Howard Lederer - Observe And Learn

By Howard “The Professor” Lederer

t takes many skills to become a good poker player. We all know that poker is a game of bluffing, math, reading tells and patience. But we seldom hear about the importance of observation. Of course, it takes observation to acquire the information necessary to make good reads on your opponents. But I am talking about a different type of observation in this article. I am talking about the type of observation that allows you to learn from both good and bad players; the type of observation that allows you to assess your own game in an objective manner; and the type of observation that will allow you to see the skills that your opponents are teaching you every day—and use those skills to improve your game. I am talking about observing how your opponents play their hands, not how they look while they are doing it.

Chess, backgammon and bridge are games of perfect information. After each hand or game, you can see exactly why you won or lost. Poker does not afford you that luxury. The lack of perfect information in poker is one of the game’s great strengths. Unseen cards make it more difficult to improve because you often walk away from the table after a losing session not knowing whether your loss resulted from poor play or poor luck. Therefore, you need to glean all the information you can from the shown-down hands and exposed cards during play. This is one reason I don’t think that it can ever be correct to voluntarily expose your hole cards. You are simply giving free information to your opponents.

In chess there is a culture of study. Players pore over game after game of the top grandmasters. But they also study their own games. Often, a better player will find herself in trouble early in a game against a weaker opponent, but outplay her overmatched foe to pull out a victory. But when looking at the game later, there can be no denying that the weaker opponent did something right early to gain the advantage and the stronger opponent will come away improved from the encounter.

100% Signup Bonus Up To $600 - Click Here to Play

In poker, since the full story is not obvious, a losing player tends to be dismissed. To reach your maximum potential as quickly as possible you need to overcome this tendency and realize that a player who is not as good as you can still teach you a few things.

Let us say, arbitrarily, there are 1,000 skills that go into being the perfect poker player. Let’s further assume that you do 800 of those things well. Let’s also assume that a player who you have been beating for years has become adept at 700 of those skills. I can assure you that this hypothetical opponent does at least 50 things better than you. It would be folly to think that all 700 of his acquired skills fit perfectly into your skill set of 800.

If you only observe better players, you will be missing out on numerous learning opportunities. Find the things a weaker opponent does that give you the most trouble and see how you might incorporate them into your game. The simple act of testing to see if a play works or doesn‘t work for you will make you a better player. And, you certainly will be better prepared to beat that opponent the next time you play against him.

The focus required to learn from your opponents’ play has immediate benefit, too. By putting in the effort to observe, you will also see all the physical stuff that will allow you to make better reads. You will also get better tuned into your opponents’ moods and tilt factors. Focus can be an acquired skill. The more reasons you have to focus at the table, the more likely you are to do it. Your results will immediately improve as your table skills become second nature. Meanwhile, the extra information you acquire about your opponents and yourself will lead to faster overall improvement in your game. This is the kind of positive feedback loop that can get a poker career started the right way.

I like to say that every time I play poker, it is a learning experience. But that can be taken one step further. Every hand I observe is a learning experience. We all observe our opponents when we are in a hand with them. But it takes great discipline to do that when we are out of a hand. We can’t nor should we expect to be perfect poker observers. I will take phone calls at the table, get into deep discussions with my seated neighbors and sometimes have kibitzers sit behind me. These all distract from observation, but they are necessary activities for the social creatures that we are. However, when I find myself fully engaged in a game, I closely observe every hand, whether I am in it or not. There seems to be no effort. Hours can pass as I simply enjoy playing the game that I love. I play poker, I observe poker players, and I learn from those players. Which makes playing poker the next time that much more fun and profitable.