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4.3 Betting Patterns
We’ve talked about betting patterns at various points in this course so far. Betting Patterns are where we can watch our opponent’s actions and use them to build up a story to help us work out what hand our opponent has and what he is up to.
It can be overwhelming to start with to watch all the players at a table all at the same time. This will be a skill you build up over time and eventually it will become second nature to you.
To start with, concentrate with the players at the table that will be most important to you:
- The two players to the left of you - which act after you
- The player to the right of you – who acts before you
Once you feel comfortable then you can start to branch out to the other players at the table.
Betting Pattern Information to look for
- How many hands do they play – Seeing how many hands they play will give you an indication of the kind of starting hands they are willing to play with, someone who plays a lot of hands is unlikely to have premium hands each time, so that shows he is willing to enter a pot with more marginal hands. And the opposite is also true; a player who plays few hands will be waiting for premium hands to enter a pot. Vital information to give you a head start in trying to work out what hand your opponent might have.
- What hands do they show down – this really is a wealth of information, if you see their hand in the showdown at the end, think back to how they played the hand. Did they slowplay with a monster hand, or were they aggressive with a weak hand? Make a note of this information, it will come in handy next time your in a hand with this opponent.
- Callers or Raisers? – Do they like to enter a pot by Raising or do they prefer just to limp in? A Player who enters with a raise a lot means you should be more wary of playing marginal hands infront of him, as he may well raise and force you out of the pot. A Caller is more likely to be a weaker player
- The One Bullet Gun Bluff – Some players who are aggressive before the flop, will be aggressive again after the flop with a continuation bet, but then if they get called will fade off and not bet on the turn. This is a huge betting pattern tell as once we have identified it we know exactly what sort of hand our opponent has. If he is the aggressor and then suddenly doesn’t bet on the Turn then the pot is ours for the taking, if he does bet on the turn, it probably means he actually has a hand.
The above are just a few examples of types of things to look out for with betting patterns. The key is to piece together the information your opponent is sending you and try and decide if it all makes sense, then try to work out why your opponent has acted like that, is it a trap or a genuine sign of weakness? Does something smell fishy, can you sense a bluff?
CONTINUE TO NEXT SECTION - 4.4
