ROY COOKE POKER

We’re programed from early childhood to cherish victory; it’s winning that counts. And in most games that’s true. If you’re playing football a 7-6 victory is a win, and it doesn’t really matter if you win 52-0 or 7-6. But in poker whether you win $1 or a $1,000 makes an enormous difference. Contrary to what many believe, you’re not playing poker to achieve a good win-loss record; you’re there to win the most money you can over time. And taking that concept into account will improve your overall success.

Obviously, it’s much better to win 40% of your plays and be ahead $1,000, than win 80% of your plays and be $100 ahead. But many players fail to grasp this issue. Emotionally, they feel better when they’re winning, causing them to quit great games small winners and conversely play in poor games when stuck in an attempt to “claw out”. But what they fail to remember is that over time, the spread in effective edge is what makes you the money.

That means that you should play in good games when you’re winning, rather than quitting to ensure a win. You should quit bad games when you’re losing, and your spread is either small or non-existent. You should change games when a much better game is available. You should develop skillsets in games/situations where your spread in edge is high. You should not push yourself when you’re not playing your best, and you should push yourself when you are playing your best. You need to have the a self-awareness to know how well you’re playing. And you should maintain yourself mentally and physically to exploit the opportunities that present themselves.

It’s also important to not be too afraid of good players. Assuming you play reasonably well, you’re unlikely to be giving up much to them. The big edge comes from the weak players. Don’t judge your game solely by who plays well, quantify it by the number and quality of poor players.

So, if you’re in a game and you don’t think there is much spread in ability between yourself and your opponents, and the situation is not likely to improve soon, find a different spot. That spot might be at the next table, or it might be the next day, or the coming weekend. But, if your poker goal is to win money, don’t sit in spot where your edge is small or non-existent.

Your time would be better spent working on your game.

What are your strengths and weaknesses? Have you thought about how they pertain to different poker games? The skills to play NL are different from those to play limit. High-limit skills are different from low-limit, etc. It’s important to find your niche and place your main focus on that arena.

If you’re good at reading tells, stick to lower limit games where the inexperienced players are more prone to have them. Are you an aggressive individual who likes to gamble and can handle the swings? If so, play shorthanded and lean towards NL where aggression has more value, everyone swings more, and your strengths give you greater value.

If you’re a patient, risk-adverse individual who doesn’t like to bluff, then low limit games are a good fit. If you’re emotionally controlled, learn a high swing strategy to maximize that strength and make that weakness in your opponents more pronounced. If you’re a math-oriented individual, learn hi-lo split games where the math has a higher value. If you like and are good at studying hand ranges, play no-limit where that knowledge is critical.
Good recall is more important in some games than others, such as stud and NL. If you’ve got a photographic memory, gravitate to those games.

There are many aspects of us all that correspond to poker. Ascertain your strengths and weaknesses, which games/limits are a good fit for those strengths and which you should avoid because they match your weaknesses. Chose games and limits relevant to your skillsets.

Yes, I live in Las Vegas where the game selection is extensive. If you don’t have that luxury, you’ll need to adjust your strengths to your situation. Learn what’s most important in the games you play and work on those aspects.

Obviously, it’s best to develop all aspects of all games. But most people don’t have that much time to devote, nor are they that flexible. Recognize and work within your element and don’t stray off course. Think about your strengths and how they pertain to poker, work towards your strengths and try to eliminate any weaknesses within that element. Do that and you’ll have given yourself your best shot at success.
And at the end of the day, that’s all you can ever ask of yourself!

Many pros and semi-pros are run down, sleep-deprived, unexercised, overworked, overstressed, and deteriorating physically and mentally. That deterioration persists until the completely player burns out and loses some of his poker abilities. That deterioration often starts a downward spiral: you start playing longer hours in less profitable situations to make up for the shortfall. It can be never-ending!

As a player, you need to guard against burnout. If you wait until it develops, you’ve waited too long. Take the steps to keep your mind and body healthy. Don’t burn yourself out playing immense hours trying to get even or because the game is good.
Even if the game is great, is it really worth grinding out the extra hour or two and exhausting yourself? Think what your HR is? Is it worth it? Relax and take it easy, you’ll improve your propensity to survive the “test of time.” When you push yourself too hard, your mental energy and concentration are so weak that your expectation is far below usual.

To avoid burnout, don’t push yourself. Know your limitations. Don’t play too long or too high. Avoid high-stress situations. Don’t stretch your comfort zone too strongly. Take your beats without emotion. Try to get as much enjoyment from the game as you can. Take breaks, walk around and have an exercise program to reduce the toll of the hours of sitting. Maintain good sleep habits. Have a personal life and separate it from your poker life.

Poker has a high cost of success, but if you do it right, a successful poker life a can be a happy one. To me, the most important issue at the end of your life is to be able to look back at a happy one. Many professional players, even the very successful ones, are cynical, dispirited and unhappy.

Don’t let yourself fall into the poker world’s traps period! Play the much more important game of life the right way!

Play Well and Good Luck!

Keeping your mind right is the key to surviving pokers’ test of time. Exercise and healthy living helps facilitate that goal. But you also have to keep it together mentally. Don’t over-react to negative events. Guide yourself with reason, not emotion.

Additionally, playing with confidence is the state of mind you need to be in when playing poker. Nourish that confidence; it’ll increase your chances of success. Be more inclined to quit winners or play a softer game after being on a losing streak, because a winner can put you back on the right mental track.

Playing drunk or high is going to affect your judgement. I’ve often heard from players that drinking doesn’t, but the medical evidence is overwhelming. Any significant amount of alcohol negatively affects all mental and physical actions. I’ve never seen a player survive the test of time that constantly drank at the table. I’ve often heard that smoking pot helps people think better because it lowers their stress. While that may be true in some instances, it will affect your energy level, and, even if you think they won’t influence your judgement, it will!

All that said, while it’s great to always be at your best when you’re playing poker to win, make sure your mind is prepared to intellectualize through the ryou play, it’s not realistic. On your slightly off days adjust your strategy to compensate. Tighten your game selection, play a little lower, and/or don’t make some of your more marginal plays. You can still have the best of it, even when you’re not at your best! Just be careful not to overrate your abilities when you’re slightly off.

Though basic, this issue is important and often overlooked. When iddles the game will provide.

And if it’s not, don’t play!

I’m going to outline four levels of thought you need to actualize to play poker on a high level. Additionally, it’s important to recognize what level your opponents are thinking on. You should at least be able to think at the fourth level.

*What do I have?
*What do they have?
*What do they think I have?
*What do they think I think they have?

Beginning players tend to evaluate only the strength of their hand (What do I have?). Their thinking rises to another level when they start thinking about what their opponents hold (What do they have?). You can expand your thought process further by thinking about what your opponents think you have (What do they think I have?). On the next level, consider what they think you think they have (What do they think I think they have?).

If you can master these levels of thought, you will be able to design specific strategies based on your opponents’ holding and thoughts. You’ll make better timed bluffs, folds and value bets. That said, it’s important not to overthink specific situations. You can’t think about what an opponent thinks you have, if he doesn’t bother to consider your cards.

Multi-level thinking has been around since the inception of thought, but many poker players don’t utilize it. Habituate yourself to run through these four levels of thought on every decision.
And when the process comes naturally, you can move your thinking up to even higher levels!

For example, if you can narrow your opponent’s pre-flop range to AA, KK or AK, there are 6 possible mathematical combinations of AA (AhAd-AhAs-AhAc-AdAs-AdAc-AsAc), 6 of KK and 16 of AK, of which 4 are suited. So in that case your opponent is 16-12 or 4-3 to have AK over a wired pair.

There are six combinations of every pair. If one of the rank hits the board, it reduces the combinations to three. In other words, if there is a 9 on the board, there are 3 possible combinations of 99 in your opponent’s hand. There are 16 combinations of every unpaired hand of which 4 are suited.

When one of the cards comes on the board, it reduces the combinations to 12. For example; when an ace hits on the board there are 12 combinations of AK still available to your opponent. If both an ace and a king come, there are 9 combinations of AK available to your opponent. If two Aces hit the board, there are 8 combinations of AK available. If you don’t understand this, write out the combinations available.

If you think the manner in which your opponent played a given hand leans more toward his possessing one holding over another, discount the lower propensity holding by the appropriate amount. If you think there is a 25% chance that your opponent would have played an AK differently, discount the combinations of AK in his range by 25%.

Those are the fundamentals to mathematically calculating your opponent’s ranges. Utilize it at the table and the numbers will eventually become second nature to you.

And your ability to read your opponent’s cards will dramatically improve

That said, with “fishy” players, you need to be much more situationally selective. A few fish are fishy because they fold too much, but that’s not typically true. In short, bluffing is doable, but the situations are generally few and far between.

Most fish call with a wide pre-flop range that will often whiff the flop. That creates value for pre-flop isolation plays and flop continuation bets. Of course, some flops are whiffier than others, and players have differing post-flop calling frequencies. The trick to being a successful bluffer in the “fish pond” is to compartmentalize. Put those that almost never fold in one compartment, those that call with overcards in another. Think about who plays ‘fit or fold” and learn which boards they can be moved off of. Are there any who seem like they are playing scared? You can develop your own compartments, simplify or complicate, the variations of opponents is immeasurable.
Rainbow boards that have a high card remove some/all of the overcard range from an opponent. Those with few legitimate straight/flush draws add still greater value to your bluffs. Consider the board texture, what will this particular opponent(s) call with? What percentage of their current range is a calling hand? What size bet will fold those hands? Is the pots size worth the bets risk?

Opportunities to bluff in loose games are fewer, but that doesn’t mean that a limited number of well selected bluffs can’t have positive value. If you select the right situations, not only will your bluffs have positive EV but when your often calling opponents know that you bluff, it will both widen their calling range and create better value betting situations because they are likely to call bigger wagers.

So, don’t just give up on bluffing because the game is loose. Find the right spots and it will add value to your game.