Reading Poker hands will dramatically increase your win percentages, but learning this skill is not an easy task. It takes hours of play, a good memory and an attentive eye.

Reading poker hands is not the most important part of any poker armoury, and it's not very useful for low stakes poker rooms either. Players at this level are not very skilled making them unpredictable and harder to read.

But as you become more experienced and start to move up to higher stakes games you'll begin to find that your opponents will actually be reading your play. And if you don't learn to read their hands you'll be at a big disadvantage.

This skill can only be developed through experience but by following these tips you should be able to accelerate your learning.

How often do you track the actions of your opponents, guessing what he is holding begins by reading his bets. Often players forget who actually raised or checked in the Flop or Pre-Flop. Keep a close eye on the betting in the early rounds and use this information to add to in later rounds.

Don't play more than one poker table at a time, you will not be able to follow both games in detail.

Even if you fold pre-flop, don't lose you focus on the game. You can pick up some useful bits of information about a particular player's style during this time.

Also watch every showdown carefully and remember how aggressive the player had been in previous rounds. For example, if he wins with a low rank two pair he'll be encouraged to be more aggressive the next time he is dealt a similar hand.

Every aspect of the game can add to your knowledge about your opponents.

If a new player sits down at the table he will eager to get a piece of the action, you can often draw this player into betting on a weak hand.

If a player has recently won a big pot he'll be more aggressive, and may try to bluff more frequently. And finally, players near the end of their stack are also more inclined to go “All-in” be alert to this possibility and use to it your advantage.

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About the Author
Stanley Majors is an experienced online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker topics.
His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net ,provide useful and factual poker information and insight.