Are You Prepared To Take Your Poker Game To The Next Level?
When it comes to poker, you have to realize that the choices you made regarding how you spent your time at the table, the effort you put into the game, and the resources invested are not a gamble. Keep in mind that you only have so many chips to play and therefore, the decision of whether or not to invest them will ultimately dictate your success and fulfillment.
If you feel you are ready to take poker to the next level and even intend to make a living out of playing the game, then know that your success boils down to knowing how much to invest in a hand, which hands to play, and which hands to sit out. Here’s what else you should learn in order to maximize the odds of success.
Your goal is not to win the most pots
Irrespective of whether you have an overall positive attitude in life and you always tend to see the half-full half of the glass or you’re an adventurous player who’s not afraid to take risks, in the end, you need to discipline yourself and refrain from playing all hands at the table. Granted, theoretically, the more hands you play, the higher the chances of winning the pot. However, given the nature of the game, the more games you play, the more cash you stand to lose.
Remember that the goal of the game is not to play the most hands, but rather end up with the most money. If you choose to play every hand, it means you will dilute your time, capacity, and resources. Therefore, you won’t have anything left for investing in the big pots. Choosing the hands not to play is perhaps one of the paramount aspects of playing poker for a living.
Don’t be scared to go ‘All in’
It is necessary to mention that choosing the hands that you shouldn’t play must not be confused with a conservative or defense approach. Instead, it refers to knowing how to make the right choices, meaning that when you’re dealt the right hand and the stakes are high, you should be ready to go ‘All in’. Without denying that going for dozens of small pots also constitutes a viable approach, keep in mind that one big hand can and will trump those small ones. This is ultimately how legends are formed and fortunes are made.
Have the mental strength to walk away from a hand
When playing poker, the situation when a hand seems like a sure thing at the start and everything falls apart afterward as the cards began to unfold is very common. Truth be told, these are the hands that are the most difficult to walk away from, particularly after you invested a lot of chips in them. However, a skilled poker player will manage to break the illusion that he has a chance of winning the pot. As the memory of the good cards he had at the start dissipates and he detaches from the pot he expected to win, he realizes that throwing in more money to justify the previous investment is a surefire way to go home with an empty wallet.