In many sports, players are required to become physically fit and skilled for the sport they play. Poker is a game that requires nothing but a focused mind. There is no running, no jumping, and no strenuous physical activity involved in poker. Observing your opponent is the actual skill in poker. The best players in the world are the best observers at the poker table. They pick up on tendencies, tells, betting patterns, and anything opponents do that may indicate strength of hand. In order to become a great poker player, you have to learn how to observe. It may sound silly to ?learn? how to observe, but it is the skill that is worth millions of dollars. Many players are not fully focused while playing the game of poker. Most players get tired after a couple of hours and can't observe everything their opponents are doing. If you want to improve your game, you have to become better at observing your opponents.

Force yourself to get inside of your opponent's head and develop a model for his strategy. Keep asking yourself important questions about how he plays. Does he play draws aggressively? Does he slow play his big hands? What hands does he check-raise with? There are so many questions to ask while playing poker. First start off with only a few simple questions and concentrate on filling in the blanks as the play progresses. As your develop your skill, you will continually add more and more specific questions. How fast does he bet with the nuts? Will opponent fold his top pair to big bet on the river? It takes a lot of hard work and practice to take in all of this information. Keeping your mind focused for long periods of time is similar to running a marathon. Fatigue will creep up on every poker player and definitely decrease the level of their play. Through hard work, you will develop mental stamina and the ability to recall past actions. Observe your opponent and you will be able to know what he is holding most times.

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