Tips for Judging Opponents in Poker

Can they afford to be in this game?

Are they playing on scared money? You can really have a field day with some of these players so be on the lookout for someone who is off their game because of this.

Do they "Close their eyes" and play without giving your cards any consideration?

Some newer players will decide that they are going to stick with a hand, or decide they are firing 3 bluffs into a pot regardless of what comes. If you can spot these players, it will make some of your decisions much easier.

Do they get married to hands?

This can be an easy characteristic to exploit, especially if you are playing with deep chip stacks.

Do your opponents hate to be bluffed?

You can use this to your advantage when it comes time to make some value bets. You can also heed the warning and avoid bluffing guys like this unless you have a great spot.

Does my opponent have the guts to fire 2 bullets into a pot? 3 bullets?

This is an easy and very practical way to classify your opponents. If you can rule out certain hands immediately when they make a second bet on the turn, you'll know if you hand is good most of the time.

Is anyone at the table on tilt?

If so, raising blinds with them behind you is not wise without a strong hand.

What is my opponents skill level in general?

How savvy are they? How many plays do they have in their play book? do they know my plays? Sometimes I recognize something in a players game that I see a part of myself in. More importantly, I'm just a few steps beyond them, but I have been at that stage in learning the game so I know pretty well what they will be thinking at all times.

In a tournament

Are players waiting on the bubble?

This is something that you can exploit if you are not worried about losing a few chips. Even if some players get stubborn, you can put them to a tough decision that is sometimes swayed by the money bubble in large buy-in tournaments.

What kind of results does do my table opponents have?

If you are starting to go deep in a big online poker tournament, it's not a bad idea to use some of the stats software or online poker rankings websites to analyze your opponents and get a better idea for how they play and who they are.

Are my opponents avoiding big pots?

This is another weakness you can exploit. If players are playing fairly tight early on in a tournament, some big re-raises can be the key to building your chip stack early on.

How fast or how hard will my opponent play a top pair top kicker scenario?

This is crucial for making big laydowns. Top pair and top kicker is a pretty good landmark for judging your opponents strength and you can often divide your opponents hand into something that can either beat this or not.

Do my opponents like to bet on the come with their draws or try to get a good price?

If you know the answer to this question, you will do pretty well in maximizing the value of your hands and not getting outplayed. Surprisingly, some players will play these hands pretty consistently so once you pick up on a pattern, you will know what to do with them in a big hand.

Will my opponents fold when priced out of draws?

Some poker players have more gamble in them than other players. Some players are just not good. If you think that your opponent will call a huge bet with an inferior hand or draw, sometimes it is worth going in for the kill and over-betting the pot.

Have they discovered moves like the float, stop and go, limp-raise?

Some poker moves that were great 2 years ago are now getting picked off all the time at the table. You really have to play poker everyday if you want to stay on top of things. If you want to know where people are at along the learning curve, you had better hope they are somewhere underneath of you or else you will be in someone else's world.

Is your opponent afraid to be drawn out on?

This can help to provide insight into what your opponent might be holding on a draw heavy board. This is optimal, especially if you know that he does not play his draws strongly. You can pretty much narrow down his hand in these types of situations once you get to know a player really well.

Would am opponent rather coin flip than get out played?

If this is the case, you need to be willing to take a flop rather than trying to re-raise and seize the advantage in your hand. If they have a coin flip type of hand they are likely to just put the rest of their chips in before the flop and you will have to race with them. If you believe you are a better player, you should look to see flops.

When getting short stacked, how short is short?

In other words, how many chips do I need in order to get my opponents to fold semi-strong hands like A-10 or 6-6? This will be different for each table and goes along with the last question that you need to ask yourself. You really want to try not to let yourself get down below the point where you have no folding equity in your raises. If this happens, you won't just need a hand good enough to shove your chips in with, but you will need it to hold up as well.

How short stacked are my opponents? If your opponents are too short stacked, you won't be able to push them around or outplay them after the flop. It's sad to say, but you can't gain much of an advantage over a short stacked player unless they play too tight or have bad card selection.