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Wanna be a Poker Pro?

 

It appears much easier than it is. There is much to know to become a significant winner. And you need to have the fortitude to maintain a high level of play through the financial and emotional ups and downs. As the old saying goes ”It’s a hard way to make an easy living”.

Firstly, you need to possess the intellect to compete and substantially win in an academically challenging game against other smart people. Keep in mind, it’s not just you against them; it’s you against them and the costs of playing. And those costs add up considerably over time.

Plus there are the competitive skills required. It’s great to have control of your life and time, but accountabilities come with it. You need to be continuously motivated to play and work on your game. You need to structure your life around the game so you can play when the games are good. You need to have relationships that understand your poker needs and support you. You need to configure your life so that you are playing happy, because if you don’t play happy, your game will suffer. And happiness is what makes life worth living.

Along the same lines, you need to be mentally tough and stable enough to keep it all together when the cards aren’t running your way. It sounds much easier than it is. Pokers stresses tend to have a wearing effect on most players, both mentally and physically. Compensating for pokers effects is a necessary component in order to survive the “test of time”.

Poker appears to be a glamorous thrilling lifestyle. You live in a destination resort, eat great food, meet new and exciting people daily, have control over your life and for those that are successful a solid financial future. But the realities soon become apparent. Poker is a grind for all but a VERY select few.

It takes a unique level of intellect, knowledge and mental toughness to survive. And a significantly higher level of all three to thrive. If you think you have what it takes, go for your dreams. That said, research what it takes, and be honest with your self–evaluation.

And if you choose to take the plunge, good luck and play well!

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Blocking Bets

 

A “blocking bet” is a smallish out of position bet made with the intention of setting a small price for that street. It can be made with either a weakish hand with showdown value or a draw that you would rather not call a sizable bet with. It can also serve the purpose of stopping a bluff.

Mostly, you’re looking to get to showdown or cheaply see the next card. If you checked, your opponent might well bet large and create a difficult situation or losing proposition for you. By betting small you force your opponent to raise in order to bet bigger and therefore reopen the betting, an assumption of risk many players generally don’t want to take. Additionally, you might get some thin value from betting some hands that your opponent would have checked behind you had you checked.

All that said, blocking bets have some issues. Some experienced players will read right through your sizing and raise-bluff, forcing you to pay an even higher price or fold. If you bet rather than check, you have effectively removed the bluffs from your opponents betting range and any value those bluffs would create for you.

Blocking bets work well against weak, uncreative, and nitty players who infrequently raise bluff. Confine the play to those situations, and blocking bets will be a valuable tool in your poker arsenal. But if you get too frisky with them, you’ll end up costing yourself money!

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Inelastic (Not about your underwear)

The ability to vary your bet-sizes creates an opportunity to obtain an edge that you can’t acquire in limit. One important concept in determining your bet sizing is keeping certain hands you want your opponent to call in your opponent’s calling ranges without hurting your over EV. But with some opponent’s in certain situations there is no need to consider an in-depth bet sizing equation. They’re either calling or they’re not, and size doesn’t matter. It’s called an inelastic situation where your opponent doesn’t differentiate between your bet sizing when determining whether to call.

Say you have AK and raised pre-flop indicating a big hand. On an A-A-4-6-K board, the effective stack size is 1-1/2 pot. You know you’re against a weak opponent who won’t lay down any Ace or better as he is more focused on the strength of his hand and indifferent to the size of the bet or the odds the pot is offering him. Go ahead and shove all-in and get the optimum value out of your hand.

Most situations are elastic; your opponent(s) will call differing sized bets with different hands. And computing what percentage they will call with which hands and calculating the best option is a complicated process. But recognizing situations that are inelastic and actualizing a big bet can have enormous value.
So when you’re contemplating what bet-size to make, think about if your opponent(s) are inelastic with a significant portion of their calling range.

And if they are… Stick it in!

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Image

“Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Of course, you can adapt your behavior to manipulate your image. What image do you want? Is it a loose image so that, when you make a hand, you generate calls more often? Or do you want a tight image so you can pick your opponents apart with bluffs?

If you want a loose image to acquire calls, don’t put on your sunglasses, your hoodie, and your headset and not speak a word to anyone. You’re just portraying tightness. Instead, depict a sloppy image, stack your chips haphazardly, be loud, be boisterous, act like you’re there for fun and play all your marginal situations. Your manufactured image will create more calls for you.

Conversely, if you’re looking to bluff your way to victory, do put on your sunglasses, cover yourself with a hoodie, put on your headset (without the music on so you can hear your opponents), don’t say a word, fold all your marginal situations, and put on the most serious image you can.

All that said, trying to establish an image to people who aren’t paying attention is just a waste of energy. In those cases, just be your most comfortable self and play every hand optimally. Making non-optimum plays to deceive opponents that who won’t recall the circumstances and won’t employ the strategy you are trying to influence them into taking is just squandering EV.

Additionally, don’t be taken by your opponent’s maneuvers to influence you. Read people based on what their actions dictate, and not judge them by what they are projecting. Players talk loose and play tight. Pay attention to what your opponents do, not what they say. That concept transcends poker and is critical in life too.
Keep things real within yourself and project he image that’s best for you at the table. But when you leave the table, leave all the image projection behind and be your real self!

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Adjusting As You Go

 

Many reasonably knowledgeable players play poorly because they are too predictable. It’s not that their strategy is invalid; it’s that their opponents know their tactics and have successfully adjusted.

To play poker well, you must recognize the correct base strategy for your current situation, not allow your opponent’s to read you effectively and know when to adjust due to situational changes, such as when your opponent’s have picked up on your strategy. You should vary your play not only because the texture of the game has changed, but also to keep your opponents’ in doubt. Determining those strategies requires both knowledge and concentration.

Additionally, you have to know when to adjust your strategies. Sometimes the game changes, someone goes on tilt, players come and go; sometimes it’s just that your opponents have figured your strategy. Whatever the reason, a different line of play is needed.

It’s important to continuously follow the action, always think about how your opponents are thinking and develop lines of play based on their thoughts. Keep in mind that your opponents’ thinking changes over the course of the game. Also, keep in mind that many players never modify. They’re predictable, easy to read, and to counter. It’s not where you want to be.

So, think about what strategies will work best against this set of opponents when you first sit down. Think about how they think. Are they aggressive or scared? Patient or not? Understand position? Love suited cards? Call 3-bets with wired pairs? The questions are almost endless. Closely observe any changes to the game’s texture, your opponents’ emotional state or their rational thought process. Think about how any plays you have shown might affect how they will play you in the future. Then contemplate how you can effectively adjust to those changes.

If you continuously make those adjustments accurately, you’ll be one step ahead of your competition and render yourself unpredictable without having to make any –EV plays to throw you opponents off. It’s much better to randomize your play without cost than to utilize losing strategies to achieve the same effect.
Yes, this is short and sweet, and the details are incredibly demanding. But many players seem to overlook the big picture.

Don’t let yourself become too predictable. Do continuously pay attention and adjust your strategies to the current situation. Learn different styles of play so that you can successfully adapt to any game changes. Complacency is not the way to winning at poker.
And if you do all this effectively, poker will become both more profitable and more interesting.

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Immediate Indicators

Poker players often tell me “I had no idea how he plays. I’d only been there for a few hands. ” That’s a really bad answer. Players often give indications to their style, mentality, and experience level before they even play a hand.

When you first walk up to the poker table, you should be observing your future opponents. What are the stack sizes? How do they stack their chips? Usually the neater they stack, the more conservative the player. With what experience level do they hold their cards and handle their chips? That’s indicative of how experienced they are at poker. Are they focused and paying attention? If so, we know they are serious and trying to play their best. Are they talkative? Is their talk sociable or boisterous? Sociable player’s tend to play more ABC, boisterous tend to play more aggressively. How do any new players react to posting the BB? Did they wait for the blinds, post behind, or post immediately because they looking to get into action ASAP?

Obviously, the more information you acquire on an opponent, the better your decisions will be. How they think, what hands they play and how they strategize their play of hands is the most important component. But that takes time at the table with them to make those determinations. There are immediate indicators such as those stated above can give you a quicker, though more basic, line on their play. Think about them, observe them, and use them!

And you won’t be so much in the blind when you first sit down!

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Creating Your Image

What does our opponent think you’re thinking? That thought, mostly generated by your actions at the poker table, hugely determines how your opponent is going to read you, and more importantly, play you.

You need to be aware of what image you’re projecting at the poker table. Generally speaking, your opponents will have stronger impressions from recent events or unusual incidents. What have you projected in your last couple of hours at the poker table? What memorable hands have you previously played with this particular opponent? Have you played a lot of hands, maybe even some questionable ones? Are your current opponents aware of this? If so, your opponent’s are likely to think you are playing a wide range of hands? Having a loose image is beneficial when you are trying to win your opponent’s chips by getting them to call in more situations where they should fold. It’s challenging to get calls when your image is tight.

Conversely, if you haven’t picked up a hand in a while and the few you’ve showed down have been strong holdings, you’re opponents are likely to think you’re playing a tight, narrow range of hands. Having a tight image is helpful when you’re strategizing to win your opponents money by making them fold more often when they should call, more commonly known as bluffing. Your bluffs will have more value when you have a tight image, less value with a loose image.

Creating an image conducive to the strategy you’re looking to implement strengthens your strategy. You can often do this by making a few “deception” plays early in a session when your opponent’s first impressions will be lasting. This can be by playing loosely for a few hands, or showing a tight fold. Throwing in a few choice words, like “I’m just here for fun, not to play for a living” or “You must have this easily beat” when showing a tight fold will draw additional attention to the image you’re trying to create.
You also create your image with your non-poker actions. Players who are attentive and quiet tend to be viewed tighter than players who are interactive, talkative and friendly. If you’re looking for action, get rid of the headset and baseball cap.

When you first sit down at a table think about how you wish to be perceived. Are you going to bluff your way to victory or are you looking to make hands and get them paid off. Whichever your choice, establish the corresponding image. By manipulating your image, you’ll increase the odds of success for your correlating plays.

And always be aware of your image. Sometimes it’s the cards you’ve been dealt that sets your image. But whether you’ve fashioned the image yourself or it was crafted by other circumstances, think about your image is and how that will affect your opponents.

And adjust your play of marginal situations based on that image! Then when they’ve caught on, change it up!

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Time and Life Management for Poker!

Time management is a business concept, but poker is a business for those who take it seriously. Many players manage their time by simply playing until they’re tired, then going to bed and repeating that sequence day in and day out. Generally speaking, they lead unhappy lives. A poker life offers much to those who manage it well. But manage it poorly, and your life will be wretched.

To play poker at a high level takes a lot time and effort. You need to find the time to work on your game so that you’re constantly improving. And, unless you’re playing high-limits at select times, grinding out significant money will take long hours. And then there’s the rest of your life, if poker is the only element in your life, it’s probably going to be an unhappy one!
Pros, semi-pros and recreational players all need to adapt their life to poker and vice-versa. The high stress and the emotional swings of winning and losing all take a toll. It takes substantial understanding from friends and family to keep those relationships happy. Conversely, it takes understanding from the poker player to avoid getting overly wrapped up in poker and ignoring the needs of their important relationships!

If you’re a recreational player, you need to create times when you can play and not ignore the other needs in your life, like work and relationships. Set aside times when the games are best that still coordinate with life’s other important aspects. Don’t diverge from that schedule, even when losing, unless it doesn’t impede with life. Keeping your life stable will help your poker world stability, and you’ll play better too.

If you’re playing for a living, it’s a different equation. You need to be in the poker room when the getting is good. Games tend to be better on weekends and late at night, often conflicting with your family and friends schedules. If you can sacrifice the extra money to prioritize your family, it’s probably a good tradeoff. Many pros have families, and their consideration has to have huge influence on your poker decisions. Having an understanding spouse/significant other is huge. Have this conversation with your family, explain the benefits for all. Make the effort to offset your family’s sacrifices with other events, and not just financially.

If you don’t have many other commitments, schedule your playing time to when the games best fit your skill and style and also fit your personal effectiveness schedule. If you aren’t sharp at certain times, such as, if you’re a better morning person, play the mornings. Many pros sit and burn themselves out in marginal games because they have little else to do or are trying to offset “bad runs.” Don’t! Utilize your time and energy efficiently, play when times are good. Take breaks, live and enhance life when your time has less value. Schedule your life around weekends, nights, specialty times and tournaments. You‘ll play better poker when you’re well rested and refreshed. And you’ll have a happier life!

If you’re going to play a lot of poker, you need to structure your life to make it a happy one. It takes discipline and planning. Many deeply into poker let poker consume them. And that consummation devastates their life. They destroy their relationships, and their happiness gets attached to how they are running in poker. Poker is full of long-term, cynical, and unhappy participants who have little else in their life!

When you’ve destroyed the relationships with those who care about you and your happiness in life is dictated by the turn of a card, you’re going to have a lot of unhappiness in your life.

Don’t allow yourself to fall into that trap!

“The Cooke-Berman Team”
Realty ONE Group
Roy and Misty Cooke with Bea Berman
Broker/Salespersons
702-376-1515 Roy and Misty
702-271-2577 Bea
http://www.RoyCooke.com
“We appreciate your referrals”

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Growing Your Game

Are you constantly working on your poker game, both at and away from the table? If you’re not those that are, are going to get you!
The learning process for poker is a never-ending one. You need to make the commitment to take the actions required to learn the game. There is plenty of material by talented players to provide you all the information you need to play well.
Acquire a poker library and study it!
Learning from others experiences will prevent you from making the costly mistakes that they made.
That said, there are many additional aspects that you can only pick up on at the table. Things like player tendencies, exploitive strategies to their lines of play, their emotional reactions to events, etc.
In order to do that effectively you need to keep your mind on the game. It’s the only way to play your “A” game. Think through what has transpired. How did your opponents’ think to make the plays they made? How can you exploit their thoughts? What plays take advantage of your newfound knowledge?
Assess your own game.
 What are your weaknesses? What areas do you need to develop? Discipline? Emotional control? Play Knowledge? Additionally, continuously assess how you’re playing. Are you focused? Are you emotionally affected? Are you mentally tired?
Grow your game a little bit every day you play. Over time, you’ll grow into a much better player.
And when you play well, the chips will follow!
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