We have all heard the popular phrase “You don’t play the cards, you play the player” uttered a million times throughout the years all over the poker community, but in truth there actually is a lot of validity to that statement.
You can master every aspect of your own personal techniques and strategies, but when you can analyse your opponents and draw important information out of them, that’s when you can really make some money. Nowhere is this more important than in SNG tournaments, where you need to observe and profile the other players at the table quickly and accurately.
The common misconception about profiling poker opponents is that most of the information you get off of them will be through exaggerated physical tells, such as the kind of stuff you see in the movies.
While you can employ the use of tells in your decision-making process, they are extremely unreliable. Instead, most high-level pros agree that the best way to profile players is through paying attention to their betting patterns, as poker players are creatures of habit and will check, bet, raise and fold the same way again and again in a wide variety of scenarios. The best part about using betting patterns for profiling purposes is that it can be done as effectively online as when attempted live.
To establish a proper profile of a player you need to pay close attention to their actions at every stage of an SNG, from pre-flop to the showdown. Use the built-in note-taking software of your preferred online poker room to keep constant tabs on your opponents.
Now as the match progresses you can review your notes and you should see patterns emerge, such as the fact that one opponent raises pre-flop a lot but doesn’t showdown premium hands on the river.
This data will be invaluable as you come up against these players in the future, plus you can constantly revise your profile on them so that it contains current information.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
