Reading the board.

[Alexost]

What is the most efficient way to read the board in TH? Does anyone have any short-cuts or preferences on what to pay attention to first?

Is there, mathematically, a most efficient way to read the TH board for the top 3 or 4 number of possible hands?

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[captain2man]

Yes - and this is a good skill to have - and if you're not comfortable - practice by dealing out random hands & figuring out the nuts at each street.

Start with the strongest hands & work towards the weakest.

Remember these rules:

1. If the board isn't paired - quads & full houses are impossible.

2. If the board doesn't have 3 (or more) of the same suit - a flush (and therefore a straight flush) is impossible.

3. if there are not at least 3 cards on the board that have 2 or fewer gaps between them - a straight is impossible.

4. if a straight or better is impossible - the nuts is trips with the highest card on the board.

Good luck.

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes - and this is a good skill to have - and if you're not comfortable - practice by dealing out random hands & figuring out the nuts at each street.

[/ QUOTE ]

What I did as I was starting out in poker (and still often do) was to figure out what the nuts were on every street in every hand I played. Up to and including suit, if for example a straight was possible but the board was also two suited (A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] I would consider "the nut" hand over A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] on a board of K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]). After a time it becomes so automatic that you literally don't have to think about it--you just see a T, 8, and 7 on a rainbow board and know that J9 is the nuts.

[Alexost]

Thanks for the information guys-

These rules do help reduce the thought process to a minimum.

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[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.

[Alexost]

All great advice mutiger91. It makes a lot of sense how proper board reading, taking into account individual characteristics of players, can help deduce potential hands. I know one thing for sure, you just can't afford to have a leak such as not being able to read the board accurately and expect to make any money. Your above example shows that perfectly!

[bobbyi]

The best way is to just practice a lot. So even when you are not in a hand, you should be watching and thinking about the board. In addition to thinking about what hands are currently possible, try to think about the different cards that can come and how they will affect things: "If a jack comes, QT will be the nut straight", "If a heart comes, a flush will be possible".

[PantsOnFire]

Here's my suggestion, play PL Omaha. This game is a game about the nuts. It's about having the nuts and having a draw to the nuts. It's a game about the turn card changing the nuts.

You have to be able to read the board in this game and so if that is a weakness, then play this game for small stakes and get some practice reading the board. Try some $5 PL Omaha tourneys. I guarantee it will help your holdem game.

[Fermion5]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes - and this is a good skill to have - and if you're not comfortable - practice by dealing out random hands & figuring out the nuts at each street.

Start with the strongest hands & work towards the weakest.

Remember these rules:

1. If the board isn't paired - quads & full houses are impossible.

2. If the board doesn't have 3 (or more) of the same suit - a flush (and therefore a straight flush) is impossible.

3. if there are not at least 3 cards on the board that have 2 or fewer gaps between them - a straight is impossible.

4. if a straight or better is impossible - the nuts is trips with the highest card on the board.

Good luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

very good post. all came intuitively to me with practice except number 3. I guess that's why I have the most trouble reading straight draws, especially double belly buster draws. Also, I think it's important to know when an up and down straight draw is possible on flop as this is a likely draw that people will chase. Also, another thing to note on paired boards is that a full house is much stronger if your three of a kind is higher than the two paired cards on the board. For example, on a board of 339TA a hand like TT beats a hand like 39, 3T, 3A and is only beaten by a hand of 33 or AA. This pertains mostly to omaha, but still useful for holdem.

[Poker Clif]

[ QUOTE ]
The best way is to just practice a lot. So even when you are not in a hand, you should be watching and thinking about the board. In addition to thinking about what hands are currently possible, try to think about the different cards that can come and how they will affect things: "If a jack comes, QT will be the nut straight", "If a heart comes, a flush will be possible".

[/ QUOTE ]

Very good post. If you're still working on the basics, as I am, pick one to emphasize for a day or a week.

Ccncertrate on bluffing your next session. Or see how precisely you can compute pot odds. Pick a position (button, for example) and think about what hands you are playing from there. Continuation bets, when to slowplay a big hand, etc., etc. There is always something you can work on.

When you make you're first million, you'll know that the pieces are coming together. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]