How and Why You Need to Pay Attention at the Poker Table
Because online poker is a game filled with information, you need to pay lots of attention to ultimately win more money. Paying attention in poker is much more than just remembering past hands. From the moment you join a poker table you need to watch everything.
From the way a player buys in to the way they play their hands, you need to collect as much information as possible to process it and lead you to making great decisions.
Beginners make the critical mistake of missing out on a lot of information by only paying attention to the hands they’re involved in. You have to pay close attention to every poker hand that is being played at the table, whether you’re in it or not.
Classify your opponents on the Poker table
You need to pay attention to how each poker player is raising before the flop and from what position. Do they semi-bluff with their draws or play passively?
Right away you need to classify your opponents as either aggressive or passive, loose or tight. Check for bet sizing, some players like to overbet when they bluff, if you can spot this you have a huge advantage. Make sure you do not judge this over one situation.
Spot the Mark
There is an old poker saying that says that if you cannot spot the mark at the poker table in the initial 10 minutes, then you are the mark. You have to figure out who the weak poker players are and paying close attention is essentially the easiest way to do this.
If you spot the "fish" at the table, try to use it in your advantage. Get in pots with him and analyze what kind of fish he is. Does he bluff a lot, let him take the initiative, does he call a lot, bet your big hands big. Every action asks for a reaction, adjust your game on the information that you have.
If you are in a cash game you can choose your poker table, if you are on a table with (mainly) solid players, moving to a different table can be the best move you can make.