Posted at the advice of Taipan.

The key question is whether you think you are ahead of your opp's range of hands rather than his actual hand.

When reading HOH or doing the tests in WPT Poker magazine, I make pretty good judgements. This is no doubt due to the fact that I can go into the tank and think about it for a while and also due to the extra info provided about the playing style of the villain.

In online poker, you don't get that time luxury, especially with the time bar turning red, bleeping, flashing or what have you. And I have found it hard to read opponents due to the extreme hand ranges they play. We know A7, J8, K10 and Q2 are poop but they don't. So the entire deck can be in play. You have pockets Js and the board is 2310, it looks safe, you face major resistance, scared of trips but are now pot committed, and you breathe a sigh of relief as you win and he only had KA. Next time though, he has 2 pair.

Add to this many get a bizarre satisfaction of bluffing (and showing) 72 and you end up in a situation where it's mainly down to playing your cards rather than reading them. I accept that this is the way forward for now yet am concerned about this glaring deficiency.

That's not to say I don't make reads, I do, just not as much as those of you who are making good money. And overall, it's just a sense of them being weak or strong - rather than actual hand ranges. Mainly because anything is fair game at this level.

At first I thought I was making a lot of innate reads due to my win rate but maybe I win so much due to being TAG - and betting 80 -100% of the pot when I have a hand, driving out any weak holdings. I've read the articles such as analysing hand ranges and betting patterns but for the most part, I am not seeing any. They bet on any two cards and will often donk 90% of their chips only to fold on the river. Maybe it's as clear as day and I am just not good enough to see it yet. And that's a vicious circle.

Even harder is the fact that the game is over in 45 minutes and I'm onto a new batch of villains. So even if my initial reads were way off target, I don't spend enough time with them to get to refine them. Add in 2 tables at the same time and it's even harder.

Most info I get is usually from their bets - but it has to be glaringly obvious like a post flop bet of 20 after a pre flop raise to 150, or insta all in when an innoccuous card come son the turn.

Eg: 1st game in today, I had 55 but folded as it was raised to 8xbb pf. Flop came 5JQ. At first I fancied this to be easy for the trips, had I played. However, much raising/reraising ensued. Then the remaining cards came 7 and 10. The heat was immense and I was glad I folded. I guessed that both had grabbed a piece - but the war was between AA and 1010 - how wrong I was. I've seen AA contest this for sure, but also trips, 10K, QA, JQ and even 84. And my trips were leading but I wouldn't have liked to be in there when hell broke loose.


So I've read the articles but am not getting anywhere fast on this front. Any suggestions? And remember the level I am playing at.

Any thoughts about doing a video demonstrating putting opponents on ranges.