Watch and Learn: Is there Anything to Gain from Spectating?

I am not going to get into the whole ‘Is poker a sport?’ debate. Whether it is or isn’t, there is at least one thing that we can take from sporting teams and individuals, and that is studying our opponents by watching them.

Boxers watch their opponents fight, football teams study their opponents' plays, spectating could help a player at pretty much any competitive sport.

In that sense poker is exactly the same as those sports. We are in direct competition with the other players at our table, and hence, we have a lot to learn by watching, possibly more than in any other sport.

Hole Card Information

Players in the same player pool can learn a hell of a lot from watching poker, especially in the higher stakes games which are televised or broadcast online regularly. Particularly because a lot of the time they can watch with hole cards exposed. Think about it, they get a vast amount of information that they would not be privy to at the tables. When a player mucks his hand live, you are left guessing what he was holding. This can be a really painful experience if you were close to calling down.

Watching on TV you get to see the hole cards, see exactly what type of hands players make different plays with, what type of bet sizing they use with particularly strong or weak hands, what type of hands they choose to bluff with, and much more.

Physical Tells

Physical tells are somewhat of a controversial topic. Some players do not put much stock into them, and claim they can often do more harm than good. Yet many other players state that they pick up on things at the table that they then factor in when making decisions.

When watching poker on TV you have the opportunity to pause, rewind, and even slow down everything so that they can absolutely focus on the player. If you pay close attention and watch them over and over again at different tournaments then it is possible to find tells that may indicate when a player is weak or strong. Obviously this is very advantageous for those players that will face the opponents they’re watching on TV.

Sharpen their Online Game

It is not only live poker that can be spectated. Online sites make it very easy to ‘rail’ any tournaments or cash games. You cannot see the hole cards, but this could actually work in your favour. When you don’t know the cards you do not have captain hindsight whispering in your ear. You must focus hard and try to figure out what players could have at showdowns. Obviously the downside is that you do not to see folded hands, so you will still be left guessing on those.

Online sites don’t just stop there. They have realised the demand for viewing these tournaments and for their biggest and most prestigious events like WCOOP and SCOOP they make replays available around the clock for a set amount of time after the event has taken place. Oftentimes these replays will include hole cards. I guarantee you that all the shrewd poker players out there will have a very close eye on these replays. Maybe you should to.

What About the Everyman!

Not everyone is blessed with the cool demeanour, a knack for numbers, and the balls of steel required to make it in the savage world of high stakes poker. That does not mean we should not be watching poker.

First and foremost, poker on TV is created for entertainment purposes. Your first job when watching poker is just to enjoy it. It is a game you presumably love, so don’t worry about whether you’re learning anything and don't look for the EV that everyone is so hung up on since they started playing poker. Just kick back, enjoy the show, and cheer on your favorite players. After all, that is probably how you fell in love with the game in the first place.

Now that the rant is over… Watching poker can still help us improve our games too. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the everyman can get more out of watching poker than the professional. The pro has been in those situations many times, they have all of the fundamentals nailed and an extensive poker knowledge. Conversely, the amateur's game is full of holes. Key concepts are lacking, so watching the elite play on TV can only be beneficial to one's game.

From the Editor: My mother once told me about her first skiing lesson. According to her, they asked her to demonstrate anything she knew, so she showed them what she saw the pros do on tv. Although it was her first time on the slope, mimicking the pros got her put in a group two levels too high. She ended up on the top of the mountain instead of on the bunny slope with the first-timers. While it sounds like she got out of her league, she said she learned a lot more by stepping up early.

More importantly, however, was that by watching the pros beforehand, she had a much better concept of what her ultimate goal was. She knew what it was supposed to look like so instead of starting timid and unsure, she has focus and understanding. As far as I can tell, the same applies to poker. If you want to play on the pro level, you need to see how the pros do it. It gives you both a basic understanding and a goal.

A little disclaimer regarding highlight shows though, these are very much put together for entertainment. The majority of the wild plays you see are very non-standard, and based upon many hours of history between those involved. Just because you see some Scandinavian seven bet shoving with K2s doesn’t mean you have to.

Watching full replays or live streams of the major tournaments is an absolutely great way to improve your game though. You have zero editing and can literally watch every hand if that tickles your fancy. Just remember to focus on the simple things. Like many great sportsmen, the best poker players do all of the simple things well. This is your bread and butter. Making mistakes in very close situations is not as big of a deal as basic errors which will cost you dearly.

Also bear in mind that if you play £50 tournaments at your local casino, then your opponents are on a very different level than the guys you see on TV. Again the simple stuff carries over to all forms and stakes, get that right and you will be on your way.

Instructional Sites & Twitch

I was torn whether or not to include these. I would say watching a Twitch stream falls under the category of spectator. Training videos probably don’t, but I have grouped them together here.

Training sites produce most of their content in video format. The videos sole purpose is to educate its viewer, so to call it spectating is a little bit of a stretch. Twitch is another story though.

Much of the poker that is streamed on Twitch is part instructional and part entertainment, something that is not easy to provide although some are managing it successfully. The typical poker twitch broadcast will see a player stream his online session whilst interacting with the viewers. Some viewers want strategy and others are looking for more off topic conversation in hopes to learn more about their favorite players.

A couple of my favorite streamers are Jamie Staples and Jason Somerville aka Jcarver, so if you are wondering what Twitch is all about check them out and let me know what you think.