← Back to Strategy

Reading Your Opponents Like a Book

10 min read

Forget sunglasses and twitchy fingers. Real opponent reads come from patterns, bet sizing, and logical deduction. Here's the system.

Player Types

The first thing you do at any table is classify every player. There are four primary types, and each one has exploitable tendencies.

TAGTight-Aggressive

Plays few hands but bets them hard. The default winning style. Exploit by folding to their big bets on scary boards.

LAGLoose-Aggressive

Plays many hands and bets relentlessly. Dangerous but exploitable. Call them down lighter and let them bluff into you.

NITTight-Passive

Only plays premium hands and rarely raises. Steal their blinds constantly. When they raise, run.

FISHLoose-Passive

Calls everything, rarely raises. Your primary profit source. Value bet relentlessly. Never bluff them.

Bet Sizing Tells

How much someone bets often matters more than the fact that they bet at all. Common patterns at low-to-mid stakes:

Small bet(25-33% pot) — Usually a blocker bet or a weak draw. They want to see the next card cheaply. Raise to punish.
2/3 potStandard value bet or semi-bluff. This is the “default” sizing and hardest to read. Focus on other factors.
Overbet(100%+ pot) — Polarized. They either have the nuts or nothing. Look at the board texture and their range to decide.
Min betAlmost always weak. They want to “stay in” cheaply. Raise aggressively.

Timing Tells

  • •Instant call — Usually a draw or a mediocre made hand. They decided before you bet.
  • •Long pause then raise — Often strength disguised as deliberation. Be cautious.
  • •Quick raise — Typically very strong. They're excited and couldn't wait.
  • •Long pause then check — Weakness. They considered betting but gave up. Fire a bet.

Building Hand Ranges

The key skill is narrowing your opponent's range street by street. Start with their preflop action (what hands would they play this way?), then narrow on the flop, turn, and river based on their sizing and speed.

Example: A tight player raises UTG, c-bets the flop, and fires a big turn bet on a board with no draws completing. Their range is heavily weighted toward overpairs and top pair with a strong kicker. Your two pair is probably good — but a bare top pair might be in trouble.

“The goal isn't to know exactly what they have — it's to know the range of hands they could have, and play optimally against that range.”

← Bankroll ManagementTry the Calculator →