Poker is more about skill than luck, as every casino player will tell you. Phil Galfondonce, a legendary real-money poker player, stated that “the biggest mistake poker players can make” and said, “The greatest misconception poker players can make is believing they have an inborn talent, such as being good at dancing.”
This means that there is no one area where all poker players excel. The best poker players can use various poker skills and traits that lead them to success. Poker is skill-based but not complicated.
You can improve your poker skills in many areas, including how you manage your bankroll, hand reading, mental game, and counting combinations. These proven strategies will help you improve your poker skills.
Why is it important to always improve your poker skills?
Even world-class professionals are constantly striving to improve their game, and this is actually what made them world-class professionals in the first instance.
They are already fit, and they don’t have to do it anymore. They have worked hard to get in great shape. They can enjoy life and look good, but they refuse to comply. They are taking care of their bodies and health. They enjoy the process and don’t obsess about the result (i.e., looking good).
Poker is no different. It is a way to improve your poker game. The result is what you want (e.g., more money, higher stakes, etc.). This is only a side effect.
It’s important to mention that your motivations for improvement will play a significant role in determining whether you are successful or not. You can improve to make more money.
If making money is your main concern, it’s better to find other stable income streams that are less stressful.
This article will show you three ways to improve your poker skills. Let’s start with the basics.
1. Learn the Fundamentals
It can seem daunting to improve your English skills when you first start. Perhaps you began by reading articles like this or watching a few Youtube videos. Poker, like every other industry, has its language.
Then you realize that poker is a complex mix of psychology and math, with a little bit of art for good measure. There is so much to learn.
It can be enough to cause a commotion in your head, and it leaves you even more confused than when you started.
Today’s information age is overwhelming with many websites, courses, books, and articles to choose from. It can quickly become quite overwhelming, and there’s no such thing as too much information.
Information used to be rare and valuable before the internet, and it’s now commonplace and useful like dirt.
The basics of poker are easy to understand, and the math part of poker is not as complicated as what you learned in middle school.
Learning about advanced river-check-raise strategy bluffing might seem more appealing than boring odds or percentages when learning poker. But that’s just putting the cart before it.
You don’t begin with the roof when building a house. First, you build a solid foundation and then build on it. This is true for all things in life, and poker should not be different. The basic TAG strategy (tight and aggressive) should be your starting point.
2. Concentrate on one thing at a time
Poker is a game that can be learned in an hour, but it takes a lifetime to master. There is no need for you to rush, and there is no need for you to learn everything at once.
Slow and steady learning is the best way to go when it comes to learning and improvement. Although it can be tedious and time-consuming, knowledge is not easy. Avoid making it more difficult than necessary.
Although it can be frustrating to realize how little you know and how many things you don’t know, this is positive.
This means that you are beginning to understand the game’s complexity and are starting to identify the areas where you need to improve.
Pat yourself on your back if you feel overwhelmed or scared by the complexity of it all. Understanding is the first step. Start by identifying what you don’t understand.
3. Examine Your Hands
Our greatest life lessons often come from our greatest failures and tragedies. Youtube videos and strategy articles can be read for hours, but certain things won’t get through until you are personally burned.
Even then, most people will not get it, and they will blame someone external, as they usually do.
The greatest teacher is a personal experience, but only if you are open to admitting your mistakes and learning from them.
Hand history review is a great way to do this. This exercise is not passively absorbing information like reading articles or watching videos.
Articles and videos are not wrong, but they’re only one part of the learning process, and it’s also about how you apply what you have learned.
You can only truly understand the feeling when you take your feelings off.
Reviewing the showdown participants is the best way to learn, and you can not only study the lines taken but also estimate the range of your opponents and narrow it down from street to street. This way, you can study multiple things simultaneously.
Talk to yourself loudly while you are looking at your hands. This will force you to use what you already know and highlight areas that might be problematic.
You’ll also train yourself to focus on your feelings and make better decisions. This will increase your ability to understand the game more deeply. You’ll soon be making better in-game choices if you make it a routine.
Summary
Although it is difficult to improve your poker skills. But it is possible. Although it may seem daunting at first, most people will not bother to continue with the process.