This article makes a speciality of a critical concept adapted from my book, Read Hands At No-Limit Hold’em.

You check, and your opponent bets. What does he have? He can have a powerful hand, a vulnerable hand he desires to protect, a powerful draw, a weak draw, or air. Doesn’t provide you with much to move on, does it?

But reading aggression isn’t hopeless. The secret is often to take a look at the hands your opponents don’t bet.

Most players don’t bet more often than they bet. They bet the flop, get called, after which don’t bet the turn and don’t bet the river. They check the flop after which call (i.e., don’t raise).

To determine what hands your opponents are betting and raising, it’s often more helpful to take a look at it a little bit backwards. First call to mind the hands your opponent wouldn’t bet. Players often choose to not bet hands in these categories:

1. Hands they’re giving up on
2. Hands with showdown value
3. Draws they don’t wish to get raised off of
4. Hands they’re slowplaying
5. Some other hands they don’t need to lose some huge cash with

I’ll talk briefly about each category.

1. Hands They’re Giving Up On

This one is plain. Players check and fold when they’re giving up.

2. Hands With Showdown Value

This one is essential to effective hand reading. Players often check hands with showdown value. For example, a player raises and two players call. The flop comes Q-8-6 with a flush draw. The callers check, and so does the raiser. The raiser often checks the flop with a hand with some showdown value, like J-J, 9-9, or A-K.

Here’s another example. A player limps, someone raises two off the button, and the player at the button calls. The limper calls also. The flop comes K-5-3 rainbow. The limper checks, the raiser bets half the pot, the button calls, and the large blind folds. The turn is an eight, completing the rainbow. Both players check.

In this example, the player at the button is rather prone to have showdown value. At worst, I'D expect A-2 for a gutshot, but much more likely a couple. The raiser may additionally have showdown value with a hand like 10-10 or A-Q.

3. Draws They Don’t Wish to Get Raised Off Of

For most poker players, betting a draw, getting check-raised, and being forced to fold before seeing the last card seems like an utter disaster.

In reality, betting and getting raised off a draw is a foul thing, but often the advantages of betting the draw outweigh the hazards. Some players see this and bet their draws where it’s sensible, while others allow the concern of missing a large hand to compel them to check.

For example, say someone open-raises from four off the button, a player holding J 10 calls from the cutoff, and the small blind calls. The flop comes K 8 6. The small blind checks, and the raiser checks. I MIGHT expect many players to bet their flush draw (and here of venture is sort of mandatory), but some players will check. In case you see someone sign in this situation, remember it, as it means a future bet is less more likely to be a draw.

4. Hands They’re Slowplaying

Players check hands they’re slowplaying. Some players virtually always slowplay big hands at the flop. Against these players, a flop bet means with near certainty that they don’t hold a large hand.

Most players slowplay sometimes and fastplay others. Still, the truth that a player bet early in a hand often reduces the danger that you’re up against a flopped monster hand.

5. Another Hands They Don’t Wish to Lose SOME HUGE CASH With

Players check when they’re uncertain or frightened of losing money. Sometimes players who've been running badly will enter a defensive shell where they stop betting a few of the hands they'd normally bet. Be searching for players who appear to have gone limp. Aggression from these players usually means an excessively big hand.

An Example

Whenever your opponents bet or raise, think first about all of the hands they likely wouldn't bet for this kind of reasons. This will likely usually will let you start narrowing down your opponents’ ranges to something you'll be able to work with.

Let’s work through an example hand from a $1-$2 no-limit hold’em game with $300 stacks.
Two tight players limp, and also you raise to $12 from two off the button. A STANDARD player calls at the button, the blinds fold, and both limpers fold. There’s $31 within the pot and $288 behind.

The flop comes K 10 8. You bet $20, and also your opponent calls.

The turn is the 2. You check, your opponent bets $40 into the $71 pot, and you call. There’s $151 within the pot and $228 behind.

The river is the 4. You check, and your opponent bets $70. What kind of hands is he more likely to have?

A regular player calls a preflop raise at the button with a reasonably wide selection of hands. The flop may be very coordinated and hits a big component to a preflop calling range. Hands with a purpose to cthe entire flop include sets and two pair, any king, any ten, any eight, high unimproved pocket pairs like Q-Q, spade draws, straight draws around K-10, and 10-8.
Due to all the available open-ended and gutshot draws, this range in all fairness heavy with straight-draw hands.

On the turn you check and speak to. What does your opponent’s turn bet mean? It can be a collection or two pair that your opponent slowplayed at the flop. It can be a king. It might be Q-Q or J-J or a flopped ten or eight, though these hands might check the turn with showdown value. It can be a flush or straight draw (or a combo attract.) other words, your opponent might bet any hand with which he called the flop, though he might instead check the weak pairs with showdown value.

After betting the turn, however, most players would check their weak pairs at the river. In case your opponent tries to read hands, he might interpret your turn call to be either a king or a draw. Holding a couple like J-10, he might check the river hoping to overcome a busted draw at showdown.

The indisputable fact that your opponent chose to not check the river is meaningful. He may have a robust hand. But he is also bluffing with any of a big collection of busted draws. But he likely doesn’t have a middling hand with showdown value like J-J or A-8.

On this river there are more busted draws your opponent could hold than there are big hands. Getting nearly 3-to-1 to call, it is a reasonable situation to check out to snap off a bluff.

The keys to finding a bluff-catching call on this situation are the board and the tendency to test once with showdown value. Whilst you understand when your opponent won’t bet, it helps you know better the hands they do. ♠

Ed’s newest book, The Course: Serious Hold ‘Em Strategy For Smart Players is accessible now at his website edmillerpoker.com. You too can find original articles and instructional videos by Ed on the training site redchippoker.com.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]