent has, it is time to use some upper level thinking and to ask yourself "what do they think I have?" This is where things can get a little bit confusing, but you have to remember that the entire time you are trying to figure out what they have that they are doing the same to you. So if you have bluffed ten straight hands in a row, it is probably not a good idea to throw your poker chips in again with a bluff. Essentially this third level of thought is all about using your table image, or in general terms using what others think about your playing style. So if other players peg you as a tight passive player, it might be time to throw a change up in there and bluff'em. Or even on a higher level if you remember that the last couple of times you had the best hand you tried to set a trap, throw a big bet their way. Chances are if they remember they will put you on a bluff and you will get paid off big time.
So as you progress further you can see that this is a never ending battle of they have, I have thinking. When you start to realize things like "this player to my right has bet one third of the pot every time he has had a big hand" you know you are becoming a better poker player. The key though to winning is thinking faster, smarter and always staying one step ahead of your opponents.
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