newbie... putting players on a hand....HOW???

anyone have any tips on how to put people on a hand?

Does anyone know any books or videos etc. that can help a new player with this.

I'm asking in regards to holdem.

Any advice is welcome.

thnx

Putting players on hands relies I think on two areas - observation and experience.
Observing the player means watching the hands they play and dont play. Pretty quickly you can put players as one of the four basic greoups - Loose/Tight & passive/agressive and have at least an idea of their starting hands and postflop game.
another part of observation is to remember their action in the specific hand, players action in a hand will usually follow a certain logical pattern

The rest is common sense and experience.

I agree with what TLR said. In addition, focus on putting people on hand ranges rather than specific hands. Don't think "opp raised preflop, I put him on AJ", think of the range of hands that opp might have raised and how that might affect your decision.

If you have PokerTracker and some kind of a Hud, when someone PFRs or limps in, look at thier stats. Here's some common ones (VP$IP/PFR%/T.Aggression):

A rock (Tight-Passive) with a (17/2/0.7) puts in for a PFR UTG. What do you put him on? He's likely got either AA, KK, or poasibly QQ or AK. Unless I have one of those hands, I insta-fold.

A loose-passive player with a (40/1/0.5) all of the sudden bets on the turn with a possible flush on the board. Unless you already have a A (or maybe K) high flush or better, insta-fold.

A losse-aggressive with a 45/20/3.5 raises from CO with no prior limpers and you hold a PP, Insta-Push. He's likely trying to steal the blinds and holds weak cards.

Base it on what they limp and PFR with, bet on and thier TA factor, and on the obsevations you've made with this individual or those classified like him. Think ranges, not actual hand until the River. By then you should have a good read before going to showdown.

online poker and regular poker are completely different for puttign someone on a hand. For online poker it is mostly about betting patterns, in live poker there is also betting patterns but there is small tells that certain people do that you have to pick up on. I suggest reading mike caro's book of poker tells.

Originally Posted by jmilr

anyone have any tips on how to put people on a hand?

Read the hand histories forum here on FTR, every thread on the first 3 pages atleast (or however far you get).. try to put people on hands and then read the replies. That should get you started.

Originally Posted by pat1002

in live poker there is also betting patterns but there is small tells that certain people do that you have to pick up on. I suggest reading mike caro's book of poker tells.

I don't think this is a major part of anyone's game. Maybe you find something against one specific player, or maybe you get a very vague guess about the strength of a hand.

Betting patterns is the key. What is this guy's range when he raises? Why did he check when he usually bets? Why did he bet twice the pot? Why did he bet half the pot?

They're all clues, and after you watch enough hands played out, you can put the pieces together some or most of the time. There's no way that I know of besides playing (or watching) lots of hands to develop this skill.