Archive for January, 2009

www.pokerroom.com – Most of the more skilled players around will feel that reading is one of the key aspects of successful poker, and one which requires a player to be able to single out and eliminate potential possibilities swiftly. One of the main problems I find with this area of poker, and I’m sure I am not alone here, is that I often assume my opponent is doing what is the most logical and sensible thing for them to be doing.

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I think about the situation and possiblities in a rational and deductive way. But then we all know that players are different to each other and some of them are a long way from rational in their decision making. A prime example would be when one player limped in with (J,J) from early position and I put in a large reraise with (A,10) on the rational assumption, that anyone with better than (A,10) in their hole cards would be reraising rather than limping in.

The fact is though, that when reading a situation, we have to be flexible about our assumptions of opposing hands and factor in what particular players are capable of doing. Perhaps I am too rigid in assumptions which, although are usually pretty accurate, sometimes catch me out and cost me big pots.

So remember, that what you would do in a certain situation, and what you feel strongly that any reasonably skilled player should do, is not always the situation at that time.
Some players do things which seem wild and unpredictable because they are unskilled, and some do these things simply to try and remain difficult to read.