Not everyone is blessed with the poker skills JOE possesses, but with our readers best interests at heart, here is our guide to help you become a player to be reckoned with.
Poker, when boiled down to its simplest form, is a game of probability and mind. Once the cards are dealt, it is up to you to know how to play them. It’s not just a case of knowing you’re more likely to win when dealt pocket aces as opposed to an unsuited two and seven. You need to have assessed your opponents’ playing styles, worked out the pot odds and understand why your proximity to the current dealer is important.
These are the basic rules when it comes to strategy, and the key to being a successful poker player is to adhere to them, no matter your current emotional state. This is what the mental game of poker is all about. If you change your strategy radically because you suffer a losing streak, or because a showdown opponent lucked out on the river, then you’re losing the mental game.
One common mistake weaker poker players make is playing too long. Once they suffer a losing streak, they keep on playing and playing just in the hope of breaking even. All this usually does is contribute to further losses, and the danger of tilting. Inside a weak player’s head each loss is magnified, meaning they take bigger risks to try and chase those losses. The skilled player has a bankroll management system and knows just when to call it a day.
On the flip-side of this coin is the mistake of quitting prematurely whilst you are ahead. It feels great to recover a few wins once you’ve had a losing streak, but often players will feel they’ve done enough and quit the table. If you’re winning and playing well, then quitting should be the last thing on your mind. Keep playing until your win streak starts to deflate.
If you’re playing cash games, don’t think you just have to stick to the same table. If someone amasses a huge stack and tries to suck you all-in every time you call pre-flop, then you’re risking your bankroll with every hand. If you’ve players who think of nothing of calling every single pair of pocket cards they have, then eventually they might get lucky, land a Royal Flush and deplete you. There’s no shame in standing up and moving elsewhere.
Good poker players are excellent mathematicians. To become a good player, you need to learn to make calculations quickly, working out pot odds, implied odds and the expected value of bet returns. When you have been playing some time, there’s a tendency to switch to playing by “gut feeling” rather than by logical reasoning. Good players play by logic, and not by gut, so if you find yourself not bothering to do the mathematics, it’s perhaps time to give yourself a rest.
Whilst bluffing forms an important part of the game, its addictiveness can be destructive. It can feel good to get your opponent to fold a pair of tens when you’ve nothing more than king-high, but bluffing should only be done when you’re in a position to bluff.
Keeping on top of your mental game makes for winning poker. Stay sharp and if you feel yourself losing your mental edge, take a break.
