Player Modeling

Question 0

What are some common characteristics of good players?

Answer 0

• playing good hands fast
• rarely making obvious mistakes
• Playing multiple games
• Making good value bets
• Buying in for a large, even amount
• Never berating players or complaining about bag luck
• Betting or raising, followed by folding on the same street
• Checking after raising preflop against several opponents
• Being hard to predict or put on hands

Question 1

Which type of poker tell should you give almost no weight when making your decision, due to its difficulty in interpretation?

Answer 1

The speed at which a player acts. One exception is when an opponent takes a long time and then raises on the river; this usually represents the nuts.

Question 2

What are some common characteristics of weak players?

Answer 2

• Cold calling raises, especially with hands like A7 or KJ or trash from the blinds.
• Calling down with low pairs in multiway pots (e.g. 66 with a board of K72J3)
• Strong hands played passively (when you are genuinely surprised he held AA)
• Infrequent raises
• Constant verbal abuse

Question 3

What adjustments should you make when playing against a fish?

Answer 3

• Value bet your good hands.
• Bluff with nothing once.
• Don’t be too tricky.
• Sit to his left.

Question 4

What adjustments should you make when playing against a shark?

Answer 4

• Play tighter preflop.
• Call down more.
• Value bet the river.
• Bluff raise.
• Don’t steal their blinds too much.
• Sit to their left.
• Throw in some tricks.

Question 5

What adjustments should you make when playing against a rock?

Answer 5

• Respect preflop raises.
• Sit to their right.
• Value bet.
• Steal their blinds.

Question 6

What adjustments should you make when playing against a maniac?

Answer 6

• Watch out in super-short games.
• Don’t be judgmental.
• Sit to their left.
• Isolate.

Question 7

What are the different types of maniacs and how can you exploit them?

Answer 7

• He likes to cap the flop. (No slow playing)
• He likes to bluff every street. (Don’t be in a hurry to raise; call and let him bluff)
• He likes to raise or reraise with nothing on any street. (Straightforward play)
• He is able to fold to raises. (Raise periodically but not with medium-weak hands)
• He is able to switch gears.

Question 8

What are some key questions to ask about your opponents?

Answer 8

• When does he fold?
• How often and where does he bluff?
• Does he stop bluffing?
• What preflop mistakes does he make?
• Is he exploiting your play?
• What reads does he make?