Pre-Flop Reads
Poker would be a lot easier if the other players would just tell you what they have. Well, they won’t tell you, but they sure will show you.
There are lots of situations in poker where your cards are the last thing that you need to be thinking about. Before the flop is one of those times when you need to pay more attention to what everyone else is doing. Watch the betting around the table and by the time the betting rolls around to you, you’ll have a much better idea about what you want to do about your hole cards.
Look to see who just calls the blind-these guys most likely have marginal poker hands. At best, I’d place them at a low pocket or a face with a decent kicker.
Watch whoever raises. Is this usual for them? If it’s an aggressive bettor, this might not mean that they have a great hand, think marginal to good, but it the raise is made by a timid player, then I’d stop and think hard. I’d imagine some face cards or a high pocket pair in that case.
I know some guys who won’t even look at their poker hands until it’s time for them to bet. It’s not a bad idea, since your co-players can tell you a lot more about your cards than you might think.
