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Poker Skills. How to Improve Your Game

When you're a skilled and successful poker player, you're going to be constantly approached by other lesser players who all want to know the same thing, how can I improve my poker skills? Many of these players have been steadily improving over time and then suddenly find themselves stuck in a rut and unable to proceed further. This is the point when they reach out to better players, buy a book or a course or get some private coaching.

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Introduction: Poker Skills

The problem here is the same as many “self-help” solutions. Sure, they can help you improve some skills, provided that you actually study hard and put in the practice. But, on the whole, these guides will only provide a tiny lift, before the gambler falls back into the same rut. And that’s because the player has no idea how to improve their skills without being told the specifics of exactly what’s going wrong. It’s not just adding new information on top of yet more new information. It’s the basic understanding of where your gameplay is lacking in finesse. Know that, and then you’ll be able to move forwards.

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Watch Others Play

In fact, we would suggest that it’s this ability to learn organically from both your own and others’ experiences that separates the world-class players from the strong ones. That’s why a great way to learn is to watch world-class players at the games table. If you can find the time, attend some high-end tournament matches. Otherwise, you have streaming on YouTube. Make a point to pay careful attention to their every move. If you see the player make a move that you rarely make, or maybe don’t understand, then make a note of it. Later, try and figure out the reason behind such a move. And whether you can incorporate it into your own playing repertoire.

If you can’t make sense of a move, then discuss it with your playing buddies. Then try running it over with some hands and check out what you might be missing. Keep in mind that not all moves are going to necessarily go to work for you.

Poker Skills: Consistency Is Key

You don’t have to be watching high stakes games in order to get an education. What you’re after are big winners, players who are consistent in their gameplay. Your job is to pay attention and figure out what makes them so, what is it that leads them to win. If you are suffering from constant poor results, then you need to change something about your gameplay. The bottom line is that if you have been laying poker sometimes, and yet consistently miss out on winning, then there’s something fundamentally wrong. You’ll need to pinpoint exactly what it is and then think about how to implement the changes necessary to turn you from a loser into a winner.

Take Hand Written Notes

Another means that we recommend is that you start taking notes about the hands that you play at the live poker table. By keeping diligent notes, you’ll have a record to look back through at a later time. Using these, they could help you figure out the exact point where you’re going wrong. That point at which the tables turn and suddenly you’re losing. If you happen to play online, then all poker sites have a history button from which you could analyze your gameplay.

Poker Skills: Bluff Or Tighten Up

An example would be a player who has a difficult time dealing with 4 bets. This is most probably because his 3 betting range is far too wide. He also struggles with the leads on the flop, most probably because he is raising the pre-flop with too many hands. For this scenario, there are really only two solutions. One is to bluff more. But maybe that’s not a good strategy with tournaments as the chips he stands to lose are worth more than those he hopes to gain. The other solution is to tighten up. Play a more focused and stronger range. We know, no one likes to tighten up, but in the end, this was the solution that eventually led to more profitable play.

Analyze Your Strategy

It’s a normal beginner mistake to have too many hands out of position. This can happen early and in the blinds. It can turn a strong top pair into bluffs by betting when you get called by the better hands. This is especially true on the river when the pot is getting larger. The point is to think in an analytical manner about your strategy. Sure, you’ll still have leaks, but they’ll be easier to plug. Playing poker is all about balance. So you may plug one leak over here, only for another one to open up over there. You get our drift!

Poker Skills: Ask For Advice

Don’t be afraid of discussing your shortcoming with your friends. It’s the same for new concepts and the hands that go with them. Many players would still be out in the woods if it wasn’t for the help and advice from other players and friends. When you’re grinding online, it’s a great place to enjoy some poker banter over a beer. And even if you don’t play online, then you should actively seek out the most successful players in your group. You’ll be very surprised at how helpful other layers are. They don’t have a special secret to guard, and they are happy to help bring green players up to scratch.

One reason is that it can get mighty boring playing against players who are that far behind the curve. Sure, you get to take their money. But there’s no excitement to it. There’s no challenge. And the game of poker is more than just a game with a financial reward.