NARROWING DOWN THE HANDS
By just getting a general category of the player, you can often narrow the range of hands he might have.
For example, suppose a tight-aggressive player just calls pre-flop in early position, the flop is Q 
7 
2 
, and he suddenly goes berserk by reraising, you then have to think what hands are likely.
The hands that are consistent with the play on the flop might be A Q , K Q , Q 7 , 7 2 , Q 2 , 7 7 , or 2 2 .
Most players would slow play Q Q here. Even a straightforward player will tend to slow play a really big hand.
You can eliminate most of those hands based on what kinds of hands the type of player would have limped into the no limit pot with from early position.
We can look at these hands and see which are reasonable to just call, pre-flop, in early position.
The hands A Q and K Q are often raised in early position, but at least some of the time they just call, so they are still consistent.
The hands Q 7 , 7 2 and Q 2 are not reasonable calls from an early position, except for the loosest of players, and 7 7 and 2 2 are candidates for early poker position play from all but tough or tight players.
So that leaves A Q , K Q , 7 7 , and 2 2 as his possible hands, and , for most players, you can eliminate the 2 2 .
This narrows down the field of possibilities quite a bit. Be aware also of how other players may interpret your betting.
If you have an image as a very loose player, then the reraiser might have any Queen if he’s an aggressive player.
This is just an example of the kind of thinking you need to go through when trying to put a player on a hand.
Think about what they think your habits are.
A raise from a passive, straightforward player who thinks you’re tricky likely has a very different meaning than a raise from a tricky, aggressive player who thinks you’re a maniac.
Pick the Right Table / Picking a Seat / Theories of Poker / Betting Theory: The Odds
A Theory of Starting Hand Value
A Theory of Flop Play: Counting Outs and Evaluating Draws
The Dynamics of Game Conditions / Table Image / Player Stereotypes
Women and Poker / Spread-Limit Games / Double Bet on the End Games / Kill Games
Short-handed Games / Tournaments / No-limit and Pot-Limit Poker
