Opponent Playing Hands

They might not know the location of the button in flop games. This person has no chance to notice the more subtle intricacies of a hand. They will certainly fail to think about how the card they need affects everyone else's likely hands.

Opponents miss other, less obvious, things. Notice the players who criticize another person when that opponent has completed a draw other than the obvious one. You will often see these people entirely miss that their opponent held a primary draw (like a flush draw) and only notice the draw that beat them!

Perhaps a person spikes a King on the river in Hold'em when he was drawing to a flush, but the King wins the hand. The first player might say, "Nice catch on that three outer". A more common draw to misinterpret on the river is a double belly-buster.

Invariably a person will accuse their opponent of catching a gut-shot. This tells you that their observational skills are myopic and not quick. The time available to inspect the board after a hand is limited, and since they are inclined to see what they want to see - a grave injustice - that is what they find.

This tells you that they are not spending time to evaluate every aspect of how their opponent played the hand from start to finish. They waste effort on criticism that they should spend on finding a pattern of play for their opponent.

Another observation many players do not make is, "Who is in the pot with me?" Players repeatedly do not know that the player on their immediate right has any cards. This alone tells you that their opponents are not one of the things they consider when entering a pot!

the range of hands

study strategy and tactics

the location of the button

the particular situation