[mutiger91]

It seems simple enough, but once you get in the habit of doinng it, you will be surprised how many people don't (or at least don't do it all the time). I was in a hand a couple of weeks ago where I had the nut full house. Other player had been betting and 2 behind me were chasing flushes, so I didn't raise until the river. When I did he came back over the top of me for another $100. I pushed all-in for another $160. He didn't even stop to think about what I might have. He knew he had a really strong hand. He called so fast that I worried he had quads until he flipped his cards.

The second part about reading the board is eliminating hands based on how your opponent has played. For example, if the flop is 467 rainbow and your opponent raised preflop, he is very unlikely to have 58 or 35 unless you have seen him raising suited gap hands

Let's say he hasn't done that and he's only playing good starting hands. The next most likely hand is actually a miss and his bet is a continuation bet. (If he bets again, that's probably not the case.) If he hasn't been making a lot of continuation bets, he is most likely on an overpair to the board.

A looser player who raises more hands may be more likely to be on 2-pair or a set. You will be amazed at how easy it is to deduce the kinds of hands your opponent might be playing simply on the frequency that they play.

The biggest trick to making the read is that you don't have to put them on a single hand. Just list the possibilities that make sense and figure out how many are beating you and how many you are beating. Then decide if you have the pot odds to continue.