What do the World's Great Poker Players Know...
That You Don't?

Poker Wizard Extracts

The importance of Focus

Focus means watching how your opponents play and getting to know them so you can make the appropriate adjustments to your game. Knowing when to be aggressive, when to be patient, when to be solid and when to grab the chips are all a part of observation. It is what people call feel, but feel is what you get from paying attention. They’re both combined.

When you focus, you also start to pick up physical tells. If you are paying attention you’ll notice when players show signs of weakness or strength. Sometimes it is with their hands, sometimes it is with their eyes. Often, it is easy to see when somebody is giving up just by the way he looks. At other times, it becomes obvious when a player is very interested in the pot. If you see somebody that does not like his hand, obviously you are more likely to attack that person than if you were not paying attention. Through focus and observation you also see the types of hands your opponents play and what they do with them. Knowing whether your opponents can fold to a reraise or will almost always call when someone reraises is valuable information.

Watching how your opponents play provides the information you need to beat them. If they’re overly aggressive, or are playing a lot of weak hands, you are going to play differently than if they only see a flop every two hours. You understand what kind of cards they’re more likely to hold, how they’re playing them, and can adjust your strategy accordingly. Against very tight players, you may be more likely to try to get them to lay down a hand or rob their blinds. If another person is playing very loose, you can change your starting requirements. To be successful, it is important to make adjustments based not only on your cards but on your opponents as well.