In poker parlance, what precisely is meant by 'getting a read' on somebody?

Question

Is it when you correctly gauge there playing style (i.e. tight aggressive) or is it when you correctly guess their hole cards?

Answer 1

It is "when you correctly guess their hole cards." Normally you can do this either by betting patterns or physical tells. However, you can correctly guess someone's hole cards THROUGH THEIR PLAYING STYLE.

Getting to know your oppenents physical tells is pure observation. However, this link has some common ones.
http://www.playwinningpoker.com/articles/03/10.html
If you want to learn more about physical tells, i suggest you buy MIke Caro's book on tells (forgot the exact title)

Betting tells is more commonly used and it varies for every player. Using betting tells you can guess your oppenents hand (usually a range of hands as it is almost impossible to completely guess an exact hand). Thats say i am a tight agressive player in a 1/2 game. I raise to 6 and i get one caller. I have QQ. Flop comes out 69A rainbow. I bet the flop and i get a call. On the turn i check. The other oppenent can now put me on a range of hands. A small ace (that is too scared to put more money in, 9x-KK). Since i am a tight player i am rarely going to open raise 78 preflop so my oppenent doesnt have to worry about. Now your oppenent has your range of hands narrowed down. Of your whole range there is no way you can call the turn AND river OOP so he can now fire 3 barells and force to fold your hand.

Answer 2

It is all of the above. I consider getting a read on someone, when I can tell if they are strong or weak. It is a mix of looking at them and figuring out their "tells" and trying to guess at what their hole cards could potentially be.

I was playing a no-limit cash game, $1/$2 blinds last Friday, and I had studied a few players within the first half-hour. One of these people I had watched played with his hat and looked at his hole cards several times during a hand when he had a great hand. I got QQ against him in one hand. After the flop came out 2-4-10 he looked at his hand 3 times, played with his hat twice and then bet out $20. I instantly folded! You would think I was crazy to fold, but he flipped over his pocket Aces and was angry that he didn't make much money with them. I made a great "read" in that hand and saved myself a lot of money.
Reading your opponents is a BIG part of poker. It takes a little concentration and a little experience, but you can make it part of your game in no time.

Answer 3

It's kind of a combination of everything but mostly it's more like... things they do at the table... like they bet quickly when they have a good hand and they take a long time to bet when they are bluffing. Or they cover their mouth when they are bluffing or play with their hair or act a little anxious. There are small things that give away their hand. Sometimes people overbet the pot when they are blufifng or underbet when they are trying to entice a call. Learning to read people all comes with experience.

Answer 4

Getting a read on someone is more about knowing what they have at any given time than about knowing their style. HOWEVER, if you know someone's style you will more often get a correct read! So, they're related.