Hand reading is one of the most misunderstood concepts among casual poker players.
The mistake these casual players make is trying to put their opponent on one specific hand. That may make for good TV, but it’s not a practical or effective way to approach hand reading.
You’re about to learn the right way to read your opponent’s hands, which involves putting your opponents on a “range” of all hands they can possibly have.
Editor’s note: This article is marked as beginner. If you’d prefer some more advanced reading, check out our intermediate articles here or advanced articles here.
Hand reading is not easy. There is an awful lot of information you need to think about in a very short time-span, and every piece of information impacts your opponent’s possible range.
I like to call all these pieces of information “data points”. Here are a few examples of common data points:
There are a near-countless number of data points in poker, and nobody can consider every factor in the short time between decisions at the table — not even the best players in the world. This is why you need a simplified, effective process to follow, which is what you will learn today.
Let’s start by laying out the fundamentals of hand reading:
Now, let’s go through an example so you can see how to hand read street-by-street. (We’re gonna use a cash game example, but this process works just as well in tournaments.)
Let’s say you’re playing a $0.50/$1.00 No Limit Hold’em game online. It’s your first hand at the table, so you have $100 in your stack and no reliable reads on your opponents.
The action folds to the player in the cutoff position who raises to $2.50. The button and small blind players get out of the way and you have K♥ 8♥ in the big blind.
We haven’t seen a flop yet, but we can already start the ranging process. There’s no way to know for sure exactly which hands he is raising with — the best we can do is estimate based on the information we have.
Since the player raised, it’s likely he has a strong or at least playable hand. But he also raised from late position, which likely means he has a relatively wide range of hands. We can estimate his range is 22+, A2s+, K7s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 97s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, 54s, ATo+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo, visualized here:
Red = Raise | Blue = Fold
Note: As you can see, we’ve already eliminated a bunch of hands from your opponent’s range based on the fact that he raised. As the hand progresses, we will be able to eliminate more hands based on your opponent’s decisions.
K♥ 8♥ is an easy call considering you only have to call $1.50 to win $4 against this loose range of hands.
You defend your big blind with K♥ 8♥.
With $5.50 in the pot, the flop comes K♠ 5♦ 4♠. You check and the cutoff bets $2.
This is a pretty uncoordinated flop, though there are a few potential draws. On this flop texture, you should expect your opponent to make a continuation bet (c-bet) on this flop with a large portion of his range.
Now, we have to make some assumptions about how the cutoff plays in order to estimate his range. We will assume the cutoff:
That range looks like this:
Red = Always Bet | Pink = Bet Only with Relevant Flush Card(s) | Green = Check | Blue = Not in Range
Against a range with so many bluffs and vulnerable pairs, you have a super easy decision versus a small bet with your top pair.
You call $2 on the K♠ 5♦ 4♠ flop.
With $9.50 in the pot, the turn is the 7♥. You check and the cutoff bets $7.
Again, we have to make some assumptions to estimate the cutoff’s range. He would probably:
That range looks something like this:
Red = Always Bet | Pink = Bet Only with Relevant Flush Card(s) | Green = Check | Blue = Not in Range
Against that range, you have 38.88% equity (click here to see the equity calculation). You only need 29.8% to profitably call based on your pot odds, so this is an easy call with top pair and a straight draw. To the river!
You call $7 on the K♠ 5♦ 4♠ 7♥ board.
With $23.50 in the pot, the river is the 2♠. You check and the cutoff bets $17.
Considering most of your opponent’s bluffs on the turn were spade flush draws, that does not seem like a river on which you can call a bet. Still, let’s estimate his range and see if there’s any way you can call here.
On this river, your opponent would likely:
That range looks like this:
Red = Always Bet | Pink = Bet Only with Relevant Flush Card(s) | Green = Check | Blue = Not in Range
You need 29.6% equity to profitably call this river bet, but K♥ 8♥ only has 26.83% equity versus the range above (click here to see the equity calculation). So, you should fold as this would be a slightly losing call against the estimated range.
I recommend trying this hand reading process a few times on your own, away from the table, before you try it in-game. It may take some getting used to, but I think you’ll find it quite easy and intuitive after a little bit of practice. (If you don’t have equity calculation software, you can click here to download Poker Equilab.)
Poker is a game of incomplete information. The best players make sure that they are making the best decisions with the information available to them. Your job as a poker player is to extract, interpret, and prioritize the information available to you, and to formulate an optimal counter-strategy.
I hope this article has helped you improve your hand reading skills! If you have questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below.
If you’ve ever been unsure when to quit a losing poker session, check out this article by Doug Polk next.
Take care!
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