Poker is a game of chance but it also requires skill, psychology and knowledge. In order to play poker successfully, you must understand how your opponents think. To do this, you should observe them when they are not involved in a hand. This allows you to take a more objective approach and pick up on tells that would be difficult to spot when they are holding cards. Pay attention to their eye movements, idiosyncrasies and betting habits.
Studying experienced players’ gameplay is an excellent way to learn from their mistakes and avoid them in your own games. In addition, you can learn from their successful moves and incorporate them into your own gameplay. Over time, this will help you develop a strong intuition for poker numbers like frequencies and EV estimation.
The first step in observing your opponents is to determine their hand strength. This can be done by comparing their cards to the number of cards needed for a certain hand. For example, if an opponent has a pair of kings and there are nine spades left in the deck, they have a 96% chance of making a flush.
After determining the strength of your opponent’s hand, you can decide how to act. If you have a strong hand, you should bet to get value out of it. However, if you have a mediocre or weak hand, it is better to fold to prevent overbetting and getting into a bad situation.
