Besides bluffing strategy, a lot of information can be acquired by just spending an hour or two in a casino, watching the experienced players and the others. It may be possible to place the different styles of behavior into types. It may be relevant for you to place yourself in one of these types, too, just to consider how the rest of the poker room denizens will see you. Of these types (which are not meant to be exhaustive) really only two, possibly three are genuine. The remaining ones are essentially poses adopted by people who are trying to be somebody else in the casino.

The Real Pro: His movements are calm and deliberate. He is comfortable. He is thoughtful. His mannerisms are consistent, which is to say, his posture and movements are the same, no matter what the cards are saying. He does not speak much, but does smile and say a couple of words in between pots. He has an easy relationship with the dealer, and is very attentive and courteous to the other players. This man would cheerfully bust his own grandmother if she joined the game. But he would not be a jerk. Though described as a male, this type also has plenty of female instances.

The Fake Pro: Other players want to convey that aura of knowing the ropes and of being a "Force to Contend With" on the felt. They throw around a lot of jargon and act as if they were born in a casino; however, they are more attentive to themselves than to other people, needlessly aggressive with strong hands and prone to sigh, complain about the cards, and toss them around after a bad hand ends. These people do not win systematically from experienced players. Their theatrics betray them with numerous "tells," and their unwillingness to be aware of anyone but themselves makes them oblivious to the "tells" of other players.

A feature of the fake pro's MO is to say things designed to mislead. In other words, he will bemoan the deal when it is really favorable, or sit up straight and raise his interest level when the cards are really terrible. Anyone trained to focus on what the cards say and what the draws and bets were, to the exclusion of table talk, should not be misled by irrelevant chatter and poses. The only things that are "real" at the table are the cards, the chips and the bets.

Some Fake Pros will know better than get into games with experienced and competent players, so they cruise the poker rooms looking for tourists, who may be susceptible to transparent wiles. If you think you look like a tourist, do not be surprised if one of these types sits down next to you. Your choice is to see how much money he will eventually give you, or cash in your chips in search of a more civilized game.

The Newbie: A fair percentage of the people who enter a casino on a given day are doing so for the first or second time in their lives. Most of them are too genuine to assume the pose of an old hand, and instead are inclined to look all around them and gawk. This does not mean that they are poor poker players; it just means that they have not clocked a lot of hours in a Las Vegas poker room. For those still in the launch phase of a poker-playing career (like most of us), these people are usually good candidates to join your game. They are not trying to make a living, just hoping to have a good time.

A couple of words of caution are in order: (1) not every newbie is really new, and (2) not every newbie loses money.

The Suave Yuppie Tourist: Increasingly Las Vegas is visited by the upscale, upward mobile, young urban professional, often from nearby California or one of the major cities of the Midwest. These players may not have much experience in a poker room, but they have played a zillion hands on the Internet. They may not have the mileage on the road of life that gives an old timer the ability to size up other quickly and accurately. But these well-dressed and well-heeled gamesters are quick-witted and often disciplined players. Some are content, like other visitors to Las Vegas, to wind up with a net loss at the end of the day, for so long as the money held out for a good while, and the playing was enjoyable. After all, they are accustomed to paying $200 or more for a round of golf. Others in this group are ambitious and intense. It's not the money, really, but the pride of winning. Since poker frequently smiles on the competitive types, these people often leave the poker room in the plus column.

The Wayne Newton/Elvis Impersonator: Las Vegas has its strange types, and perhaps more than any other city, it has celebrity wannabees. And if Las Vegas did not already have enough of them, every day thousands more arrive at the airport or on the interstates. Every once in a while, a bejeweled or bechained pseudo star sits down at a poker table. This is usually a mistake. If the other players can stand gimmicks and gestures, they should be able to increase their win rate. The same caution pertains to this type as to the newbies: Do not assume anything. Make hypotheses and then see if the facts confirm them. The glitz pose may just be a schtick to lull others into complacency. There is also the small probability that some people just behave like that because they don't know any better.

The Nicely Nicely Type: A variation of the celebrity act- is the guy who adopts something of an underworld persona, like the "guys" in Guys and Dolls. Las Vegas went through an era of gangster activity, and for years has been trying hard to persuade everyone on earth that things are open, honest and clean in the casinos. Nevertheless, tourists and business visitors to Las Vegas sometimes succumb to the temptation to let old stereotypes of gambling behavior affect how they act. This should be taken as a "tell" that the person really is not a poker room regular.

The Drunk: Most poker players who overdo it and become drunk before the game is over have other problems. They have basically chosen to get drunk instead of playing. It was probably not the first time that it had happened with this person, and probably it will not be the last. Why anyone would anesthetize himself to engage in an activity that requires the extremes of concentration, intellect and drive is a mystery. Something else must be going on. Rarely a "fake pro" will act like a drunk, hoping to catch someone off guard, but it is usually pathetic acting.

The reason for going through this small collection of "types" is to drive home a point about the appeal of poker. It is really more of a game about people than cards. It has more to do with human nature than math. There are lots of opportunities for people-watching in poker. The "real pro" is comfortable in this context and "clicked in" on the other players. Even though the newbie may be uncomfortable in new surroundings, he or she can still pay 100% attention to the game because no mental resources are being deflected to keep up a pose. The same should be true of the young urban professional. Players who try to mislead their opponents by conduct or utterances are just bush league. That is why a good player restricts his or her focus to the cards and the bets (and draws).