Hi 2+2,
Just wanted you guys input on how to best practice the art of hand reading. Currently I am noting hands on poker tracker that I have played and just reviewing them at a later date when I've forgotten the hands to practice hand reading, although I suspect this is not the best strategy as unconsciously I probably know what the showdown hands are.

atm I only one table online so I'm also practicing in hands that I'm not involved in but this seems a little pointless sometimes when the hand is not shown down. I also thought about watching games online and having PT run and record hands which I can later review but I don't think PT allows you to save observed hands.
Any advice or ideas will be happily welcomed.

Learn the basics of ranges ie: opening ranges from each position, 3betting ranges from each position, continuation betting on different types of boards, etc. Just the ABC poker that so many guides cover.

Then, make some observations about the general types of players, what does a loose aggressive does, what does a calling station does...

Once you have an idea of these general situations, you can more easily guess what range a villain has.

Finally, experience.

Cheers bro that is solid advice and I'm definitely going to be using it, but what I was really looking for where situations in which you can go through a hand and take your time to evaluate the situation and put players on a range. I know I can use the forum and people hands they've posted but there is no way to know for sure if you made the right read.

Use a post it note on your screen while playing online. All you can focus on is action time and bet sizing.

what you mean to cover my own cards ?? i'm not sure what you mean man could you elaborate please

There's a spot on the screen that shows your card. Cover that with a post-it note, so you can't see them.

Your own cards are your worst enemy when it comes to hand reading, they cloud your judgement too much. It's always way easier to tell what cards someone holds when you're not involved in a hand. Covering your own cards will help you a lot - while also adding some other difficulties. Obviously don't do it all the time, but do it as a learning technique.

I've done exercises with people where I prepared hands in advance, hiding all the card information and using a replayer to walk through the hand. At every step I am asking them what the actions they've seen so far mean, and also asking "if this next guy bets, what will that probably mean? If he checks what will it mean?" You should do this when you play too, it's easier to know what a bet means in a spot if you're looking forward, than if someone just bet and you're trying to figure out what it means.

Its impossible really to read hands. So, instead, use your knowledge of how the hand has played out to eliminate hands that you know he can't have.

As a quick example, here's a hand I played the other day, 10 handed:

Blinds: 300/600 Ante: 75

I'm dealt A-K, suited in hearts with about 11,000 in chips.

fold, UTG +1 call 600, fold, fold, I raise to 2,800, fold, fold, fold, fold

limper pushes all in for about 8,000.


He originally limped way out of position, so I safely eliminated any pocket pairs above 9-9 and A-K through A-10. He re-raised all in, which probably means he has no interest in seeing a flop, so I figured I could eliminate big drawing hands like 10-J, K-Q, 9-10, 4-5, 5-6 and A-2 through A-5 as well.


What's that leave us with? A mid pocket pair as our worst case scenario and an attempt to steal with a subpar hand as best case scenario. I assumed he was on 5-5, 6-6, or 7-7 (Which are essentially the same hand in this spot) because I never get the best case scenario, and made the call only to watch him turn over 6-6 and rake the pot after I missed the board.



So, I guess what I am saying is that its more a process of elimination than anything.

Why would you care when he's shoving 13 big blinds and you've already put 4,5 in with AK? Just snap it off and don't bother, also fish do limp big hands like TT+ to limpraise and they also do it with KQ/AQ/AK etc. It's really wrong to eliminate any hands really because when he has a limping "strategy" he will almost always limp his entire range.

I'd only put in 2,800 when he went all in for 8,000+

And only silly people limp with those hands. You aren't that silly until proven otherwise, and he hadn't proven otherwise. KQ I can see maybe limping, but not limp/raising all in.