What do good poker players think?

[J.A.Sucker]

When I'm not in a hand, I observe my opponents, and determine the following:

1. Do they play too many/too few hands?
2. Do they give up too easily on the flop/turn/river?
3. Are they tricky?
4. Are they calling stations?
5. How does each opponent VIEW ME?
6. Will my opponents' play vary from player to player? That is, will they call with too many hands vs me but give up against others, for example?
7. That cocktail waitress sure has a tight ass.
8. How do those World's Strongest Man competitors not crush their skull in with an ill-placed keg toss?

During the hand, my thoughts are usually simpler, actually. Preflop, I usually think whether I want to play (if I'm playing) a multiway or headsup pot (usually the later), and then call or raise accordingly. On the flop, I usually devise a plan to make the most money once the flop comes down. Sometimes, I'll give up early, sometimes, set up how to bluff out the pot (a function of my opponents, how many of them, and their image of me and my image of them). Usually, the most important factor is how to protect my hand and win the pot, since that's usually correct in limit poker. Sometimes, I'll flop a monster and think about extracting the maximum.

Really, during the hand, I try to limit my thoughts so that my actions are quick and "thoughtless" since that's what I want my opponents to think - that I'm a care-free gambling sucker or a non-thinking opponent. I have plenty of time to create a plan when I'm NOT PLAYING A HAND! This is when the work goes in, especially since my opponents won't be paying attention to me during this time. During the hand, there are very few situations that I haven't seen, and therefore I'm ready to deal with them.

[caretaker1]

Thank you everyone for the replies. They have definitely given me some things to think about.