Being a good poker player goes far beyond calculating odds, trying new strategies or developing good body reading skills. It is also about preventing detrimental opponent moves, avoiding falling into the tilt, calculating odds and being disciplined and dedicated.
If you want to learn not only to play poker well, but to be a good player, take these tips with you: they will help you to win and to develop new skills until you become a real pro over time.
How to play and win at poker
Let’s start with a truth that will hurt many beginners: there are no magic formulas or shortcuts to winning at poker. Poker is all about dedication, strategy and patience, and without those three things your journey on the long road of learning will last a breath.
To learn to win you must first know how to lose, and losses in poker can be very expensive if you do not keep track of your stack. It is essential that you are aware that you will have to dedicate hours, many hours, to play poker, but in a controlled way, following a schedule and being disciplined.
It is highly recommended that you separate the money you need to live on from the money you are going to use to play. It is a good way to start being organized with your money so that you do not find yourself in a compromising situation.
Also, if you segment the game into different time slots, all the better. This way you will soon get into a routine and it will be easier for you to follow the rhythm of the game, dedicating a few hours a day to learning and experimentation, but without compromising your life outside of poker.
Another fundamental aspect is to train yourself. Or, rather, what you do to encourage curiosity to learn. No one likes to force themselves to read something that doesn’t motivate them, but if you’re here it’s because poker is, at the very least, a hobby for you. Dedicate yourself to learning from the pros, examining your moves, analyzing them and figuring out what you could have improved from your previous moves. That will help you be more prepared for the next one.
Tips to be a good poker player
Some good tips to start being a good poker player and that can be very useful are the following:
Learn to read your opponents. Poker is not understood without the readings that are made of the opponents, so you’ll have to develop a good method to try to know where the game of your opponent’s goes. Reading their possible moves in online poker is a bit more complicated, since you lose the factor of reading body language, but you can still develop your own theories based on the way they play, their patterns of moves and the way they bet.
Analyze your position at the table. It is paramount that you are aware of where your game is starting from, because not all positions at the table have the same approach. If you speak first, you will be at a clear disadvantage, but if you are the last to speak during the preflop, you will have much more information and you will be able to adapt your strategy just before the flop starts.
Stop obsessing about playing every hand. In fact, especially if you are a beginner, it is normal to play every tenth hand. If you play every hand, your loss volume will not stop growing, keep in mind that, statistically, there are not enough hands to maintain over time the probability of winning continuously. Therefore, you must know how to choose which hands to play and withdraw from those that lack sufficient potential.
– Focus on one mode at the beginning. When you have more experience, you can try new things if you want, but if you are in the process of learning is recommended that you focus on a specific variety of game. You can choose Texas Hold’em Omaha or another minority style, although ideally you should opt for one of these two, since they are the most played in the world and will open the doors to participate in contests and festivals around the world where you will be able to win important rewards.
Forget about impulses. If during the game you feel that you are not under control and that emotions are dominating you, withdraw. Falling into tilt is the worst thing that can happen to a poker player, and if it happens to you, you must know how to identify what is happening to you (e.g.: are you acting impulsively, driven by a desire for revenge or to prove something, do you want to win “now!”?), stop, breathe and perhaps the best thing is to stop playing so as not to prolong a situation in which you will not be concentrated and in which you will surely end up suffering losses.
You must know how to identify what is happening to you (i.e.: are you acting impulsively, driven by a desire for revenge or to prove something, do you want to win “now!”?
What you should avoid doing in poker
Things like betting on the spur of the moment, continuing to play when your emotions are out of control or playing hands without criteria are things that you should not do under any circumstances. These are very common mistakes among beginners that you usually learn not to make the hard way, when you suffer the consequences and lose a significant amount of money on an important play.
Another piece of advice is not to bluff. In fact, bluffs should only be reserved for expert players, so forget about trying to make one at the first try. On the other hand, always keep your stack under control. The opponents who detect the minnows opt for an aggressive game in which they raise the bets to swell the pot and fleece the unwary, leaving them without chips at the first change. Be careful with this because, if you don’t check-raise, you could find yourself without the possibility to continue playing sooner than you think.