- Fold before the flop unless they have the strongest starting hands. (rocks, CP1)
- Often calls before the flop, but fold if they don't like the flop. (CP2)
- Often calls before and on the flop, since it costs them only a small bet each time.
But if they don't improve on the turn, they will usually fold when the bets increase.
(CP3)
- Often calls until the river cards. However, they will fold on the river if they haven't
made a decent hand. (CP4)
- Calls all the way, including on the river, even with a hand that stands very little
chance of winning. (calling stations, CP5)
Once you have classified a player, you will be able to use this information to put the
player on a hand. As an example, if you have position and you make a tester bet on the
flop and CP2 calls you then you can be sure he has made a some sort of hand or a
draw. You can then continue the hand knowing this. Whereas if a CP4 called you on the
flop, you still may not be sure exactly what they have. With a CP4, you may not make a
big bluff on the flop or turn but you would push a lot more on the river. So the
classifications also help in deciding on which streets you start pushing. A general
classification of loose and tight would put CP3 and CP4 as loose and therefore
unbluffable but actually they are. You just need to know when to hit these players up.
On a basic level, push CP1 before the flop, CP2 on the flop, CP3 on the turn, CP4 on
the river and never bluff the CP5. Even if the player does not fold to you, you still have
the advantage of knowing what sort of hand they are probably holding from their call. To
get even more sophisticated, you want to keep an eye out for how large a bet the player
will call at each stage and with what sort of hands.
Betting Patterns
In a similar way, we want to keep an eye on how players bet and what they bet with.
Once we have marked their betting pattern, we can use their bets to gain information on
the strength of their hand and come up with a general strategy against them. Matt
Lessinger writes that most players fall into four general groups; straight forward players,
contrary players, super aggressive players and ultra-passive players.
Completely straight forward player (BP1)
The completely straight forward player will bet when he has something and check when
he doesn't. This player is easy to prey on, his betting will tell you when he is weak and
when he is strong. When this player checks, you should attack. If he has position on
you, check and if he checks behind you then you know he is weak. Likewise, this player
will give away his strong hands with clockwork raises.
Completely contrary player (BP2)
This player is essentially the opposite of BP1, in that his raises and bets are usually
bluffs or with weak hands. This kind of player never bets his strongest hands, waiting to
check-raise or slow play their monsters. When playing BP2, know that his checks do
not necessarily mean weakness. Likewise, his bets and raises does not immediately
mean that he has made a strong hand. When you have position employ re-raises on this
kind of player to help work out his hand and often because of the mediocre strength of
his hand he will lay down to re-raises. If BP2 has position on you, then you should
employ the check-raise tactic often. BP2 is generally quite aggressive and likes to attack
players checking into him, so you should give him a healthy does of check raises.
Super-aggressive player (BP3)
This player can be thought of as the predictable maniac. BP3 will bet if the action is
checked to him and will raise when someone bets into him. This player is happy to
gamble it up and likely to make the whole table gamble more. BP3 is typically in control
of the table and it will be quite difficult to out aggress him. Against this type of player you
will need to produce the best hands to win.
Ultra-passive player (BP4)
The ultra passive player is the opposite of BP3. BP4 hates to take aggressive action,
they will hardly bet their own hand choosing to check. The will mostly be calling or
folding and very rarely raising. BP4 is the quiet player and is sometimes hard to pick on
the table. It is important to keep an eye on the action players like BP3 but also those
quiet players that might go more un-noticed.
You should see that BP1/BP2 give away information on their hand through their betting
whereas BP3/BP4 give away no information because they bet the same when they are
weak or strong. This is why you need to identify players betting patterns quickly. You
might stop and think when BP1 bets out but BP3 shouldn't immediately phase you. To
be able to make the right assessments you will need to have some idea what type of
betting pattern they have.
Improve your own calling, betting & analysis
Once you get used to identifying other player's patterns and exploiting them, you should
start to analyse your own calling and betting to minimise other player's exploiting you.
As I said in the beginning, the best players are able to switch their patterns at will. This
is something you should aim to be able to do. By constantly shifting gears, players will
continue to interpret your bets with doubt. Hopefully this will lead to their mistakes and
your profits.
It is also an interesting learning excercise to go to a lower stakes game and commit
yourself to a defined calling and betting pattern. This will help you deal with your
opponnents because you will learn what fears that their play involves and you become
aware of the opportunites that each style has. For example, try being a maniac BP3 and
you understand what it feels like to control the table and how other players begin to
change in the face of your mania. You will then also notice that BP3 can easily trap
people when they happen to make a strong hand. This will help you deal with BP3
players in the future.
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I hope this was an interesting primer to reading people's calling and betting patterns.
The rest is to get practice, practice, practice! Good Luck!
