When you begin your exercise in profiling players, remember, time is of essence. You cannot take forever to do it, it is a short game and there is no point in figuring out what someone is up to if you are already out of the game.

If you think it might help in you in the next game with them, you are gravely mistaken. That would be another game, different hands and different set of people and they would go for a different strategy this time. So if you take more than one game to figure out a player and they still surprise you in the third, save yourself the energy and efforts and concentrate instead on other things.

The good point about sizing up your opponent in the first few minutes is that when you put this new found knowledge to use, the results are instant! So, start profiling your opponents the moment you get down in the game.

First thing to notice would be their style of play. Is it a hanger on you are up against who could be gotten rid off with a few bluffs, a lose player, tight player or an aggressive player with each requiring a different strategy to be dealt with.

Pay attention to every detail, but do not lose sight of your game either. A little bit of a multitask this is but totally worth it when you see the results.

The next thing you need to figure out is how you are going to play the hand you have drawn, what is the possibility that someone has a better hand or a worse hand, who is going to call for a show of hands, who is sitting tight on a sure winning hand adding to the pot all the time, who is into only stealing a few pots and quitting, who is devising a long term strategy to last to the end of the game and most of all who is the one who has you figured out and even now is contemplating your next move. While doing all this, as mentioned earlier just make sure that you also have a firm hold over your game and a strong barrier against your mind!

The last thing you can do is decide how to play your cards well with the set of opponents you have, can you call a bluff when you are in trouble, keeping in mind that some players do have you figured out.

How would you play a good hand and not screw up on an excellent opportunity to not only win but win big by raising the stakes high without calling any attention to the fact that you have it all under control.

If you manage to do all this, then you are well on your way to poker super stardom. Make sure that you keep building on your knowledge of people but confine it to poker! Although this might work in the non-poker world, we are only talking about poker here, concentration is the name of the game!