It has always been my belief that knowing your opponents in pot-limit and no-limit Texas Holdem — how they usually play, and how they play in specific situations — is the most important Texas Holdem skill. I once took a friend who didn’t play much Texas Holdem with me. He saw us talking when we were out of a hand, and then he noticed me talking to a guy across the table while a hand was being played. He asked me, “How can you tell what’s going on if you’re talking? How do you know what your opponents are doing?”

“If a wing fell off a gnat at the end of the table, I’d see it,” I told him. What I was trying to get across to him was that you have to be alert at all times. When you’re not in a hand, you can learn something very valuable. If you’re going to be successful at pot-limit or no-limit Texas Holdem, you’ve gotta’ be able to sit down at a table with eight or nine people that you’ve never played with in your life, and-after 10 or 15 minutes, know how each one of them plays … whether they’re aggres­sive; whether they’re passive; how they play early position, middle position, late position. You have to get an initial line on their play.

We’re just like leopards: We can’t change our spots. A fella’ who used to play with us Ten years ago would play as good Texas Holdem game as anybody I’d ever seen play… for the first two hours. You could’ve put a stop watch on him -He’d hit a stone wall after two hours and then his whole game would revert back to the way he always played. He would start bluffing in bad spots, and started giving his money away. With a player like that, you can just wait on him. You know he’s going to crumble in two hours, so wait him out. You’re going to win the money.

I might forget a person’s name, but I’ll never forget his face or how he plays in all situations, no matter if I’ve only played with him one time in my life. The main thing is being very observant and watching what players do in different situ­ations. If a player has raised before the flop with A-K and the flop comes with three babies, is he the type of player who will lead with this hand? Or is he the type of player who will check his A-K because he doesn’t have anything yet? Suppose some­body else bets when the baby flop hits, and he calls. What does that tell you?

It tells me that he has committed a mortal sin in Texas Holdem. If you don’t flop to it, get rid of your hand. But you see pot-limit and no-limit Holdem players who call in this situation all the time, especially when you’re playing against people who are used to playing limit Texas Holdem poker. They’re going to bet A-K against a board with three babies, or they’re going to call with A-K. But you always have an edge on them if you know how they play in that spot.

Also recommended:

1. Manipulating Opponents into Playing Badly in Holdem
2. How to manipulate your Sit and Go opponents
3. Importance of the time your opponents spend to make decisions in Holdem
4. Don’t justify your Texas Holdem opponents’ optimistic calls either
5. Do not give any free cards to your opponents!