Things i look for when i dont have a read

[kaz2107]

I have seen a few posts lately of people saying they have no read on villian because either hero has jus sat down or villian has just sat down. When they really do imo. here are three things i see and make note of untill i gt a solid read because anything helps when we dont have ANY eads.

- When villian posts blind before the blinds reach him
This is a sign of donkeyness imo. and when i dont have any other info i take this as a hint that villian is worse than the average villian at nl25 or 50. I will then change my perception from an unknown to a little below avg for the table which will help me play early hands against that villian.

- Villians who buy in for a weird number
When villian buys in for 14.53 at a table i assume this is the last of his br and thus i give him the ole "donk" assumption. why else would he go to the trouble to buy in for such a weird vale unless that is all he has left. again i assume he is less then the avg player and change the way i play accordingly.

- When i first sit down and see villian has 15 bucks or so in font of them
A decent player will reload as often as needed and when i see a villian who is sitting with less then the max by 5 or 10 bucks i make the assumption that he doesnt kno that much about poker and probably isnt a very great player untill i play for a while and see something to change my assumption


Obv these arent iron clad things but are better then nothing in this game of reads when we dont have any yet.
These are the three main ones i see on a semi regular basis. do u think these have much merit in the lower stakes or are just rubish? and also do u have any others u look for while u are at the table?

[Sir Winalot]

I agree with all the points. The last point i would make BB dependent rahter than money dependent because this has to do with how high stakes this is about.

[Leviathan101]

I defintely agree with the second two. The first one I'm not so sure. Especially if your first hand is in cutoff on a full ring table, I can see posting the BB. It's easier to protect your blind from late position and if you're good enough posting the BB from CO can be +EV. I wouldn't judge much on the first one, but the second two I can defintely see more.

Second one strikes me as really telling. When someone buys in for anything in between 5-20, a light pops up in my head. I see it as very unusual.

Also try to interpret the information you do have from the few hands you've seen (if any) I wouldn't give it much wieght, but if you see something notable, I would take it into consideration.

[kaz2107]

[ QUOTE ]
I defintely agree with the second two. The first one I'm not so sure. Especially if your first hand is in cutoff on a full ring table, I can see posting the BB. It's easier to protect your blind from late position and if you're good enough posting the BB from CO can be +EV. I wouldn't judge much on the first one, but the second two I can defintely see more.

Second one strikes me as really telling. When someone buys in for anything in between 5-20, a light pops up in my head. I see it as very unusual.

Also try to interpret the information you do have from the few hands you've seen (if any) I wouldn't give it much wieght, but if you see something notable, I would take it into consideration.

[/ QUOTE ]

yea the first one is towards like people posting utg or utg+1 the most. i always get a little chuckle when i see some dude post utg and then he gets a donk read untill he can prove otherwise [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ymu]

Agree with these, and the what position do they post the blind in points - posting in position is a lot different from not having the patience to wait a couple of hands. If I see a player post in position, I may give him some extra credit unless point 2 applies.

Also, in general, posting an extra blind is probably a more important tell in FL than NL, where the blinds actually matter.

It's also worth noting when they go for the minimum instead of maximum buy-in - they're either consciously playing a shortstack strategy, or they don't understand strategy and are afraid of losing too much. Which of these applies usually becomes apparent in a few hands.

[TKWest]

Good observations

1. Yes this can mean something. But postion shuold be taken into considertion also. I have posted BB if I am CO or Button - especially on loose passive tables where the BB will get you to the flop. Can also be used as a reverse tell. A player may want you to think they are donkey.

2. Yes I think you are correct

3. Buying in for the minimum does not mean they are a weak player. They may be using some kind of "short stack" strategy. I avoid tables with a bunch of players buyin in for the min as it is hard to make money off them. They only play a few hands and usually go all-in.

[Antinome]

Interesting. I do all of these deliberately from time to time, and I'm probably not the only one.

I'd like to add some of my own:

-Check whether the players at your table are multitabling I don't need to tell you that multitablers are generally tighter.

-If your site tells you where players are from, make a note of it.
What time is it where they are playing? Is it during the day? Night? I make a lot of guesses about players based on this information. Nighttime in Alabama? Jackpot.

-If you have seen them raise preflop even once?- how big was the bet?
Did it look like they took limpers into account? That's a danger sign. Was it undersized? That's a good sign.

-If your site tells you how long players have been registered, make a note.
Better players last longer.

[kokiri]

[ QUOTE ]

- When villian posts blind before the blinds reach him
This is a sign of donkeyness imo. and when i dont have any other info i take this as a hint that villian is worse than the average villian at nl25 or 50. I will then change my perception from an unknown to a little below avg for the table which will help me play early hands against that villian.


[/ QUOTE ]

I always do this just because it costs me next to nothing and might, just might make people think i'm a donkey...

[Dunkman]

[ QUOTE ]

I always do this just because it costs me next to nothing and might, just might make people think i'm a donkey...

[/ QUOTE ]

Same lol...I play 6max, and although I won't do it dead UTG, I'll usually do it from the CO or MP. Part of it is multi-tabling laziness (wanna click auto-post to get it over with) and part is just hoping that someone decides I'm a fish.

[Dave I]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I always do this just because it costs me next to nothing and might, just might make people think i'm a donkey...

[/ QUOTE ]

Same lol...I play 6max, and although I won't do it dead UTG, I'll usually do it from the CO or MP. Part of it is multi-tabling laziness (wanna click auto-post to get it over with) and part is just hoping that someone decides I'm a fish.

[/ QUOTE ]

I also almost always raise that first hand.