Baby No Limit:
Typing Your Opponents

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

You've seen the old Western movies haven't you? The ones which include poker usually have some pivotal scene where the hero, who is a great card player, either carries out an expert bluff, winning everything with nothing or, even more likely, he looks into the soul of his villainous opponent and reads him perfectly, figuring out that he's bluffing, calling him with his last cent, and winning the pot, the house and the girl. Ah, the movies!

Lest you think this "Hollywoodization" of poker has long since ended, consider recently, in Rounders, in just about all regards the most realistic of movies that feature poker, there's that scene early on when Matt Damon's character - recently "reformed" by his girlfriend and no longer playing poker - happens to come upon a game his law school professor is having. Damon's natural instincts overwhelm him as he takes up the dare of one of the game's participants and announces, with no seeming difficulty at all, the exact 7-card stud hands that each player has - before they reveal their hole cards. He leaves the otherwise sagacious professors with their jaws on their knees. Ah, the movies.

In real life though, it just isn't like that. Situations like the ones above are completely unrealistic. Bluffs are rarely if ever obvious, even to the good player. And players are rarely so transparent that even a professional can casually figure out at a glance what they're holding just by watching one hand.

There are a few reasons for this. The good players and the great players are usually in control of their expressions and behavior enough to conceal the true strength of their hands. The bad players don't properly understand the value of their hand sufficient for their expressions to necessarily mean anything worthwhile either. And, perhaps even more important than either of those reasons is the fact that in a casino, you'll often find that you're against players for only a few hours at a time - not nearly sufficient to see your opponents in action enough of the time to get a close and careful read on their play.

Generally speaking, I discourage you from trying to find that giveaway tell in your opponents. Rather, I encourage you to look for more general characteristics that can help you get a broad read on your opponent's play.

In Baby No Limit, I find it useful to put players into a few general categories. Rather than revealing precisely what your opponent holds, these categories will help you decide on what betting action you should take in different situations. It won't be 100% accurate. But insofar as it will be a helpful guide to proper play, it should help your bottom line.

I find that there are roughly four broad categories into which I can put my Baby No Limit opponents. Here they are:

SCARED
CLUELESS
WILD
SOLID

Let's look at each in turn to get a better handle on how these folks tend to play.

SCARED: I've found these players to be the most common type of players at the typical $1/2 $100 maximum buy in game - whether in a casino or in someone's house. They frequently barely even have the $100 to play. Typically, they are very low limit on line players or relatively new to poker and haven't built up any kind of a bankroll. Maybe they're students or they live at home and have a low paying or part time job. They can't afford to lose this buy-in casually. They play very, very tightly up front - though usually not correctly. They've read a book, maybe, so they know the importance of playing big pairs and very high cards. And maybe they understand a thing or two about position - so they're tighter in early position than late position. But they don't have very good self control - and they eventually can't resist a bargain. So they call very small bets with mediocre or bad hands that don't play well multi-way. And since they really just play their cards without thinking about much else, they frequently find themselves out of position, especially after the flop. Since they're so afraid of losing their bankroll, they will often give in to pressure - folding hands they should call or raise with. They don't raise unless they have very, very, very strong hands - and even then their raises are often incorrect - either too small when they have strong but not nut hands or too big when they have the nuts - especially with Aces pre-flop. (I've seen more than a few of these guys call with hands like JJ in early position and raise all-in with AA).

CLUELESS: I see these players more in tournaments than in live games. You know them. They really don't know what they're doing. They may play with a cheat sheet listing the hands. Your game might literally be the first or second time they have ever played No Limit Hold Em. These folks really are transparent. They may literally show you their cards (though not intentionally). They don't know how much they can bet. They don't keep track of the action so they don't know when it's their turn to bet. They don't really have any sense of the money they're playing with so they don't respect large bets or small bets. They tend to call if they're in a hand - and they tend to be in lots of hands.

WILD: They've watched too much TV typically and seen the top pros at the final table of a major tournament go all in successfully with 6-5 suited. They figure that this is the way to win. So they throw their money around in a ring game just as they have seen the pros do it. They don't realize, of course, that they are playing a completely different game. For them, poker is about action. They can raise with the best of them - re-raising an early position raiser because they have a couple of big cards. And they're not intimidated either. They've got heart in spades! They've watched those guys on TV so they know that sometimes you can call someone down with a weak hand and win.

SOLID: These guys may not be great players, but they're pretty darn good. They understand position; they respect raises, they play aggressively when the situation calls for it, and they don't call with trash. They are selective with the hands they play. But they play aggressively when they're in a hand. Their raises are usually large enough to manipulate their opponents. And they can call a bet with a drawing hand when their hand, position, and pot odds warrant it. This is the type of player you aspire to be and generally want to avoid.

Next: Using Your Opponents’ Type to Your Advantage

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