Lesson overview
Hand Reading Basics
Narrow their range
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Inside the full lesson
What if you could SEE your opponent's cards?
In the full lesson, you work through this scenario with interactive examples.
Villain bets half pot on the river. You have a bluff catcher (a hand that only beats bluffs). Should you call? The answer depends on what hands they're representing—and whether their story makes sense.
What you’ll learn
- How to assign ranges based on actions
- The process of elimination
- Spotting when their story doesn't add up
From the full lesson
💡 The Story Test
Referenced activities and other examples are available in the full lesson after sign-in.
Ask yourself: Does their story make sense?
"They raised preflop, bet flop, bet turn, now bet big on river."
From the full lesson
Reading Common Lines
Referenced activities and other examples are available in the full lesson after sign-in.
Pattern Recognition Cheat Sheet:
| Action Sequence | Usually Means |
|---|---|
| Bet/bet/bet | Strong value OR big bluff (polarized) |
| Bet/bet/check | Medium strength, pot control (doesn't want to bloat the pot or face a river raise) |
| Check/call/call | Drawing or medium pair |
| Check/raise flop | Polarized: strong hand (set/two pair) OR bluff (draw/air, meaning nothing). Very few medium hands take this line. |
| Limp/call pre | Weak-medium hands, passive player |
| Min-raise | Context-dependent: often a recreational player with a strong hand in cash games. In tournaments, this is standard open sizing. |
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