To Improve Your Poker Game, Do What You Hate

If complexity means art then poker is as artistic as it gets. Philosophy is a requirement of the arts. Unless you are a robot and get your motivation for passion and achievement from an on-off switch, you will need more than just electricity. You need a philosophy, a credo, or if that makes you nervous, how about calling it imagination or perception?

You can learn to force yourself to do whatever it is you dislike and improve exponentially by tapping into the imagination and perception within you. For instance, compare developing your skills of communication with taking a cold shower, an unsuccessful shock to the system at best. But that feeling can be ameliorated over time and after a few months of cold showers once or twice or week, you may begin to look forward to them. They have certain advantages, like waking you up and making you feel so good when you get out.

The same holds true for learning any new skill and the challenge involved is appealing to many people, they are begin to seek those experiences even though somewhat stressful. The results are worth it.

So with the analogy of the cold shower in mind, take the plunge and dive into those areas of poker that you would really rather not venture into.

So much for the philosophical side, it is now time to consider some more general and pragmatic advice. You may hire a professional coach to teach you privately where you can acquire experience without the embarrassment of more learned opponents making fun of you. The coach will also point out your weaknesses and mistakes so that you can learn from them - weaknesses and mistakes that you may not be aware of without outside intervention.

If the idea of ​​a professional coach is too pricey for you, try making the acquaintance of poker playing buddies. The honest debts between even run-of-the-mill players can greatly improve strategy and perception. Poker forums are another good place to learn. Some exceptional poker players post to these and you can gain some valuable insights from them sharing their experiences.

Jot down notes whether playing online or offline. You can review these later and do not have to depend on memory alone, which given the complexity of the game will probably fail you in the end. The notes will aid you in formulating a self concept of how you are playing the game and why you made the moves you did. This is applicable as well to your opponents. The goal of this record keeping and critical review is to progress to the point where you can ask critical questions before you make a move.

Did your opponent react the way you thought he would? Is his reaction in keeping with what you expected after learning the ways of your opponent? Did he bet or raise according to your expectations? What cards do you want him to think are in your hand? At which point in the hand to you want him to call or raise?

If you continue to ask yourself questions like these, while cumbersome and difficult at first, they will become second nature. After a while, this questioning process will become a welcome challenge and this is when you become a genuine player of the game of poker.

[ad_2]

Source by Thomas Kearns