Analyze your Opponents

A big part in winning games of poker is to understand your opponents. You must avoid to be so consumed in your own cards and in yourself to see how others are playing poker. This is what the following two quotations are asking of us, poker players:

The first one is from General David Shoup, and it goes like this:

"The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time."

This is a lesson on avoiding the mistake of believing that no one could beat you in the poker table. This is a classic lesson of easier said than done. Although it sounds very simple to do, being humble at poker table is not an easy feat, even for the most experienced poker players.

Actually, it get more difficult to do that for these experienced ones, because they believe that they are so experienced that it would not be easy to beat them. Some poker players love to bluff those who seem to be more conservative and easily scared. For example, they would raise against this conservative player, making him believe that he has a big hand, when they actually do not.

He would find himself surprised when the supposedly conservative player calls his raise, and find out that this conservative poker player also has weak hand, but is slightly better enough to beat his. The lesson is to be careful on judging on people, especially in poker where there is money at stake. You'll never know if they are just faking it, or maybe you are just blind about their capacity as a poker player.

The next one, is from an unknown origin, and it says:

"If, after the first twenty minutes, you don't know who the sucker at the table is, it's you."

This quotation agrees with the first one on the principle of the importance of understanding your opponents on poker. In the poker table, you must try your best to observe and study your opponents. This is because poker is not just a game of luck, but more importantly, it is a psychological game. You must learn how your poker opponents think, or be ready to lose.

You must determine which player at the poker table is more likely to bluff, or which is more likely to fold. This will help you in deciding what action to take during your turn. You may study your opponents poker tells and betting patterns to help you understand them better.