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A poker buddy recently was telling me a couple of mutual acquaintance of ours who also plays. This fellow was talking with my friend in regards to the importance of being attentive on the table, even after you've folded a hand.

"People are always on their phones, being distracted," the man said. "They miss so much."

The point, generally speaking, was a fair one. I FEEL we will be able to all agree there's a lot worth observing that may be useful to you in a while if you happen to put down the telephone and watch the action after folding a hand.

However, as this fellow went on together with his point about staying focused and attentive on the tables, it became clear he was talking about something slightly different than what my friend and that i — and you, I'M HOPING — are eager about after we say we must always be more observant on the tables.

He described a hand wherein he had folded to a raise, then watched the action subsequently unfold involving two other players. The flop had come , he explained, stating how he would have made trips and maybe won a large pot if he hadn't folded the hand.

"If I weren't paying attention," the man explained, "I'd have never known!"

We laughed on the story, which in some way illustrated a few details about where we must always be focusing our attention when on the tables. And where we must always not.

Don't Take care of What Doesn't Matter

One of these points, of course, has to do with the utter uselessness of the ideas upon which our mutual acquaintance was focusing.

I do not know the precise details of the hand or the players involved, but I'LL assume folding to a raise was probably the proper preflop play for him to have made. The truth that two fours fell at the flop hardly changes that.

Among novice players, that is actually a not uncommon mistake to make — placing inordinate emphasis on non-relevant, future events when judging past decisions. Sure, if we knew we'd hit trips with our lousy starting hand we'd gladly call a raise before the flop with it. But that's impossible and never in any respect germane to the real decision we made.

Even players who know better sometimes spend an excessive amount of mental energy on these "woulda, coulda, shoulda" ways of thinking — say, when folding in additional marginal spots then considering in the event that they hadn't folded, great things would have happened. In those situations it becomes a bit harder sometimes to withstand desirous about the massive pots that may has been won had we not let our hands go.

But again, the following community card that arrived after the fold wasn't a part of the guidelines available to us on the time the verdict needed to be made. Sure, it's hard to bypass thinking about, however it isn't relevant.

Focus on Others' Actions

That highlights the second, more important point about being attentive on the tables. We've put down our phones and we're watching the action intently. But what exactly should we be focusing on?

There are a large number of specific answers to that question lets list, but most of them will also be derived from a single idea. After you've folded, instead of ruminate over your personal decisions, concentrate as intently as you'll be able to at the decisions everyone else is making right in front of you. Also, as you watch players folding, calling, betting, or raising, take into accounts how those actions fit into the bigger patterns they've been demonstrating because you first sat down with them.

This more or less observation of others let you profile opponents as stronger or weaker, aggressive or passive, tight or loose, and so forth — all of so as to be useful whilst you later end up playing hands against them.

If you notice a player doing a large number of anything, that obviously helps reveal a pattern that lets you categorize the player. Someone who folds so much might be)( tight. Someone who calls so much might be)( passive. Someone who plays numerous hands from out of position might be)( weaker than the typical player. And so on.

Make Special Note of "Unexpected" Actions

I also love to be aware of situations in hands where circumstances suggest one action to be likely, however the player does something else. A majority of these "unexpected" plays can sometimes be more revealing than others. In other words, of all my opponents I'm asking questions like...

• Who is folding after they might need bet?
• Who is looking once they may need folded?
• Who is betting after they may need checked?
• Who is raising after they might need called?

Who is folding once they might need bet? Before the flop it folds around to a player at the button who decides to fold as opposed to take the chance to boost and maybe attempt to steal the blinds. Is that this player at the tight side?

Who is looking once they may need folded? A player opens from middle position, the player within the next seat raises, and it folds to the player within the big blind who calls the three-bet. Is that this a passive, loose player, because the cold call seems to suggest?

Who is betting once they might need checked? A player defends his big blind by calling, then leads out with a "donk bet" at the flop. Is that this a weak player, or is the player creating a thoughtful leading bet?

Who is raising after they may need called? A hand reaches the river and it gets checked to the aggressor who decides to bet one-fourth of the pot, gets called, and shows down second pair — a hand with which the player may need checked back. Is that this a robust or aggressive player creatively seeking thin value?

Conclusion

Notice how the overall questions result in more specific ones, which hopefully can get answered by observing the similar player play more hands. That is the internal dialogue I LOCATE myself having when I'm most genuinely focused and attentive on the tables — roughly an ongoing "Q & A" about everyone else.

I'm reviewing my very own actions, too, judging in addition to I WILL even if I've made good decisions while also fascinated about what my patterns may well be suggesting to others about my style or ability. Even so, I'm mostly saving for later the more intense self-scrutiny or judgments about my play — that is, when I AM NOT looking to pay attention to new hands playing out in front of me.

In other words, I'm trying to not spend an excessive amount of energy on the tables fretting over decisions I'VE made. And none in any respect specializing in flops I MIGHT have hit had I played that !

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