No Limit opponents

This is an article for the more experienced poker player that plays NL

The thing is that in order to become a very good poker player, you will have to pay attention to and be aware of how your opponents are playing. Often you can get very valuable information by reading your opponent. This will give you a better base to make the right decision. Some players always play certain types of hands the same way. You can imagine that this is of very high value to know. In this way you sort of know exactly what your opponent has and it will thus enable you to make better decisions. In case you know how your opponent plays a certain type of hand in a certain manner it means you have a so called "read" or "tell" on your opponent. This article is about the "reads" and "tells" because of their huge potential.

Below we give you some of the most common valuable "reads" you can get from your opponents:

1. Opponent overplays a top pair top kicker (TPTK)

Some opponents play a TPTK as the nuts when for example they have a medium pair with an Ace kicker This is a fantastic "read" to have because it will enable you to get the whole stack of your opponent with; for example, an over pair or three of a kind

2. Opponent is an idiot who calls anything

It is obvious that these opponents are fantastic to play against when you have a good hand yourself. They will call almost anything anyway. Maybe be aware of the fact that you do not bluff those type of players out of the pot, although! that is very unlikely anyway.

3. Opponents who always bet low in case they have a draw

These type of opponents are very common. They make a low bet and in this manner hope to see the next card very cheap. Obviously you will not fall into this trap so you do a proper raise (size of the pot). In case they call this it means that they have paid too much money for their draw (which means you win from this person in the long run) and in case they hit the draw you just fold

4. Opponents who make mini-raises before the flop when they have low pocket pairs, suited connectors or Axs

Some opponents raise properly with high pocket pairs and hands like or , though when they have a low pocket pair a suited connector or Axs they just do a mini-raise.

5. Opponents who first do a mini-raise and after your raise do a huge re-raise because they turn out to have a monster hand

These opponents first do a mini-raise when they have a good hand (Three of a kind), after which they do a huge raise in case you've re-raised the mini-raise. This makes it very easy for you to fold your hand. It will be the easiest way to get out as cheap as possible (in the long run).

6. Opponents who play any draw very aggressive

Some opponents play any draw as if they have a very good hand. Just keep in mind that they play more hands than they should when trying to read their hand.

7. Opponents who bet little with a marginal hand and much when they have a good hand

Also this is an ideal read to have. When these type of opponents bet low you can easily bluff them out of the pot when at the flop or the turn However in case this type of opponent bets approximately the pot, you know he has a good hand and you can thus more easily throw away you weak hand. This is one of the reasons why it is important that your continuation of bets are always approximately the same size!

8. Opponents who always raise when being in the big blind or call when being in the small blind when everyone else folds

This is absolutely fantastic to know. Whenever you have a good hand when being in the small blind the best thing to do is to just call because you know that the big blind is gonna raise no matter what. You then just punish the big blind by making a proper re-raise after that.

9. Opponents who call the pot in case they have a draw and after that try to check-raise

Many opponents call a bet with the size of the pot when they have a draw at the flop as long as the pot is not that big yet (we should do this ourselves as well). There are however also opponents who do the same at the turn when the pot is very big. These are the opponents you should cherish because they pay way too much for their draws!! The beauty is that when they hit the draw on the river they often check in order to check-re-raise you. Of course you are not that stupid so you just check which makes this a very unprofitable strategy for these type of opponents.

10. Opponents who take a very long or very short time to make their decision

In case an opponent suddenly thinks way longer than normal and decides to make a big bet you know he got his draw In that case it is time to fold However, when an opponent makes huge commitments very fast it is often bluff. The only thing to keep in mind is that maybe the opponent plays on multiple tables, which means he was just temporarily occupied with another table.

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