I have had the time recently to play a number of live, poker tournaments. While I generally don’t have time to care about playing a poker tournament, that isn’t the case in cases where I am going to play poker with my friends. We have been playing poker on a regular basis and often on many different local poker tables. Recently one of us agreed that we would start a poker weekend whenever we could. This got to be a fun challenge and we all said we would see how often we could win.
Well, let’s say we all decided not to go to classes or work on the weekends, we could still play the card games we love. So we decided to hold a poker tourney at our house and find out who had the best hand. This is usually a fun activity for those of us who like to gamble, but not in a judgmental sense. We are just being friendly and playing with some friends who enjoy each other’s company.
Well, we had a great weekend. The first couple of poker hands we played for sucker money and I developed the ultimate hold ’em poker hand. It started with 6-2 and I had a full house. My friend said I had a big pot and I started bawling. Really, I had about a set on the flop and I was the only guy betting, so they called me and I had the only hand. Well, they did bet, they had underestimated my hand and I stopped them cold with a full house.
The next thing we did was all ask each other, what had been your playing style the whole poker tournament? We were about the same age and you gave me the hard card and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Then we started to argue about the same thing. What was I playing like a pro? What did he think I was playing like a pro? Just the same, right?
The fact is, I probably should have lost that hand since I was the one that needed the break. I probably should have slow played a bit and waited for a better hand to play, instead of going all in with a bad hand. My point here is not to teach you what to do, but to emphasize on the importance of planning your moves and learning to play with the flow instead of always doing the convoluted thing yourself.
If you are one of those who always seem to do things the wrong way, then you are probably someone who will try to be the everyman and walk all over the other players who are not quite as good as you. Not a very nice thought, but if you want to be a better poker player you have to at least try to be the best at your position.
There is one simple test you can do to determine how good a poker player you are (or if you really want to be a deposit 15 bonus 30) and one that many players fail with. This test is very simple. Think about a time when you made a big mistake. Mistakes are ok, but you need to be honest with yourself about the fact that you might have made a mistake.
Forgive yourself for the mistakes you make. It’s ok to learn from your mistakes, but you don’t have to learn them as much as you should. That’s because your opponents are also learning from your mistakes. Don’t be shocked or freaked when you face your toughest opponents and they are definitely going to make some biting plays against your solid hand.
In the end I’ll leave you with some sage advice. This one may relate more to bluffing rather than actual poker strategy, but it definitely will work. Learn to forgiven yourself for your mistakes, and you will become a better poker player. It’s a difficult virtue, but it can be a foundation for a great player. Poker become your second nature, and you will be able to play better and better each time you sit down at the table.