Hand reading on the flop

It’s the first chance we have to develop our reads and start to narrow the hands our villain can hold. It’s important to build your reads at this point in the context of the flop – so you should be assigning hand ranges based on the pre-flop range you have assigned your opponents while also bearing in mind their tendencies on the flop.

Let’s say you raised before the flop with A-Q and were called behind by a predictable player. Before the flop you were able to give this player a pretty reliable range, as he is the kind of player who always re-raises his big hands so you can rule out big pairs and A-K. You think his flat call means he has a pocket pair of Tens or smaller, or two big cards- maybe Q-T upwards, as well as some suited connecting cards.

Now the flop comes Kd-6s-4s. You make a continuation bet and your opponent calls. If he is predictable you can narrow his range. He would just fold all hands that have missed this flop and often raise his big hands. As such, his calling range is likely to be hands containing a King, pocket pairs below a King and hands with a draw, such as two spades, or 7-5.

Reading aggressive players

If you’re facing an unpredictable opponent you can’t narrow his hand range as much, as he will sometimes call with his entire range looking to take the pot away on the turn if you check or if a scare card such as a spade arrives.

Another thing to look for is how players play their draws. For example, aggressive players will always look to raise and semi-bluff with hands like flush draws on this kind of board. Therefore if they flat-call in this spot you can lower the chances of them having drawing hands and consider either betting again if a spade comes on the turn or check-calling to trap them.

Be very aware of board textures on the flop and beyond. For instance if you are check-raised on a board like K-7-2 rainbow your opponent has a much smaller range than if he makes the same check-raise on a Jh-9s-8h flop where he can have all kinds of draws and/or made hands.
Remember, the best hand readers are able to adjust to each situation to make good decisions, so bear in mind the player you’re playing, his pre-flop range, and the texture of the board when assigning him a range.

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