Observing Your Opponents

It is critical to your success as a poker player to observe your opponents and their actions even when you are not involved in a hand. Analyzing your opponents' play will allow you to gain insight into what your competitors may hold. This will allow you to make better decisions, win more pots and lose fewer chips.

The best way to do this is by observing hands that are shown down to the river and seeing what your opponents will typically bet and call with. This can be valuable later in a game, especially when you are involved in a similar hand, trying to decide what is your best course of action. If you know an opponent tends to bluff in a certain situation, you can be a little more confident calling them this time around. This can make a difference in earnings - instead of folding, you can use this knowledge to call your opponent and win a large pot.

Bodog Poker provides an easy and innovative tool that keeps these types of notes on opposing players. This note-taking feature allows you to keep and access notes on any player whom you may come across. It's a clever function - one that allows you to store and access information anytime you are involved in a hand with a particular player. To use, simply right-click on the player plaque and select "Edit Player Notes" from the drop down menu. Then proceed to type in any notes or hints about your opponents' play into the "Notes Box." Additionally, you can access any notes by clicking on the "Notes" tab at the bottom right side of the Bodog Poker Interface.

Remember, more notes are better notes!

One final thing about observing opponents - your opponents may be observing you! It is important to remember that just like your opponents, you are also prone to repetitive behavior - and this information can be stored and used to the advantage of others. This is why it is important to mix up your plays from time to time, so as to avoid giving your opponents too much insight into your game. For instance, you may wish to limp and then re-raise pre-flop with big pairs from time to time, instead of always raising with them. This way your opponents will be unsure the next time you limp in a hand as to whether you have a big pair or, say, suited connectors. Mixing up your play in this situation will not only allow you to limp with more drawing hands, but will keep your opponents guessing as to the cards you hold.