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Playing an Unfamiliar Opponent in No Limit Hold’em

Many times in poker you will find yourself facing unfamiliar opponents. If you play in a regular home game, at a small casino, or only at very specific tables online, you may have intimate knowledge of who you are facing. Otherwise, you are likely to be up against players who are completely new to you. How do you handle these unfamiliar opponents?

You should generally start out by taking your opponent’s actions at face value, until they prove they will act otherwise. If you haven’t seen a player play yet and they bet, you should give them credit for a hand. Let another player find out if they are bluffing. You can get that information just as easily without risking any chips. Of course you may pick up something immediately in the hand that you feel gives you an instant read on someone, but if that doesn’t happen, wait for them to show you what kind of a player they are before making assumptions.

If you suspect a player is trying to be deceptive, but you are not sure how, remember that the default “acting” behaviour for amateurs is defined by the idea “weak means strong and strong means weak.” That is to say, an inexperienced player will usually act like they have a big hand consistently when they are bluffing, moving chips into the pot forcefully or staring straight at you, and act like they have a weak hand consistently when they want a call, saying call or raise very quietly or looking away. This is not always what these behaviours mean, but if your opponent is an unsophisticated poker player, this is usually the case.

Always be prepared to readjust your assessment of a player given new information. Some players will tell you everything about how they play in the first few minutes, others will take much longer, some players may seem inscrutable. Whichever is the case with your unfamiliar opponent, it is important to remain flexible. If he is using an advanced strategy, he may be able to take advantage of your assumptions about his play if you are not able to absorb and integrate new information.

Listen carefully to what your unfamiliar poker opponent says. Many players like to explain why they played a certain hand a certain way, and this can help inform you about what they are likely to do in the future. This could also be a deception, so remember it is only one piece of information, but it can be another way to put together the puzzle of the unfamiliar opponent.

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