Know EXACTLY What Your Opponents Are Holding

Know EXACTLY What Your Opponents Are Holding

***QUESTION FROM A READER***

Roy,

Your newsletters have greatly helped my play
I used to be a tight wad player. Now that I
have changed gears (play more aggressively)
in my head its thrown players off balance a
lot. I take notes on my friends poker play
so it helps me remember betting patterns
etc.

I am really good at sniffing out stone cold
bluffs (I've been known to call with queen
high before) or strong hands that are hard
to recognize like small sets and low and
medium straights. I've even folded full
houses before knowing that other players
have four of a kind by their erratic
breathing and confidence in their voice and
shaky hands.

However I need advanced improvement on
reading tells and avoiding traps. Other then
the ones mentioned in Caro's book of poker
tells it is a little outdated. Especially I
have had also a problem with reading people
when they play medium strength hands
aggressively - especially in casino
tournaments unlike my weekly poker games
with my friends.

After a while you learn your friends play
but in tournaments they are all strangers
how to get a read on them? Some players bet
medium strength (not weak strength hands)
aggressively. Does your e-book cover these
questions?

Does it also have a section on poker tells
as well. I've played players giving off
false tells as a trap such as acting weak
when weak and strong when strong? My
friends do this as well giving off false
tells doing the opposite of the opposite of
what you would expect - we've read the same
books.

Thanks,
A.C.

***MY COMMENTS***

I want to start off by saying CONGRATULATIONS,
my friend.

Calling bluffs with a queen high and laying
down full boats is a sign of a BALLSY
player... That level of faith in your
abilities is a CRUCIAL step towards a
successful poker career.

I am also impressed by your choice to take
notes on your opponents. I notice that there
are a lot of players who CLAIM to want to be
better, but don't take the TIME to do what
is needed.

As far as your question about reading poker
tells against players you aren't familiar
with... here's what you can do:

When you are at a new table, it is obviously
VERY important that you pay close attention
to the GAME and to the PLAYERS- right away.

Most players... when they sit down... get so
caught up in themselves and their own heads
that they don't even make it to this first
step...

To put it bluntly:

"SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and WATCH."

Don't start running your mouth... don't try
to act cool... and don't daydream. The
first few minutes you're at the table is
the most IMPORTANT time in the game.

Once you've done this, be sure not to rush
into any hands. In fact, I recommend NOT
getting involved in any hands at the very
beginning... and here's why:

If you're an experienced tournament player,
you know that most players are eliminated
from tournaments when they are in "shuffle
times" (when they are moving from table to
table).

It is at these times when the BIGGEST
MISTAKES are usually made.

Let's say that you sit down a new table. You
may have been playing at a tight table where
you could buy a lot of pots...

You sit at this new table... and fall right
back into your betting pattern. You make a
bold move, try to buy a pot, and get burnt
because THIS TABLE is much LOOSER than the
last one.

This puts you at a disadvantage right away...
one which you might not recover from.

When I move to a new table... or begin at a
game where I don't know the players... I
always wait at least 3-4 rounds of betting
before I get involved in a hand... and a lot
of times I wait EVEN LONGER.

This gives me a chance to get to know my
opponents... BEFORE I risk any chips.

I call it my "Study Period."

Of course, the WHOLE GAME is a study period
in itself... but these first few hands is
100% devoted towards just watching my poker
opponents.

And here's the added benefit:

If I don't know my competition, THEY don't
know ME, either. By taking my time and doing
my study period, I learn about THEM... but
they DON'T LEARN ABOUT ME.

If anything, they just ASSUME that I'm a
tight player...

That means within 10 minutes, I immediately
have an advantage over all the other players
at the table... even if I haven't won a pot
yet... or even played a hand.

OK, so when you do your study period, what
should you look for?

A lot of newbies think it's all in the face
and in the eyes... which is a mistake.

Most poker tells are the COMBINATION of an
entire set of movements and behavior...

On TV- especially in movies- poker tells are
portrayed as something as simple as the
twitch of a nose or the movement of a leg.

Kind of like in "Rounders," when Mike McDee
figures out Teddy KGB based on how he ate
his cookies.

TAKE NOTE...

For the most part, this type of portrayal
of poker tells is a TOTAL MYTH.

If you think you can figure out a player's
hand just based on how he blinks, you're in
for a rude awakening... and you'll lose
your chips fast.

In REAL LIFE (where you play), tells are
much more complex...

...VERY RARELY are they "cut and dry."

When you study your opponents... here are
the things you should think about:

1. Past Play

Think about how this player has acted in the
past...

Is he usually strong or weak?

Aggressive or timid?

Smart or dumb?

And so on...

2. Timing

If your instinct tells you that a player
deliberated for a long time trying to make a
choice, chances are that his hand isn't too
strong.

However, you should also note how long he has
taken to play in the past, to make sure that
the move wasn't just a regular timing move.

3. Posture

Especially with bad players, the posture of
a player is a key tell that will reveal a
lot about a hand...

If the person leans back, that USUALLY
represents strength. If he leans forward,
that USUALLY represents weakness.

Once again, poker tells aren't black and
white. It's a gray area, where everything
needs to be considered together...

4. Bet Amount

If a player tends to make small bets, but
then places an unusually large bet, he
could be holding a strong hand. Or he may
be trying to buy the pot.

Always watch for irregularities in betting
patterns... most amateurs don't mix up their
bets enough, which gives you an easy edge
if you pay attention.

5. Pulse

This is one of the only "body tells" that I
find works most of the time. You can usually
see the intensity of a player's pulse by
looking closely at his neck.

Often if a player gets "shaky," he usually
has a great hand. If the player is cool and
collected, it's probably a fake.

6. Your Gut Feeling

Depending on your poker experience, your gut
will often be your best guide...

I've been playing poker for so long now that
when I sit down with newbies, I can usually
read the players almost INSTANTLY, without
much thought.

It just comes naturally... and it will come
naturally to you, too... once you gain a
lot of experience under your belt... and
once you spend enough time studying the
game.

With the pros, of course, you've got to be
much more careful, because they DO know how
to disguise their tells and play their hands
in an unpredictable manner.

So, to recap:

1. When you sit down to play at a table of
strangers... especially in a tournament...
take your time before becoming involved in a
hand.

2. Go through a careful "Study Period."
During this time, SHUT UP and STUDY the
players intensely.

3. When you start betting, watch for the
six things we discussed: past play, timing,
posture, bet amount, pulse, and your own
gut instincts.

Finally... there's one more step to add...

And that is:

NEVER REVEAL THE WAY YOU THINK.

Here's what I mean...

Poker is truly a BATTLE of minds. The tells
we've been discussing are mostly simple
REFLECTIONS of how a player is thinking at
the time of a bet.

For some reason, it's a natural tendency in
all of us to share our thoughts at the poker
table... ESPECIALLY when we aren't involved
in hands.

This is more common during "home games" than
in tournament play or casinos...

For instance, let's say there's a heads up
match between Drew and John after the river
card.

Drew goes all in...

The river was the third diamond on the
board. John has trip aces.

(Of course, a flush would beat John's three
of a kind.)

Anyway... John's has to decide whether Drew
is a on a bluff... or if he caught the
diamond flush.

THIS is where everyone starts screwing up:

Since Drew is all in... and can't change his
mind... John shows his trip aces to the
other guys at the table who aren't in the
hand.

He says, "Man, I don't know whether to call.
Drew made a pre-flop raise... I think he's
just pot-committed and is trying to buy it."

Someone else chimes in, "Yea, but he seems
like he's got the flush. Did you notice how
he's been quiet the whole hand?"

Someone else says, "C'mon wuss. Just call
his bet and go all in... I'm getting tired
and want to get going."

And so on...

Do you see where I'm going with this?

John should NEVER show his aces to the other
guys of course... because now they just saw
an entire "free hand" and got to see how
John acted the whole way with his three of a
kind.

The next guy just revealed that he's been
watching how SILENT Drew has been... which
clues everyone in on how this guy thinks
about tells. Now you know to be very
conscious about how much you talk around
this player.

And the third guy reveals an attitude of
carelessness... which means as soon as I
caught a good hand I'd try to get in a
heads-up match with him and go all in...
because there's a decent chance he'll call.

When you reveal your THINKING PROCESS,
you're simply GIVING AWAY tons of crucial
information... FOR NO REASON.

The other players at the table with pick up
a read on you quickly... both consciously
and subconsciously.

So don't do it.

Period.

As you know, Texas hold 'em is filled with
TONS of techniques and strategies like
these, that anyone can understand if they
just take the time to learn them.

Unlike popular belief, poker is NOT about
having "natural" talent.

It's about LEARNING- through experience,
analysis, and expertise- how to MASTER the
game.

To develop YOUR poker genius, get your hands
on my one-of-a-kind instructional course...

It will give you the expertise you need to
blow past your opponents and turbo-charge
your winnings...

Get it today, and start raking in more pots
TONIGHT. Here is the link:

http://texas-holdem-tips-n-tricks.top-10-list.com/


Your Friend,

Roy Rounder