The problem i have with analyzing hands is im not sure what i need to do, like how do i actually analyze a hand?
I also struggle to get a read on people when playing online, so can't always tell if someones playing loose or if theyve been dealt a monster
Thanks though
Playing micros is very ABC poker. From my experience, one reason many people (including me
) seem to lose at micros is because they try to complicate too much. To beat micros all you need to do is be patient enough to way for a good or very good hand, and get all your money in it, and at the same time disciplined enough to know when that good hand is now behind. And also, don't make the same mistake some of us make (including me, again) of playing scared to lose your money, or playing to win it. At micros, you aren't there to win money. You are there to learn and to get a general idea about poker concepts and opponent reading.
To know whether or not you are behind, you need to analyze players. At micros, you don't need to go very deep, you just need to have a general idea. You say you have troubles with that, but it's fairly easy. See how the players in your table are acting every hand. Focus on one at a time and see how he does. When you have a clear idea of how this player plays, move on to the next one. Eventually you'll have enough experience to do this much faster. So, how do you read one player?
If he calls pre-flop a lot of times, he is loose, possibly loose-passive. He plays a lot of hands, and you can confidently put him on a range including suited connectors (ex. 78s), conectors (ex. 78o), suited medium-high cards (ex. 57s), pocket pairs and everything that has an Ace or figure. Depending on how much he folds exactly and the showdowns you see from him, you can add and cut down hands from this range. You can also say he doesn't have any amazing hands since he didn't raise.
If a player plays like this one but is raises instead of calling, then he is a Loose-Aggressive. You can possibly cut down the range on this one. For example, it's unlikely he would be raising with 57s, but still likely he raises with 89s in a good spot.
If the player calls around 1/4 of his hands, he is tight-passive, or tight-aggressive if he tends to raise. His range is strong, he probably has medium to high pocket pairs, suited connectors, KQ and AK, and suited medium aces.
You ought to be careful with loose-aggressive and tight-aggressive players. These playing styles are the strongest and people behind them tend to have some knowledge of the game. When one of these players raise from early position, you can cut down the lowest hands of they range: they most likely have TT+, AK, KQ only.
These are the general terms for players and they develop as the board comes out, and as you watch them play, you should start thinking about strategies to beat them. For example, loose-passive players will mostly call post-flop until the river (what is known as "Calling Station"). These players will call with the weakest of draws and anything below top pair, sometimes even top pair/medium kicker is a check/call for them, but so is medium pair/bad kicker, or at micros, sometimes even underpair. So as soon as you recognize someone like this, it becomes easy to play against them: you wait for good hands, and you bet them against these players. When they raise you, it means they have a monster and you should let go of anything below 2 pair. When they bet into you, you should call and re-evaluate next street, where they should most likely check. If they keep betting, you fold anything below top pair/top kicker. And against these players you shouldn't
bluff, given they won't fold.
This is a crash-course on player reading. Also, try to always guess what they have, even when you're not playing.
2nd part of your question: how to analyze a hand.
You ask for your hand history and pick the hand where you are not sure about the decision you made. So you start by seeing whether you have any input on your opponent. You put him on a range of hands, and then you use a software (say, Equilab) to see whether or not you were ahead of his range on a street, and what is your chance of winning.
After this, you ask yourself "What if I had raised? What would he do? Would he fold, 3-bet, call? What would happen next?". You ask yourself about every action you could have taken and look into their consequences
Also, try to remember why you made that bet/call/fold, and see if that was a valid reason.
If you still are not clear, you post your hand in an hand-review forum, like CardsChat
