The Online Poker Player Resource

A large part of reading opponents involves understanding the type of person they are. In real life games and online play, you will consistently hear players berate their opponents for making bad calls. This usually occurs when the berating player suffers a “bad beat.” Nine times out of ten, that player is usually the one that sets him up for the bad beat.

Poker is an abstract game that does not have any physical restrictions on how a person plays. Because of this, it is important to note what type of opponent you are playing against before making moves on them such as bluffing.

A common bluff that occurs is when a player attempts to represent that the river card helped them in some way. Imagine you are holding pocket 10s and your opponent holds pocket Queens (10/10 versus Q/Q). Now let us say that the community cards does not improve either you or your opponent, however, there is an Ace on the river. This is an opportunity where you can attempt a bluff and try to represent the Ace on river improving your situation. If you attempt this move on a loose aggressive player, or someone who is not serious about poker, then you are more than likely to get called. However, if you understand your own table image and you are playing against an opponent who attempts to be observant or is a tight weak player, then this bluff would be a good move.

So the key is to play the players and not just the cards.