Knowing your competition when you play poker can be the difference between winning and losing. Experienced players watch their opponents and remember how they play. They store this information for future hands when that opponent is in the same situation. Once you learn how an opponent plays, you can bluff at them when they’re weak. Or you can make a tough call when it looks like they’re bluffing into you.

You should at least be able to recognize when there’s a good player at the table. Not knowing where the sharks are will cost you chips. Knowing who the good players are will allow you to tread carefully when you’re in a hand against them, which will often save you a lot of chips. It also helps to recognize weak players. They’re easy money and you should be trying to isolate these players head to head with good cards.