Levels of thinking

Wanted to post something here that I see a lot of discussion about. Many posts and threads talk about only the two cards in front of you. The truth is that there is so much more info available than the two cards in your hands. This made me think of a great discussion from another site about levels of thinking.

The levels are as follows...

Level 1...What do I have?
Level 2...What does my opponent have?
Level 3...What does my opponent think I have?
Level 4...What does my opponent think that I think he has?


There may be more levels, but i'm at no place to comment on them. They are by far way out of my league; however, this is what goes on at the high limit tables.

Basically level 1 is the two cards in front of you and nothing else. Level 2 is thinking about what range your opponent has in this hand. Level 3 is your own image in the hand and at the table. Level 4 is your opponent's perception of their own image in the hand and at the table.

The most important piece to this is that you should be thinking ONE level above your opponent and only ONE. Play a level 1 player you should be on level 2. If you are on level 3 you are hurting yourself because level 1 players only think about the cards in front of them. They pay no mind to you. Bluffing comes into play with a level 2 opponent and beyond because they are thinking about what you are representing or what they are representing.

Keep this in mind at the tables and you will already have a leg up on the competition.