Reading Bets
I’ve been so focused on reading my opponents’ mannerisms-facial tics, speech patterns, and whatnot that lately I’ve neglected to read their bets. Unfortunately, the reminder wasn’t a friend who saw my potential weakness, but my utter failure at a recent Limit Hold ‘Em poker table. I had been riding a wave of pretty lousy cards, so I decided to buy up a few blinds and bolster my chip stack while I waited. Unfortunately, I was so attentive to which online poker players were in the pot, that I didn’t consider how many players were involved and what that meant for any bluffing that I might attempt. So, when I saw that I had a few tentative poker online players in the pot with me, I decided to make a stone cold bluff. I raised half of my chip stack with a 9-2 off-suit. Unfortunately, two of the three other players in the hand called my raise, and when on of them raised the rest of the stack on the turn, I was forced to fold. What I had neglected to notice was that when my usually passive opponents joined the hand, they did so with raises, meaning that they probably (and in this case, did) have pretty good hands.
