Blackjack Holdem Strategy
Read strategy One of the simplest and yet most powerful ways of understanding how a player thinks is by making notes on them. Easy to do on most online poker tables as they all usually have a make player notes option.
Insert a copy and past of
R-
C-
F-
in the player notes and put an X every time you see how a player acts on his first card. Don't count a big blind as a call, only count it as a raise if he raises on his big blind. A player who raises only on an Ace, Calls on a 10 and folds on everything else will likely look like this before long:
R-xxxx
C-xxxxxxxxxxxx ("the straight player")
F-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Note: their folds are twice as big as their calls. Their calls are twice as big as their raises.
If you do call a player like this on a raise make sure fold to a bet if his upturned card hits a 10. It is probably worth calling on a 10 as you "know" what his hidden card is and can exploit that. Players like this are ideal because although they play a statistically good game they are very easy to read.
Similarly a player who raises on either 10s or Aces and calls everything else would look like:
R-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
C-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ("the aggressive player")
F-
With a player like this you can assume about 80% of the time they only have a 10 in their hand. Useful for calling down their bluff i.e. you have 20, they have a 10 showing and bets all in, likely they only have 20 too and are trying to take the pot off you. Players of this nature are also very susceptible to the reverse of this technique, i.e. since they likely has a 20 they will be unsure about calling a strong bet.
The best players usually look something like this:
R-
C-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ("the cunning player")
F-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This person is likely to be calling only 10's or Aces. You can't tell which either so they can make a much stronger bluff in the endgame. Again you can assume only 20% of the time they have an Ace so judge for yourself, do they usually bet big at the end to take the pot or is it a rare thing? Best left to your judgement. This is a play strategy that is worth emulating or a variation there of.
Ideally you want to see something like this:
R-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
C- ("the super-aggressive")
F-
Little to explain, these players are far too loose and should be easily outplayed.
How can we decide mathematically if its worth calling certain players?
You have to use judgement first and foremost. If you have noticed a player has certain tells or are completely convinced of an outcome my advice is to follow your gut instinct (unless you usually are wrong). Looking at it from a more mathematical standpoint we have to evoke pot odds.