Putting An opponent On A Hand In Texas Holdem:
Putting an opponent on a hand in Texas Holdem is one of the most important things any poker player can learn. Many new Texas Holdem poker players will start out playing there own hand blindly. This is a big mistake as a player’s hand is only as strong as what his opponent is representing. The second nuts is almost worthless if an opponent has the nuts and is representing it. A poker player must take into account his opponent’s hand strength in order to increase his win rate in Texas Holdem poker.
When putting an opponent on a hand a online poker player must asses a few factors in order to make his decision accurately. Now before a player starts to learn how to do this he must understand that he is not assigning an opponent a specific hand. He is assigning his poker opponent a specific range of hands as this is a more realistic prediction.
What is the opponent like?
First of all an opponent must assess how an opponent plays. If an opponent is a loose Texas Holdem player he will have a much larger hand range than a tight player. If the poker opponent is aggressive he is much more likely to be bluffing than a passive opponent. A poker player must observe his opponent in previous hands and decide what play time is most accurate to him when categorizing his play.
What is the board like?
The board is a very important part of placing a Texas Holdem poker opponent on a hand. A dry board may mean there is more chance an aggressive poker opponent is bluffing where as a wet one could mean he is often betting large on a draw. A passive opponent will normally have a big hand when betting very aggressively on a dry board. A dry board is one where it is hard for an opponent to have anything. A wet board is one with many possible hands and draws on it such as high card a straight draw and a flush draw.
Does An Opponents Betting Make Sense:
The third factor a player must take into account when putting an opponent on a hand is if their betting makes sense. Betting in Texas Holdem is very much like telling a story and if the story doesn’t make sense something may be up. If a player is betting every street it is most likely he has a strong hand. If he has checked all the way down to the river and suddenly woken up with a massive re-raise he may have hit a massive draw. If his line doesn’t make sense it could be very likely he is trying to make a bluff. A savvy poker player makes sure that he sees what sort of range his opponent is betting on each street, if for some reason a opponent mixes up what he is trying to represent alarm bells should start ringing.
