Whenever you play poker you must read your opponent. Something that new people often passby. But to do that you must know your opponent. Of course if you are in poker parlor and your playing in a low limit game you won’t be facing last year’s World Series champion or any of the good local players. To better know your opponent you have to classify them and know their motives. There are three catogeries I use to classify players, Casual Recreational Players, Regulars and Pro’s.

Casual Recreational Players

Thes players are people who don’t really care about poker but will use it as moment in their free time to have fun. They won’t be the kind of people to make big researches in the internet about hand ranking etc. They will just know the rules and play for fun. They don’t care to lose, if you lose against these kinds of people after reading guides etc, you should quit playing poker.

The Regulars

This group is the hardest to spot out since they come in many shapes and form. They could consist of retired people, students looking to make some cash, dealers who work there and anyone else who plays poker to make some cash but is not seriously into it like a pro.

Pro’s

They are players who know every trick in the book or at the least most of it. They don’t play low limit games as they try to actually live off poker. They will be in most casinos in the higher limit parts. Some are just Semi Pro’s, these are really good players but have another income also.

Proposition Players

Proposition players are players who play on their own salary but are paid by the casino to start up games in empty tables etc…They will only be there when the games are running low. Like at nights when games are slow they will join in. Or early mornings in the summer. Their jobs might sound fun but it’s not they have to often play games with people half drunk who can’t get off. They often play conservative, they don’t try to beat or lose. Most casinos hire a strong regular player but not a player who would beat pro. This player will tend to play weak. Many people try to avoid props but casino do their best to keep them at the minimum.

I must admit it can be a bit complicating how to get into a poker game in a casino but like all things simple it doesn’t take time.

When you enter the cardroom, you will see a white board with intials. These are players initials for the games they want to be playing. If your initial is AB, you tell the board attendant to write AB with the game and the amount of money in it.
So if I wanted a game of Stud around $5-10$ it would like this.
“AB $5-$10 Stud”.

That’s all there is to it and then the board attendant will call you out when they find a suitable game for you. Sometimes when there are lots of initials on the board it will take more time for your turn to come. Some casinos don’t use this system though most do, in those you just give your initials to the attendant and they will call you out. In small cardrooms, you just have to ask the dealer if there is a seat available.