I haven't been playing long, about 10 days total. I've got 15 hours in at the casino playing 1-3 and am up $400 so far. I've read HOC 1/2 and theory of poker a couple times. I still have alot to learn but the main thing is putting people on ranges.

I know the basics from what I've read but I'm still having a little trouble doing it. Do you guys have any tips to remember actions or anything in general that could help?

Thanks!

This one mostly just comes down to practice. The big time saver is in grouping your opponents. Let us say that Bob is a LP rec player who overpays for draws. When you see that Bob will c/c with a draw when not getting the right price, don't just tag that into Bob's range, but generalize it to LP rec players. Sure, each V is different, but they come in some pretty generalizable groupings.

Gonna leave this open because OP is seriously new to poker. Welcome to the forum, OP.

Let's all bring our A game to this thread and try to help him out.

In addition to this forum, there is also a beginner's forum you may find useful.

Watch for betting patterns.

Identify calling stations and remember to never bluff them.

Identify calling stations and value bet the **** out of them when you have a good hand.

Watch for people that cbet flops only to give up on turn when they miss.

When people raise 6x-10x pre they have 10's, J's or AQ 90% of the time (maybe not exact but pretty close. People hate playing those hands)

Identify the people that can never win. These are the same people that hate playing JJ, AQ.

Don't ever bluff unless you have a really good reason to and think the person can lay down the hand which they can't do most of the time. Even on 4flush boards people still have a problem laying down sets and top pair.

Don't over inflate pots with marginal hands or OOP.

Talk about hands that give you trouble

If someone over the age of ~50 raises to $12 UTG, it's KK+. If you get limp/re-raised, it's QQ+. If you get 3b when stacks are over 100bb, it's almost always QQ+. If an old lady raises to $17, it's definitely AA. If an old lady 3b you, it's definitely AA (since an A could flop when they have KK obv, can never be too careful). Most people won't raise a hand worse than like ATs/AQo, even KQs gets limped often along with most PPs. Ranging post-flop comes with experience recognizing bet sizes and each player's tendencies.

So funny and true...^^^^

Welcome OP, this is a great place to be.

I'd suggest the following:
1) Categorize players based on image - TAG, TP, LP, etc. Do this pre-flop and post-flop. An example of LP - you sit down and player limps 6 hands in the first orbit. Range is very wide, including pps, broadway cards, scs, suited cards, and 1 or 2-gappers. Obviously adjust as the session goes on.

2) Range based on position. EP range is tighter than LP in general. As an example, UTG limps and UTG+1 raises 7x. If they have been playing tight, I'd range 99+, AQ+.

3) Continue to narrow as more info becomes available. Let's say an ABC player raises to 7x UTG+1. You are in LP and decide to flat JJ. Your range for them is 99+, AQ+. Flop/turn/river are all unders. If they fire all streets, your JJ is likely no good. Point being, that while most LLSNL put PF raisers on AK, very few opponents will triple barrel AK.

Welcome OP and props for even thinking about opponent hand ranges so soon. As a beginner our first sessions can be intimidating and overwhelming enough just learning to deal with the mechanics of betting and acting in turn and basic level 1 thinking... reading the board and our own hand. To be seeking to operate on Level 2 where we consider what our opponent early on is a good thing mostly.

I say mostly because there is a certain "ignorance is bliss" aspect to level 1 thinking where newer players simply don't know enough to see "monsters under the bed" for example and play hands in ways that some more experienced players might not and have it actually work out better. In general though I think your desire to improve hand reading will pay off for you the more you work at it.

Hand reading is about inferring information from players actions. So the more information we can learn from observing when we are not in a hand the more data we can collect to help with the inferences. So the general suggestion is pay attention at the table.

As mentioned you will in time categorize players in a way so that at least their preflop ranges will be relatively easy to determine in raised pots. Once you familiarize yourself with these categories of players you will find that at least in some basic circumstances many players within this category act the same. But this will take time and experience so you will have to be patient.

Things to look for:

- Are they positionally aware (if so their position will matter in terms of their preflop range and as you move to level 3 thinking your position will matter)
- Preflop raising range this is probably the first and easiest place to observe because preflop is not dependent on a previous street. So begin to observe hands at showdown and note who was the preflop raiser, who was the caller, what position were they in.

In live low stakes poker people have much wider limping and limp/calling ranges. Conversely raising and 3betting ranges are much narrower for most players. Some players will literally 3b AA and KK only for example.

- Preflop bet sizing tells some players literally give away there hand with their PF raise size. There may be other factors that affect PF bet size but some players will raise smaller with medium pocket pairs and unmade hands like AK then raise larger with JJ+. Some may even raise a little smaller with AA than JJ for example b/c they are not afraid of over cards or whatever.

- Flop betting and flop continuing ranges. To they have to have at least top pair to call the flop? Will they call with gutshots or to bottom end of straights? If they were the preflop raiser, do they ever check flops they hit or do they always bet. Do they cbet missed flops into multiple players? Will they check turns with made hands? Will they cbet pocket pairs when an overcard flops?

These are some of the things we can observe whether we are involved in the hand or not.

When in a hand usually I am not thinking too hard about ranges in a limped pot that I have no intention of raising. I am looking at how players make their calls though and especially note if someone looks like they want are going to raise and decide to call. But basically I am just noting it's a limped pot.

In raised pot I am considering the preflop raisers raising range given his position then the first caller then if there are any solid players calling I am considering their specific rage. The other typical LLSNL callers have such wide calling ranges particularly after one or two other callers that there isn't much narrowing to do at this point.

If I miss the flop I'm back to just observing after I fold.

If I hit the flop I have to start asking questions about the other villains ranges. Obv this is where position is so important. If we have position on all other players we will get the most information of anyone in the hand before we act. For this reason, especially as a new player you should be playing very tight from early position and limiting the "trouble" hands OOP as much as possible.

OTF we then have to ask what hands account for our opponent's actions. If they checked there may not be much to go on but if it's the PF raiser for example and he checks K high draw heavy board we might rule out AA or AK until he acts in some other way (such as a check raise). If we called with KQ and were checked to we probably bet. If the PF raiser now calls we ask what hands account for his action given that he raised PF and now just called our flop bet? Does he have draws in his range (probably) does he have pocket pairs lower than the high card etc.

With each street we need to ask what possible hands exit in our opponents range and usually the range will become more and more narrow. SOmetimes an action will force us to re-evaluate especially an unexpected large bet or check raise for example. But the process is to take what we know about this players preflop range filter it through his flop actions and then turn actions.

Some other important post flop observations will be what types of hands do opponent's show real aggression with like check raises on the flop or turn. These are spots where we have to make good decisions because the pot is about to get large. Some opponents are fairly predictable with flop check raises being 2 pair frequently for example.

This becomes neccessary when we begin to consider betsizing for maximum value with our monsters as well as determining when we are beaten.

On turns and rivers when we have strong non nut hands and are facing large bets we are considering calling it is helpful to work backwards. Say we have the 2nd nuts, there is one hand that beats us. If opponent had that specific hand, would he have acted the way he did preflop, OTF and OTT given what we know about him? If yes we then have to ask what hands do we beat that would also act that way?

All of this is pretty general so it might help for you to post a sample hand right in this thread for discussion.

As you get comfortable with ranges you will eventually start to think a little more about why opponents take certain actions... what are they thinking. Are they "protecting a hand" with that bet? Etc. But at first you will be best to focus on what hands your opponents are showing down and getting a handle on their preflop ranges. Specifically: Raising range relative to position, 3 betting range, limp calling range.


GL

very nice post, cammando.

OP, ths post is a lot to digest, so re-read it several times. More will make sense each time, esp if you have some play in between to observe some of this.

Welcome OP. I would recommend reading "Playing the Player" by Ed Miller. Lot of good stuff on identifying an opponents range.

IFYP

In all seriousness to the OP, the biggest thing you can do is observe people. I would first worry about two things:

1. Preflop ranges - how do these guys play pre? Do they raise very often (i.e. should you really be calling pre if they only raise 2 hands a session)? Do they call a ton of the time (meaning they can make crazy hands)? Etc.

2. Betting and raising ranges - Have you seen them bet without having a real hand? Most players at 1/2-1/3 are WAY too tight post flop in terms of betting. You should be folding a lot vs. these players since their range is often TP+

the basic idea is to narrow down what your opponent can likely hold, based on his actions throughout the hand

One of the best breakthroughs I had - which came only after many, many sessions - was sitting down afterward and charting the players at my table.

First I would write down their tendencies before and after the flop. I would write down tells and betting patterns. Critique each player.

Then the breakthrough is asking yourself "how do I beat this player?"

This may come farther down the line for you, but it is well worth the work.

I know D Fish here personally, and he is relatively new to poker, but shows TREMENDOUS talent. And I do emphasize the 'tremendous' part. His level 1 thinking is very spot on for llsnl and his reads from his hands that he's described to me has been spot on level 1 and dabbed in level 2.

Other things to note D Fish, if you are in a big poker room, look for the drunk whale and sit to the left of him. Always ask for a seat change button. Get up after every rotation and walk around the room and try to identify the gamblers who can't throw away their draws. Never sit to the right of the table aggressor.

I wish you awesome luck D Fish, and keep putting in hours and remember that if you don't get better each day, you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing.

Check out the psychology of poker by Alan schoomaker. Goes in depth on player type personalities and how understanding WHY a player plays a certain way as opposed to just sticking him with a title.

One of the biggest keys to live hand reading is being able to stay completely cerebral and remove yourself from the hand. Being able to break down objectively on the fly will change your life. Notice the next few sessions how well you read hands you aren't in. Having that tool is invaluable. You will begin to pick up patterns that will open your game up tremendously.

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These are the categories I classify players into and the ranges I assign them according to their actions.

Hope this helps.

Mr. Super Nit

4betting: AA

3betting: AA

Raising: JJ-AA, AK

Calling Raise: JJ-AA, AK

Limping: Axs, AJ+ All pp, KQ, K10s+, Q10s+, J10s+

Mr. Nit

4 betting: AA

3 betting: KK, AA

Raising: 1010+, AQ+

Calling Raise: All PP, AK

Limping: All PP, All suited Broadways, Axs, K10+, Q10+

Mr. ****ty Reg

4 betting: AA

3betting: QQ+,AK

Raising: 99+, AQ+,

Calling Raise: All PP, A10+, Axs, Suited Broadways, K10+, Q10+, all SC, some SG

Limping: Ax, Axs, All pp, Kxs, K9+, Q8s+, Q9+, J7s+, J8+, 107s, 107+, you get the point.

Mr. Tag

4 betting: KK, AA

3betting: 1010+,AK

Raising: 88+, AJ+, A10s+, small amount of SCs in position.

Calling Raise: All PP, AQ, Axs+, KQs, some SCs with proper position/pot odds.

Limping: Axs, All pp, K9s+, Q8s+, Q9+, J9s+, J10 108s+, 97s+, you get the point.

Mr. Passive Fish

4 betting: AA

3betting: QQ+,AK

Raising: 1010+, AQ+,

Calling Raise: All PP, Ax, Axs, Suited+ unsuited Broadways, all SC, most SG, some unsuited connectors.

Limping: Ax, Axs, All pp, Kxs, K9+, Q8s+, Q9+, J7s+, J8+, 107s, 107+, you get the point.

Mr. Maniac Fish/Gambooler

4 betting: QQ+, AJ+

3 betting: 99+, AQ+

Raising: Any two cards

Calling raise: Any two cards

Limping: Any two cards

Solid Lag

4betting: QQ+

3betting: Any PP, Axs+, SC, Kxs+ against right opponents/raise sizes/stack sizes/table flow dynamics.

Raising: Any PP, Axs, A10+, K10+, QJ, Kxs+, SC, SG when in HJ, CO, or OTB

Calling Raise: Any PP, Axs, SC ONLY WITH 4-1 pot odds/proper implied odds against correct villian types.

Limping: Axs, All pp, KQ, K10s+, Q10s+, J10s+

****ty Lag

4betting: Any PP, AQ+ with total disregard of average villians 3 bet range.

3betting: Any PP, Axs+, SC, Kxs+ with total disregard for villian type/position/stack sizes/table flow dynamics.

Raising: Any PP, Axs, Ax, K9+, Q9+, Kxs+, SC, SG, S2G with no regard to position or adjustment to table flow dynamics.

Calling Raise: Any PP, Axs, A10+, K9+, Q9+, SC, SG, S2G, S3G with no regard for position, stack sizes, adjustments to table flow dynamics, and ignorantly thinks he can "OUTPLAY" all villian types.

Limping: Axs, All pp, KQ, K10s+, Q10s+, J10s+

So much good advice in this thread. Good luck OP.

Ignore the following two comments that were made above as ridiculous overstatements:

1) When people raise 6x-10x pre they have 10's, J's or AQ 90% of the time (maybe not exact but pretty close. People hate playing those hands)

Identify what the standard raise at your game is before listening to that advice. Your preflop raise size should be what the table will call for the most part. I start at $15 at $1/$2 and go up or down as I see action. So that's 7.5BB. I don't always have JJ or AQ.

That said, if you see someone go abnormally large preflop for their style of what you observed in previous hands, that does seem to be JJ or AK over half the time.

2) If someone over the age of ~50 raises to $12 UTG, it's KK+.

Yeah, stereotype all of us old people the same. Again, table dictates some of our action. I am 50 and I don't limp UTG with QQ or JJ unless it's because I have a plan to 3-bet someone who is raising a ton. Yeah, I'm not raising 44 UTG and I'm not raising TJ UTG. But it isn't always AA or KK.

I think stereotypes are useful for initial classifications of villians, but we must always be collecting information on them for final/proper classification.

My suggestion to the OP is that there is a wealth of information in this thread, don't use it all to start. I would start with just the following. Practice watching each player at the table and make the following three determinations.

1. Is the player loose or tight? Easiest way to do this is just count the number of times they play each orbit of the table. If it is 3 or more times, they are loose. Everyone else is tight.

2. Are they aggressive or passive? If they are almost always entering a pot by raising, they are aggressive. These players are rare at 1/2. Most of the time, they are passive.

3. What are they raising with? Some players will only raise when they have the nuts or near nuts. Some with raise with draws.

It will take you an hour or two to get all this information on each player. Note, there will be a lot going on, so you aren't going to be get bored. You can guarantee at a 1/2 game, the player with headphones isn't even doing this much.

Finally, you need to do this for 20 straight sessions. Yeah, that much. That's what it takes to make this stick as a habit. When you've done that, move on to the next area you need to work on.

Once you have this down, a good 80% of your hand reading work will be done. You will need to refine it further, but if you know the player is a tight passive that only raises with big hands, you don't have to know exactly what he has. You just know 2nd pair is no good and fold.

My simple advice is to find a way to very cheaply gain experience.

Cheap MTTs. SNGs. Limit poker. Bar charity poker leagues.

They are not the same as No limit. So don't confuse yourself. But you will need time to put together the ability to read people's hands based on their actions at the table. The benefits with playing these games is that for $50-$100 you can play for a few hours and watch the action.

Sitting down with $200 at a 1/2NL table is a pretty high-risk way to collect this experience.

Definitely play NL poker too. I'm not saying its an either/or situation. I'm just saying that burning BI after BI at 1/2NL because you are inexperienced is unnecessary.

Also, learn how to play 7-card Stud, and become competent in it. I truly believe that becoming competent in this game will give you the strongest foundation for all other forms of poker. The requirement to memorize all streets of cards and actions for all players will pay you significant dividends when you play NLHE.

I would like to add one thing that I tried and it worked somewhat for me. When I first started trying to get better at hand reading and ranging villains I did label everyone in a broad sense such as loose passive, tight aggressive, nitty and so forth. From this point I would really focus on the two players to my left and right and what they were doing. I did this because typically you will be talking to these players throughout the session and once comfort sets in you can typically just ask these players if you weren't involved in the hand what they had. So as you are paying attention as the hand progresses you come up with a "final range" for the hand and can pretty much get it confirmed by the villain just by asking. This has been a great way to boost my confidence in hand reading and ranging and also allowed me to focus on a select few people as I found watching the whole table and trying to pick specific tendencies for players was a very daunting task.

Each person has their own learning style and this just happened to work for me. I hope I (a realtive noob) to the poker world added a little insight for you.

Amazingly, their answers will usually be true, too!

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Much as I won't miss the poster above, I'm glad he bumped this excellent thread. Well worthy of adding to the "best of" list, imo.

Was already working on it.