Do you want to be a really good poker player? If you abide by the following guidelines, you are making good progress.With many years of experience behind my back, I am now sharing with you the main principles a successful poker player should always keep in mind.
1. Have Passion for Poker
Basic knowledge is enough to earn you money, but just like in the case of any other activity, only those who love what they do can become really successful. Would Michael Jordan have reached this level of expertise if he only played basketball for a few hours on weekends? Would Bill Gates be one of the richest people in the world if he only wrote software in his spare time? These people are all dedicated and determined when it comes down to what they do.
All this doesn’t mean you need to play 8 hours every day, or that you have to be thinking about poker 24/7, but you do need to look for the opportunities to improve, never stop learning and success wil not be held off.
2. Take control of your life
• Make sure you never forget about healthy and proper nourishment
• Sleep orderly
• Do sport
• Stay active in other fields of life
• Do not neglect personal relationships
All of this is much more important than you would first think.
Poker, just like life in general, is the game of decisions. My experiences show that a player is in full conrtol of his actions at the poker table only if his private life is in good trim. Conflicts with our loved ones, too much work, stress, all these strain our capabilities on our way to the good decision. This is especially true for online poker. In the solitude of our homes, far from all restraining forces, it is much easier to lose our heads if we have emotional or moral problems.
Many things happen at a poker table that we cannot control. We only have total control over our own actions. A person who is satisfied with his or her life will perform well at the poker tables. They will own the table: changing style and speed at the right time, recognizing the opportunities to raise, knowing when to fold, in one word: making a first step to become a successful player.
3. Manage your bankroll
A good poker player always handles his bankroll well and plays at stakes that suit it.
4. Always train yourself and analyze your play with the help of others
Be an active member of the poker forums: send in hand histories to analyze, answer to the questions of others, and feel free to ask anything. Make friends, with whom you can go through the possible mistakes. Always be critical with yourself and accept advice from those whom you trust.
5. Be prepared for downswings and know how to treat them
Most of the players blame the circumstances when they lose. We can not tell if a player is good or not until we see how he treats downswings. This is where the best differ from the rest.
6. Be honest with yourself
Track your progress with the help of statistics, as numbers never lie.
Almost three times as many players think they are winners in the long run as there really are. You don’t want to be one of them.
7. Give heed to the details
A good poker player never leaves out the details, he pays attention even if he is not involved in the current hand. Information that can be acquired this way will be of great value later on.
8. Improve your memory
An experienced and professional player is capable of memorizing basic strategies according to different situations. He remembers his opponents’ playing styles and raising habits even in months’ distance.
9. Have total control over your emotions
Although nobody can see us at home, when we jump off from the chair and shout rude things about the relatives of our opponents following a bad beat, but our nerves have a dramatic effect on our gameplay. If you manage to stay calm at all times, you are on the right track.
10. Be intelligent
A long-term winner is capable of constructing many different strategies and applies these. He is able to gear his style to that of his opponents.
11. Have empathy
Always understand what others possibly feel and how they think. Many times you will need to know the next step of your opponent way before the action happens.
12. Do not have fear
A good player is never afraid to make the right decision, not even if it takes risk. He never fears to lose, but never goes too far or becomes foolhardy.
13. Perform well under pressure
Poker often forces us to make tough decisions. If we play online poker, we only have a few seconds before our top two pair gets folded, while our Aks gets re-raised at the other table. A good player is able to make the right decision even in these taut situations.
14. Be aggressive
Aggressivity is the brand of a good player. With the help of this we can often win the pot with a worse hand, ask for the price of draws and get all the possible value for our strong hands.
15. Be competitive and motivated
If someone does not enjoy the taste of glory or does not really need the money, they are in a difficult situation. Without motivation we often become lazy, and this will be seen in the records.
16. Be the survival type; be individual and independent
A lot of sonorous marketing catches and incorrect information are out there, this is why a winner never accepts advice without thinking about if first.
17. Always be optimistic
If a player does not believe he can win or that good things can happen to him, he has no chance at all.
18. Be consequent
A good player always plays his hands according to his best knowledge, even if he is in the middle of a downswing. Never sway in ciritcal strategic situations!
19. No bigheadedness and self esteem at the poker table!
This game is not about your ego, but strictly about money.
Try to recognize when the level of your game judders, and either start performing better or stop. Do not make it easy for your opponents to take all your chips. A good player never tries to get back his money the same day he lost it at any cost and never blames others for losing.
20. Be senseless
Most often, good players are cold and scrounging. They only listen to others’ bad beat stories because they want their money and want to keep them in the game, or they simply enjoy seeing them suffer.
