[innerpeace]

a few people seem to be incredulous that i am able to put my opponent on a very small range after the flop. it's not like i 'looked directly into villain's soul and saw two red aces' or anything like that, but really there are a number of factors that can help narrow down his range. it would have made the initial post too long if i spent too much time elaborating on this process.

while most of it happens quite quickly by feel, there are numerous factors to support the conclusion. here are a few factors to consider.

1. i have played with villain quite a bit and know how he generally behaves when he is really trying to get a read on his opponents. in this case, i didn't feel that he was trying to get enough of a read, which he would need to be doing if he was trying to make a play, but instead i had the impression that he was playing his hole cards and more focused on not letting me read him as strong. there aren't too many legitimate hole card combinations that play this way pre and post flop.

2. villain was sitting directly to my left. this hand is the only one where i have position on him. villain has the second biggest stack at the table and i have the biggest stack. villain has ideal table position, so i don't think he is looking to take risks getting stacked here when he can sit back and wait for an opportunity when he has position on me. i don't think he calls the flop without a hand. his checking the turn only confirmed my thoughts.

for these reasons and numerous others, like taking into account what i could infer about his mindset, his table image, what i know about him in real life, etc., i was confident narrowing his range to either aces or tens. i realize it's a narrow range, but i simply felt confident in making that read.

i know that some on these boards play live and some primarily play online. i wouldn't expect the online players to understand fully, but i'm sure the better live players can relate that there are many things going on in a poker session. if you can pay attention to and attune yourself to everything happening at the table, then there are many subtle cues and overall quite a bit of information you can pick up.

imho, someone who is really good at absorbing what is happening is phil ivey, especially when he is playing his best game. i didn't think it was such a big deal to narrow my opponent's holdings down to just a few hands after the flop and am a bit surprised at the skepticism.