Dossier on rivals

It is undoubtedly great to sit down at the card table and be able to clearly read your opponents, because thanks to this you will win more and gain respect among the players. In other words, this is what gives you the most pleasure. Unfortunately, if you play online, you simply don't have time to collect an exhaustive dossier for each player. Usually, players play at least four tables at the same time, and therefore no less than 36 opponents, who differ only in ridiculous avatars. Tables grow like mushrooms, and bets are placed and hands are folded in the blink of an eye. And in this chaos, you realize that the last thing you can do is to carefully study the peculiarities of the style of other players.

But don't panic! After all, in fact, you only need to catch one moment - whether your opponent is playing badly. Of course, when playing with "live" players you can notice certain peculiarities of their game: one, for example, raises the rates too often, the other underestimates the value of the bet after the river, etc. But they all have one thing in common - getting tangled up in their hand and calling too often when it's time to fold (or, in some cases, raise).

And, having determined that you are playing with a "zinger", it is not difficult to build a strategy for the further game. A pure bluff is not suitable here, and a semi-bluff is limited to situations when you are behind your opponent. If you know that your potential odds are good, then you continue to make a high flush and an unfinished straight after the flop (if you play with more than two opponents). And naturally, after the river, you bet with the best hand.

Is it that simple? Yes. But the whole secret is to recognize whether you are playing with a true "live" or your opponent still has the tiny makings of a good player. If you play in the zoo at Party Poker, then you don't have to read any further, because at least 90% of these players play criminally poorly. On some sites, however, there is a chance to accidentally run into a shark, which, nevertheless, may even play into your hands (but more on that later). For now, we'll take a look at some of the games that a good player would never play. They are easy to spot and can almost always be relied upon to determine a player's level. And if you notice that your opponent is making one of these mistakes, smile, relax and enjoy the game.

1. After the flop he calls multiple bets, and after the turn he folds.

Think about it. If after the flop you call two or three bets, then most likely you have either an unfinished flush or straight, or, at times, a ready-made combination that you want to hold for now. But you certainly don't have the same hand as 7 [s] -7 on flop A-5-Q... And there are no exceptions to this rule. A bad player, even with four or fewer outs, cannot restrain himself from calling numerous bets in the hope that a wonderful card will come on the turn. And know that if after the flop someone calls a whole bunch of bets and then calmly folds after the unnecessary card comes out on the turn, you are playing with someone who can be milked.

2. After the river, bets with an unimproved ace hand.

This is another situation that you can constantly observe. The player has AK, before the flop he raises, the flop comes T-8-6. Four people call, he makes a bet, which in turn is supported by two more. The turn brings the jack, he bets again and is called. The next eight opens on the river and he bets again.

Betting after the flop and the turn is no good. But betting after the river is unforgivable. When you bet after the river, you are pursuing one of two goals: to force the player with the best hand to fold (bluff) or to force the player with the worst hand to call (increase the pot). By betting the river with an ace hand, you will not achieve any of these goals, and thus put yourself in a stupid situation. Any player with any pair who calls the turn will probably call the river too, so you can't get rid of your best hand. This means that only the one with a hand weaker than yours can fold, which makes your bet completely meaningless (after all, you could have said "check" for free). If at this moment you make a bet, then if your opponent has the strongest hand, he will simply take it, but at the same time, it does not mean at all that you can take a big bet from him if it turns out that your hand is still stronger. If you think your ace hand is the strongest at the end of the game, then the best thing to do is to simply check and try to force someone to bluff. At least you can take something if you win with this hand.

3. In high sweat games, slow play with monsters in hand.

This is not a good idea. Good players know that a strong hand won't be worth a dime if you win almost nothing with it. Therefore, after the flop, they begin to play with a strong combination rather aggressively, especially if the other players have already invested a lot in the pot and cannot just give up their hands. Example: if a good player with 6-6 the flop comes from 6 [c] -6-8, then he is not afraid to heat up the situation if the game was quite active before the flop. After all, why wait to raise the rate? Everyone is going to fight for the pot regardless of the price (assuming preflop bets have already tied everyone to the pot), so you need to raise that price as high as possible. A frivolous player will look at his hand and think: "Oh God! I just got a square! I guess I better hide now so as not to scare anyone away."... A good player will decide this: "I haven’t managed to beat someone off the pot yet, and why on earth would this hand be an exception? So I’ll start building a big pot right now so that everyone is tempted to play to the river regardless of the outs.".

These are just three of many bright beacons to indicate that you are playing with someone with a lot to learn. But these three, if you don't forget about them, will serve you well.