In order to be a winning poker player, you will have to improve your reading skills. This includes three types of "reading:" reading the board, reading the players, and last, but not least, reading some poker books. By doing this, you will be able to get the edge on your opponents.

Reading the board is a basic skill that you need to master to become a winning player, and it is one of the first skills you should learn. It is extremely important that you can determine how your hand stacks up against the other possible hands that your opponents may hold. This is known as reading the board. In Texas Hold'em, your ability to read the board is one of the most important skills you can develop.

Reading the board is not difficult. You look at the community cards and then determine what possible hands can be made if you add two additional cards. The two additional cards are the hole cards held by the players. You start with the highest possible hand and then work your way down to the lowest hand. Certain types of flops will give you a good starting point. They include:

Any time the board contains suited cards, there is the possibility of a flush. Many low-limit players will play any two suited cards. (Note: I will discuss this losing strategy another time). When you see a third suited card appear on the board and there is betting and raising, you know that someone made their flush. Without three suited cards, no one can make a flush.

Whenever there is a pair on the board there is a possibility that someone has four- of-a-kind. Although this is not common, there is a strong possibility that someone has made a full house. This is especially true if the board contains mostly high cards.

If there are two pairs on the board, it doubles the chance of four-of-a-kind and greatly increases the chance of a full house.

Once you master reading the board, you can learn how to read your opponents.

Reading your opponents to determine what cards they are holding is part science and part art or psychology. It is not an easy skill to learn, if it was, everyone would be doing it, and the games would be a lot harder to beat. It takes hard work and patience to develop your reading skill. It also involves paying attention during the game even when you are not actively involved in a hand.

The first thing you must do is to analyze your opponent’s action during each betting round of the hand. Whether they call, raise, or fold based on the cards that have been dealt face up so far. You need to use logic to help understand why they are making the play based on the information that you have seen.

You then have to work backwards from the current point and look at all the preceding action that came in the previous betting rounds to help narrow your conclusions as to what they might have. You will have more information as the play unfolds.

One of the best ways to start reading other players and narrowing the hands they may have is to make a checklist that you can use in sizing up the players during a game. There are certain questions I will ask myself at the table as I watch each player. This has helped me improve my reading skills, and if you start doing this during the game, it should help you out as well. When you watch the other players, note the following:

It is very easy to tell if a player is loose or tight just by the number of hands they play. Even if they don’t stay in until the end, you should note the number of times that a player will enter the pot.

As I noted earlier, each time you show down a hand you are giving away information. You want to know the types of hands your opponents are playing and file this information for later. Do they like to play any suited cards, single aces, suited connectors, or big cards?

You want to note the position they player was in when they entered the pot. Are they playing weak hands from early position? Loose players will play weak hands out of position and this is something you want to note. If a player is tight and then comes in with a raise from early position, you can determine that they have a big hand.

You should note whether a player is aggressive or passive by the number of times they raise or just limp in pre-flop. You also want to know the types of hands they may raise with or simply call or check with after the flop. Noticing their betting patterns is crucial in reading a player.

Some players like to slow-play hands or bluff more often. You should note if a player would limp in with pocket aces. Did they flop a big hand and try to trap the other players? Some players like to bluff or semi-bluff at specific times. Make a note any time you catch a player doing this.

When you ask yourself these types of questions after every hand, you will find you player reading skills will improve dramatically.

When I was in school, there was a sign hanging on the classroom wall that read:

It was good advice for the classroom and its excellent advice if you want to play winning poker.

Note: Bill Burton had written many articles in BJI that contain valuable advice for poker players. You can access Bill’s articles in our archived newsletter on bjinsider.com. You can also use our search feature there to get information on any topic on poker. Just click on "Newsletter" at the top of our home page, and then half way down the page you will see a list of the "Previous Issues of the Blackjack Insider." Just click on any issue to open the newsletter. If you scroll further down the newsletter page, you will see the "Search Our Archives," where you can type in any phrase and the search engine will find the corresponding (newsletter) that contains the phrase.