Skip to content

SPS PODCAST

The Easy Way to Become a Hand Reader

BY

Sky Matsuhashi

on September 22, 2022

I know that hand reading is a tough, time-consuming skill to learn. But, I want to help you learn it the easy way today.

Listen to the episode as you follow along below:

The Steps to Hand Reading

Step 1: Assign a preflop range based on info and actions.
Step 2: Narrow that range based on info and actions.
Poker's Ultimate Question: “What are they doing this with?” Ask this question to help you assign and narrow ranges.

My usual recommendation to learn hand reading:

  • Do a hand reading exercise every day with a hand from your database (like I did with my 66 Days of Hand Reading on YouTube).
  • Use Flopzilla Pro and complete the two steps for every hand reading exercise.
  • Don't stop! It took me about 45-50 days of hand reading to become comfortable with the process.
  • So, it's a long and time-consuming process, which is of great benefit. However, lots of people just don't have the time for that.

Watch me do a full hand reading exercise:

 

The Easy Way to Learn Hand Reading

The easy way to learn hand reading is to incorporate the basic hand reading steps into the play and study sessions you're already doing. This will train hand reading as a habit when you think about hands or play poker.

During Your Regular Studies

  • Assign a preflop range with EVERY hand you review/see using Flopzilla Pro or Equilab or any other range analysis software.
  • Any time you dive into your PokerTracker 4 database to review hands.
  • When someone posts hands in a Discord server or FB group.
  • Within any video you watch, podcast you listen to or article you read.

In-game as You Play

  • Ask and answer Poker's Ultimate Question with every action they make: “What are they doing this with?”
  • This forces you to think about their range and tendencies in-game.
  • You'll be making better reads and decisions with a logical answer to this question.

 

Challenge

Easy: do the two actions above!

In your studies, assign a preflop range EVERY time. As you play, constantly ask and answer Poker's Ultimate Question: “What are they doing this with?”

 

Support the Show

These wonder peeps purchased the Online Poker Hand Reading Workbook: Frank Quintiliani, Blain Perry, Nhat Nguyen, Francois Zayas, James Carmichael, Gianfranco Cutruzzolà, Massimo Gramegna, Daniel Bozhilov, Carl Gustafsson, Ed Walters, Manuel Mangrobang, Eric Smith, Iain Macdougall, Indrayana Rustandi, Amon Barth, Sergey Abakumov, Rowell Beniston, Frederik Daneels, Gary Wharmby, Jürgen Fuchsbauer, Jonathan Harrison, Daniel Teel, Michael Heater, Henning Janning, Keith Brandt, Eddie Rice, Csabane Kertesz, Larry Lamberson, George Best, Trai Thompson, Peter Scott, William Howell, Julien Zavattoni, Oleg Gomer, Shangwu Tang, Leroy Hunte, Michael Cain, Eric Van Wagner, Bryan Richardson, Vid Blaznik and Karen Villeneuve.

Get guided training in becoming a hand reader:

POSTED IN

Sky Matsuhashi

Don’t Miss Out!

Get expert tips and strategies straight to your inbox each week!