Reading the board...

Dennis187Dennis187
in General Poker Chat
I was sitting back this morning, on my nice day off... and was thinking about poker. What a surprise eh? LOL! Anyways I was thinking about the edges a good player has over beginning or unskilled players. One that really stood out in my mind is a skill that I think even beginning players should develope from the get go and that is...

-READING THE BOARD-

Say you are sitting in your seat and get delt Kh Kd, heck you have a pocket pair, the second highest one you can have. So you are on the button and everyone folds around too you...

You call the big blind
Small blind calls
And big blind checks... here comes the flop...

Ks 7s 8s

Wow you flopped a set... great! So you bet out, small blind calls and big blind calls... here comes the turn...

9s

Oh no... here is where it gets tricky! Your trips WERE good, not now. Any spade that someone is holding will beat you... period. So you check, small blind checks and big blind checks... here comes the river...

10h

Oh crap... now not only are you scared of any spade, but now you are looking at an open ended straight draw on the board that you dont have a peice of. With the small blind, and big blind checking the turn... you figure lets see what happens and you check. Small blind bets, big blind folds and the decision is on you. GET OUT! LOL, your kings are probably not good anymore, so just muck it. Sometimes for beginning players or unskillfull players this can be a hard lay down since they are not...

- READING THE BOARD -

I have seen countless beginners play there cards and nothing else. They dont play the other players, they just figure... heck they have three of a kind and they are going to bet it up and win this pot. If you dont read the board, stay up to date with your oppositions maneuvers and bets then you will be setting yourself up for a BIG LOSS!

So what is the lesson here today? Pretty straight forward. Play your hands well. Watch the board. If the board looks scary and you do not have any peice of it... please dont make the mistakes that the beginners are making so often. Just fold your hand and wait for the next opportunity... or dont... it just means more money in my pocket at the end of the game if you are at my table. :)

**POST YOUR OPINIONS ON THIS ARTICLE**

Comments

  • pkrfce9pkrfce9
    In this situation, since the pot is small, I'd have to agree that folding is the best action. I think you are only getting 4-1 odds for calling.

    If the pot was larger and you were heads up, it may be worth it for a single bet to call. He may be betting automatically since the turn was checked.

    It may be an even better bet in the case of a large pot to raise him. Heads-up, there's a reasonable chance you have the best hand. If he had As or Qs chances are he would have raised earlier. Granted, he could be holding a small spade. A raise could well scare him out. If he held a J or 6 would he have called the flop bet?

    I guess it all depends on your knowledge of the player. Is he likely to bluff into 2 players after a checked round? Can he be scared out with a weak one-card flush? Would he hold onto a straight with a 4-flush on the board?

    I'd love to hear what some more experienced players think.
  • Dennis187Dennis187
    Pkrfce9, you are correct... I do believe that you have to also take in consideration the player(s) that you are playing against. A very agressive player like a Gus Hansen for example could very well have a J or 6 in his hand. Or any spade for that matter. Basically my whole point of this point was to make sure that everyone knows that reading the board is also important. A person that can read the board, determine the situation that he is in correctly can save himself ALOT of money in the long run.
  • st0neC0ldNutzst0neC0ldNutz
    So I have a question about that hand where I have KK and the board flops 3 suited cards and I have no cards of that suit in the hole. I tend to think that I would like to bet with the trips and not let someone chasing a flush get a free card off on the turn...i think if someone had the flush already they would call and the chaser would fold....or if you push all in a flush chaser should probably fold and even someone holding a flush might only call if they had the ace.....i know there is a lot more to this question depending on how many chips I have, they have, my position and the style of the players still in the hand. But just looking for some general ideas on this type of situation.
  • ScottyZScottyZ
    Are you talking about limit poker, or no-limit? I'm guessing limit since you didn't state any betting amounts.

    If you're talking limit, I'd probably bet again on the turn, and if called in both spots, go for a check-call (one bet) on the river. In some game textures, I would bet the river myself.

    It's hard to put anyone on a J (or 6 or spades) the way the action has gone so far (or if it went bet-call-call on the turn). There are still a lot of hands that your set of Kings can beat that might try a river bet. A lot of 2 pair hands are plausible. Someone with a busted backdoor flush draw might even bet.

    Also (again if we're talking limit), you should raise the KK pre-flop almost every time. Probably the only exception would be a pre-flop texture where you have an excellent chance of getting a limp-reraise in.

    ScottyZ
  • Dennis187Dennis187
    Hehe, good points all. Ummm, okay basically what I was trying to do is determine that it is important to be able to read the board and try and put your opponents on there hands. The simulation hand that I presented, that is all it was meant to do. There are tons of other things to figure in on... limit or no limit, position, what type of player you are facing... and etc. However all I really wanted people to look at was the reading the board side of the story. I do apologize for the misunderstanding, although I am still loving reading the responses and evaluations. :)

    So keep them coming :)
  • literationliteration
    For a newerbie like myself this is a good comment. At least that's the way I took your post.

    In past, I admit to being a bit distracted when not playing in a pot. Now I spend some of my folding time reading the board, determining what the nuts are, and if time allows (check - check) the top 3 hands on each street.
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