Reading Poker Opponents' Weak or Drawing Hands
Reading poker opponents, whether they have weak or drawing hands, is more exciting than reading strong hands. And we'd surely love to read hands not stronger than our hands, or those that we have a chance to maneuver against.
Reading poker hands through what behavior players display is an effective way of accurately guessing what players' hands are and what they intend to do with them. But these readings should be combined with good poker playing and betting skills plus a mature overall assessment of the game. We cannot rely on reading poker opponents' hands and intentions with our betting and raising strategies.
For instance, when an opponent stares us down, he's likely to be feigning strength. As a rule, most players who pretend to be strong are really weak. The player may have something substantial, but not strong enough not to be beat. But we should supplement this assessment with a strong hand play, or at least a winnable pocket pair.
Uneven breathing is another way of reading poker opponents. The player may be aggressively raising but holding the breath tells us the player's probably wishing nobody would take the raises seriously and call or re-raise. When players decide to re-check the hole cards they're holding when a flop has a potential for a straight or flush draw, they're probably contemplating of a worthy card to draw. In this situation players don't usually have to check if they already hold a straight or flush.
Other players take forever before they can call down a bet. Watch players especially when they're taking peeks at the pot and seem to be mind-calculating figures. Pot odds are important to consider when thinking of a hit or anticipating the flop for a good draw to complete a winning hand with.
When players seem undecided about what they should do—like, when they're about to draw but then they won't, or when they hold the chips and are about to bet and then they withdraw—chances are they're probably trying to play several hands. One hand tells them to do a certain thing, but then they look at another possible hand which tells them a completely different thing. In most cases, players of several hands are weak players, except when a good player has secondary hands and is playing against a weak player who accidentally holds strong hands.
Thus, sometimes, reading poker opponents' situation—a weak hand or a plan to draw out a win—helps a lot.