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 Fish cyclopedia: hand selection.
I've thought a lot about reads and how to take notes, generally how to figure out what the other guy's got. I'm not much of a note taker, and I don't think I ever will be. But, after spending a lot of time at the micro limits thinking pretty hard about what's going on, I think reads are all about finding leaks in the other guys game. There are two great things about learning the game at micro limits. First, a lot of hands go to showdown. You can figure out exactly how people play, because you get to see their cards for free. Second, it's cheap to test theories. If you believe a guy always min raises on the draw, you can call him down, find out for sure, without breaking the bankroll.
One of the more difficult things I've had to do, is realize that each player at the table is unique. Just because a table is fishy doesn’t mean every player there is fishy. So when are looking for leaks, credit the player, not the table. That's been my problem, but definitely something to watch out for if you don't keep explicit notes on each player.
Clearly the biggest and most common leak is playing to many hands. But there are a thousand ways this presents itself. You'll find some guys who do pretty well, except they play any ace. They run into kicker problems, or they hit bottom pair with the rag, and loose there as well. The trick is figuring out when they have that hand, and how dangerous it is. If you think somebody has the any ace leak, watch for bets on raggy flops. They'll generally be smaller than the big pocket pair bets. If you think the guy plays pretty well, he'll probably make a small bet with overcards. He'll probably make the same bet with a bottom pair, that just seems to be a common pattern. If he's more passive, he may just call with the raggy pair. The flip side to the any ace leak, if there is an ace on the board and he's in the hand, you have problems. if you also have an ace, you got him beat. He may have hit his two pair, watch out for resistance. The key is measuring their betting pattern against the board. An aggressive guy will bet the ace, to hell with the kicker, a passive guy will call you down, to hell with the kicker. If you don't have the ace, and there's an ace on the board, watch them closely. A pot sized bet should prove to you weather or not they have the top pair.
Another fishy leak, is playing any face card. I've seen people show down J6 off a ridiculous number of times. How do you deal whit these players? The're in most hands. They're bound to have some sort of pair. Again, you have to take their' aggression into account. Do the bet or call the big pair? Do they bet or call the little pair? Will they chase to the turn or the river? In my experience, these guys will generally fold a pot sized bet when they miss the flop, but they will call you down to the river with a pair of twos. Be prepared to show them *something* it doesn’t have to be much, but you need a pair. Again, their level of aggression will dictate what hands you can put them on. Betting when they hit the big pair, and calling when they hit the little pair is very common. Given that, you can usually put them on a hand. Since they suck, I usually only give them credit for the little broadway card. If the flop is KJ4, the king is mine, they have the jack. Not always the case, but if there's a king on the board, and one in my hand, and the guy plays any face card, he's got a queen or a jack, not an ace or a king.
Some people play good hands, but don't bet right. They are super passive. They call with kings. They call with queens. You have to find these people and understand that they don't bet. They just call. Watch out for this specific case. You'll need to watch them go to showdown quite a few times before you can tell if they play garbage, premium cards, or what.
Other people will min bet, and min reraise everything. Their hands don't go to showdown very often against other fish, so it's going to be on your shoulders to call them down a few times. People, weather they want to or not, change their bets when they have something. Once you have an idea of the kinds of cards they play, from calling them down a few times, you can try reraising. Often people will min bet their draws. Easy to see once you know to look for it.
The first step, is figuring out what kinds of hands people like to play. When you see lots of showdowns, it's easy to see what's wrong with the hands they pick.
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