The Importance of Attention in Poker
Managing attention in poker is very important because often you have to process very large amounts of information and make the best decision for that situation in a very short period of time, so it is essential to be able to concentrate, observe the table, opponents, and quickly shift attention as circumstances change (e.g., from a complex previous hand to the current one), be able to divide attention when playing multiple tables, maintain awareness and interest during long, sometimes multi-day tournaments. Do I need to continue about the importance of attention in poker…?
Automatic Moves
Automatic moves help us save a lot of time and energy and are very useful in most cases (e.g., when turning on the light, you don't focus all your attention on the switch, on the process, you just automatically press it without thinking, you've done this action a million times and when you approach another switch, you certainly won't start thinking about how to press it better?? maybe with the other hand? The action is so habitual that it is performed completely automatically). In short, in many situations, automatic actions serve very usefully ;). However, in poker, each hand, each situation is different, so each situation should be handled consciously and thoughtfully, i.e., paying attention, not making an automatic move.
For example, a common mistake I often see among both beginners and advanced players is that if they are pre-flop aggressors, they automatically make a continuation bet after the flop, forgetting all other circumstances, let's say they completely missed the flop and are up against 3 opponents. The worst part of this situation is not that the player makes a bad decision, but that the player, by making an automatic move, learns nothing!!!
One of the simplest and most effective learning methods is to think about the current situation as broadly and deeply as possible now and to fully analyze the same situation after the session or just after a certain period of time.
Tilt
“Tilting” is a kind of attention form, but that attention is unconsciously directed to the wrong thing where we need it, starting to think about how to recover, how unlucky we are, how stupid the opponents are, etc., instead of thinking about what decision would give us the most benefit or how we could exploit this opponent's weakness.
General Tips
When you play poker, play poker, not watch movies, read Delfi, or reply to emails.
Try to dedicate all your attention to the game during play, not only observing but also thinking about poker, not about other tasks or problems.
The more tables we play, the less time we have to make a decision, the sharper our attention must be to immediately notice and process all the necessary information and draw conclusions. A common mistake made by players who start playing a lot is that they open so many tables that there is not enough time to gather the necessary information, e.g., how many BBs do I have, is “blinding out” a threat? How many BBs do the opponents to my left have? [Situation from SnG Turbo]. In such a case, the player not only lacks time to make a good decision, i.e., to process the information, but he simply cannot gather that information due to lack of time. However, there is also the opposite situation, playing few tables, e.g., a player playing 2 tables can fully maintain attention, i.e., make good decisions and still have time to think about other things or read some news, emails, etc., so such a player could theoretically play 4 tables and demonstrate the same or even better results.
The better we feel, the better we manage attention. If we are tired, hungry, or sick, our ability to manage or concentrate attention is greatly reduced because attention requires energy. Therefore, it is essential to eat well, rest well, and train attention to demonstrate good results both in poker and in life.
Attention Training Exercises, we will talk about them in the next article.
Characteristics of Attention
- Intensity – the focus of attention on an object, detachment from external influences.
- Persistence – persistent attention that remains focused on one thing or task for a longer period.
- Span – the number of objects a person can encompass at one time in a short period.
- Distribution – a person can perform different actions simultaneously, dedicating part of the attention to each action. There are many types of activities where a person needs to perform two or more different operations simultaneously, e.g., playing the piano, driving a car, etc.
- Shifting – conscious – voluntary or involuntary – change of attention objects.
