Winners Focus on Other People

Poker great Doyle Brunson often says, "Don't just play your cards, play your people." Doyle is an immortal partly because he focuses on other people.

We see again how unnaturally winners act. Is it natural to focus on yourself? Of course it is, but it is also natural to lose. Never forget that only a few players win, and they win because they act unnaturally.

Since poker is a power-oriented game, and your power depends on how your cards, skill, position, and so on compare to those of your opponents, you must focus on them. The information you should get can be divided into three time periods - short-term, long-term, and intermediate-term.

Short-Term Information

The most important short-term information is your opponents' cards and intentions. What do they have? What do they intend to do? Winners work very hard to get this information, while losers ignore or minimize it.

Their Cards

Although you can't beat good players without accurately reading their cards, many losers don't seriously try to do it. When they have a good hand, they fall in love with it, betting and raising, even when someone obviously has a better one.
Winners use two methods to read cards - betting patterns and tells. Losers either focus on their own cards or rely excessively on only one method.

Their Intentions

Many losers don't look at their opponents, or they look to their right to see what opponents have done. Winners look left to learn the intentions of the people behind them. They apply a simple principle: The earlier that information is received, and the fewer people who have it, the more valuable it is.

Many opponents telegraph their intentions. They may be ready to fold or have chips in their hand, ready to bet or raise. They may even grab the exact number they intend to bet. Or, they may send subtler signals, such as absentmindedly shuffling their cards or focusing intently on the action. If you know their intentions, you can make much better decisions.

I have told countless people to hesitate and look left, but they usually ignore my advice. They would rather focus on their own cards and strategy than get this valuable information.

Long-Term Information

The most important long-term information is the
comparison between your skills and style and those of your opponents. If you are stronger and have the right style, you have an edge, and vice versa.

Winners also study opponents to learn their motives, thoughts, and attitudes. What do they want? How do they think? Why are they acting this way? How can I get them to do what I want? To accomplish these formidable tasks, many winners keep mental or written "books" on other players the way baseball catchers keep books on hitters.

"In top-class poker, you will encounter many players who, after each session, go home and write down everything they've seen at the table ... There are players with enormous written notebooks on the habits of hundreds of other players." (Harrington on Hold'em, Vol. I, Page 179)

Then they act decisively to exploit this information. They look for games with the right kinds of players, select seats that give them the best position, and adjust their strategy to fit these opponents.

Intermediate-Term Information

Winners go beyond just comparing themselves to their opponents' general skills and styles. They know that conditions can change the way each opponent plays. Winners take mental or written notes about how various people are affected by factors such as:

• Winning, because some people play better, while others become reckless
• Losing, because they may either play scared or become overly aggressive
• Drinking, because it affects people in so many ways
• Televised sports events, because many people are distracted, especially when they are betting on games

Once they know how a factor affects someone's play, they keep track of it by, for example, counting how many chips or drinks they get or learning whether their team is winning or losing. They want to know how each opponent is thinking and playing now.

Winners' Laws

1. Focus on other people in addition to yourself.

Resist your natural tendency to focus primarily on yourself, and continuously study your opponents. Instead of thinking that they are just like you, try to understand how they think, feel, and act.

2. Apply the principle of "subjective rationality."

Most people's actions make sense to them, even if they seem crazy or foolish to you. Let's take an extreme example: the terrorists who flew those airplanes into the World Trade Center. By our standards, they are utterly crazy. However, since they believed that dying in a Holy War guaranteed going immediately to Paradise, their "holy mission" made sense to them.

All of us encounter less extreme examples every day. Instead of dismissing them as irrational, learn how opponents see the situation and what they want to accomplish. Set aside your ideas about how they should think and act, and learn how they do think and act. Are they playing to win? Are they there to socialize? Get a kick from wild gambling? Challenge better players? Learn from better players? Answering these questions will help you to read their cards, predict their actions, manipulate them, and take their money.

3. Objectively assess your opponents every time you play.

Consider both their skills and their styles, and relate that information to your own strengths and weaknesses. You can't pick the right games or adjust effectively if you don't know how everyone plays.

Look for signs that anyone is playing differently from usual. For example, a strong player on tilt may be easy to beat. Or, someone may have gotten coaching and dramatically improved his game. You need to know how everyone is playing now.

4. Relate to people on their terms.

Go beyond just understanding how people think, feel, and act. Adjust your strategy so that you get and exploit the maximum edge, but preserve the relaxed atmosphere and keep the weak players in the game. For example, talk about sports or make small talk with them; you may learn something useful, and they will feel more comfortable.

How Do You Rate?

Circle the number that best describes your agreement with this statement: While playing poker, I focus on other people, not myself. (7) Agree strongly, (6) Agree, (5) Agree somewhat, (4) Neutral, (3) Disagree somewhat, (2) Disagree, (1) Disagree strongly.

The Critical Questions

Then, answer two questions:

• What are the implications of my self-rating?
• What should I do differently? List specific actions you should take to learn more about other players.

Discuss your answers with someone you trust, and take good notes.

Dr. Schoonmaker ([email protected]) coaches only on psychology issues, such as controlling impulses, coping with losing streaks, going on tilt, and planning your self-development. You can buy his books, Your Worst Poker Enemy and Your Best Poker Friend, at CardPlayer.com.