Table Awareness

Table Awareness

Concentration and table awareness is crucial in all forms of poker Live or Online, but with online I think many of us tend to get distracted with the things like T.V. on in the background, Your Ipod, maybe you are reading blogs, or Chatting on I.M. all of these things can keep us from gaining vital info.


The online Player pool is huge so chances are you will sit down to a table of players that you have little to no background on there playing styles. Pay attention to the action even if you are not in a hand . Especially at the lower limits were players do not mix up there game and tend to play predictable. When you are not in the hand try to put the players on a specific range of hands that they might have given the action.

Obviously betting patters are huge and most of the time the only read you can get with online poker. See what a players does after they raise pre-flop and on the flop, if its heads up or maybe 3 way action. Even at the higher levels many players fall into the same pattern. Some players may bet big pre-flop hands like AK and than not fire again if they miss the flop. Those are the kinds of players you can make a call pre-flop with a hand like 8 9 suited not just to hit the flop big but also knowing that you can take down the pot with a post flop bet. Or on the other hand is this a player that will always C-bet the flop if he hits or misses. Again you can use his play to your advantage If you know he is going to C-bet why not throw him some rope after the flop check to him with the nuts.

In multi way pots how do they act? They lead out on the flop and a guy call what do they do on the turn.? If the board is draw heavy do they continue to bet if on the turn when the draw does not get there? Or do they check and some one bets do they fold?
Also pay attention to the player that like to just flat calls. Player 1 raises player 4 calls flop is J58 2 clubs player one bets player 4 calls .say the turn is a 3 player 1 checks what does player 4 do if he has the flush draw does he always check? If he has top pair does he always fire? How does he play a pocket pair say anything below a jack does player 4 fire or check? Im not asking what you would do here Im saying pay attention to what the other players do in these situations. I would guess that about 80% of the players will play it the exact same way every time the situation comes up, if he is a player that checks the turn with a draw or if he is the player that fires out. Their turn play is a good indicator of the type of player you are facing and his range of hands. Is he a player that would check top pair on the turn and than value bet the river at the end??

Watch for players raise and check raise tendencies. Is this the type of player that is re raising in position with top pair top kicker? what kind of hand is he check raising with? Many players will check raise in early position with 2 pair but lead out with trips. What players are you facing in this situation?

These are the types of things you need to ask yourself about the other players at the table. And the main reason it is so important to watch the action that is going on when you are not in a hand. If you are not truly paying attention to the action you are missing out on value (or future earnings if you will). If you notice a player is always calling value bets with weak holding why would you ever check to this player at the end.
Of course you will run into the good players that change there lines up and play a flush draw for a semi-bluff one hand than turn around and check it down a few hands latter, again this is another reason to pay attention to the action and spot those good players than can mix it up.

I guess all I’m trying to say is every style of play can be exploitable, so pay attention to your opponents play and the hands they show down. Pokers is a game of Incomplete information and every peace you can add to the puzzle will help you to earn money in the long run.