08-04-2002, 02:49 PM
Winning Poker for the Recreational Player. (part 1)
O.K so I spouted out why we play poker and the most important aspect of playing winning poker. All well and good if you intend to be a professional. You don’t. I know it. You know it. We know it! What you want is a little guidance on playing poker not how to spend your life doing it. O.K. I’ll see what I can do.
No Lectures, I promise. We will discuss a one time trip to,.. let’s say,.. Atlantic City. Maybe on that Labor Day Weekend Sunday. The game, you choose may be stud or holdem. Let’s talk Hold’em. It is the fastest of the two and will give you more opportunities to play in a short period.
My goal is to prepare you to make good decisions based on what you do know not what you should know. Another goal of mine and maybe the main goal is to not take the fun out of the game for you. As I mentioned in my last e-mail knowing what to do next is the most important aspect of playing winning poker. The knowing I’m talking about comes from experience. I do not expect you to know what to do next. I expect you to try to make good decisions based on the information you glean from the situation in which you find yourself.
Prepare to Play
Before you play your first hand of poker there are three things to keep in mind about winning at Holdem poker. They are that 1) Holdem is a game of big cards and 2) Holdem is a game of position. 3) Poker is a people game. Keep these in mind, big cards, position and opponents.
Poker is a competitive game. There is a technical side to the game and there is a mental side. The technical side if designed and implemented correctly will maximize expectation. The mental side if understood and controlled will allow for the correct implementation of the techniques needed to maximize expectation. Obviously, our goal, then, is to maximize expectation.
When you arrive at the table to begin play you have with you all the technical expertise you are going to have for that session. Whether it’s all that you need to win with is another matter. The fact is that once you are there your skill level is your skill level and it ain’t going to get any better during that brief session you are about to play. So there is no use worrying about it! Let’s play!
It is when you first sit down, before you are dealt a hand, that the mental side of poker kicks in. It is at that moment that you can set the stage for a successful session. It is at that moment and that moment only that you can take the initiative and begin to take control of the situation before it takes control of you. How you consciously react when you first sit down will most likely positively or adversely affect your mental game for the entire session.
The first and foremost thing to do mentally is to focus. Do not focus on winning. Winning is incidental to playing well. But you do not focus on playing well either. You are either going to play o.k or your not. You should try your best but expect to make some mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes when playing poker. It has something to do with misreading and misunderstanding but also with incomplete information and probability. Do not let mistakes affect your mental state during play. Focus on gaining information. Check out your surroundings, your opponents, your position at the table, etc Play your first hand with the information you have gathered. Continuously update your information by staying focused on what is going on. Is the table loose, tight, passive, aggressive, etc. Do not continuously count your chips! This way you will stay focused on playing your best and not on trying to win or trying not to lose which may be worse.
In my last e-mail I compared playing poker to love making. There may be something to that for some but please don't take it lioterally. I'm sure it's not true for everyone. In the beginning when you first start playing poker it’s exciting. The more and more you play the less exciting it becomes. If you are not careful it becomes like work and the excitement you once felt can turn into tedium. But I believe the occasional recreational player will almost always get that feeling of excitement during their sessions. Consequently it may be easier for them to concentrate their efforts and focus on playing well if they have playing well as their goal. The problem is that gambling and the desire to win (big) gets in their way. Plus they are usually not as well schooled or experienced as their every day playing opponents and this more likely than not will adversely affect their focus.
In summary when preparing to play poker due consideration must be given to the mental game. How one is going to think and behave during the next session is of utmost importance. Especially to the recreational player. Staying focused on what’s important is key to a stable mental state during play. Watch your opponents even when you are not involved in a hand. Be patient and wait for good playing situations. Good playing situations are what we will discuss in the next e-mail. Til then.
Love Dad
O.K so I spouted out why we play poker and the most important aspect of playing winning poker. All well and good if you intend to be a professional. You don’t. I know it. You know it. We know it! What you want is a little guidance on playing poker not how to spend your life doing it. O.K. I’ll see what I can do.
No Lectures, I promise. We will discuss a one time trip to,.. let’s say,.. Atlantic City. Maybe on that Labor Day Weekend Sunday. The game, you choose may be stud or holdem. Let’s talk Hold’em. It is the fastest of the two and will give you more opportunities to play in a short period.
My goal is to prepare you to make good decisions based on what you do know not what you should know. Another goal of mine and maybe the main goal is to not take the fun out of the game for you. As I mentioned in my last e-mail knowing what to do next is the most important aspect of playing winning poker. The knowing I’m talking about comes from experience. I do not expect you to know what to do next. I expect you to try to make good decisions based on the information you glean from the situation in which you find yourself.
Prepare to Play
Before you play your first hand of poker there are three things to keep in mind about winning at Holdem poker. They are that 1) Holdem is a game of big cards and 2) Holdem is a game of position. 3) Poker is a people game. Keep these in mind, big cards, position and opponents.
Poker is a competitive game. There is a technical side to the game and there is a mental side. The technical side if designed and implemented correctly will maximize expectation. The mental side if understood and controlled will allow for the correct implementation of the techniques needed to maximize expectation. Obviously, our goal, then, is to maximize expectation.
When you arrive at the table to begin play you have with you all the technical expertise you are going to have for that session. Whether it’s all that you need to win with is another matter. The fact is that once you are there your skill level is your skill level and it ain’t going to get any better during that brief session you are about to play. So there is no use worrying about it! Let’s play!
It is when you first sit down, before you are dealt a hand, that the mental side of poker kicks in. It is at that moment that you can set the stage for a successful session. It is at that moment and that moment only that you can take the initiative and begin to take control of the situation before it takes control of you. How you consciously react when you first sit down will most likely positively or adversely affect your mental game for the entire session.
The first and foremost thing to do mentally is to focus. Do not focus on winning. Winning is incidental to playing well. But you do not focus on playing well either. You are either going to play o.k or your not. You should try your best but expect to make some mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes when playing poker. It has something to do with misreading and misunderstanding but also with incomplete information and probability. Do not let mistakes affect your mental state during play. Focus on gaining information. Check out your surroundings, your opponents, your position at the table, etc Play your first hand with the information you have gathered. Continuously update your information by staying focused on what is going on. Is the table loose, tight, passive, aggressive, etc. Do not continuously count your chips! This way you will stay focused on playing your best and not on trying to win or trying not to lose which may be worse.
In my last e-mail I compared playing poker to love making. There may be something to that for some but please don't take it lioterally. I'm sure it's not true for everyone. In the beginning when you first start playing poker it’s exciting. The more and more you play the less exciting it becomes. If you are not careful it becomes like work and the excitement you once felt can turn into tedium. But I believe the occasional recreational player will almost always get that feeling of excitement during their sessions. Consequently it may be easier for them to concentrate their efforts and focus on playing well if they have playing well as their goal. The problem is that gambling and the desire to win (big) gets in their way. Plus they are usually not as well schooled or experienced as their every day playing opponents and this more likely than not will adversely affect their focus.
In summary when preparing to play poker due consideration must be given to the mental game. How one is going to think and behave during the next session is of utmost importance. Especially to the recreational player. Staying focused on what’s important is key to a stable mental state during play. Watch your opponents even when you are not involved in a hand. Be patient and wait for good playing situations. Good playing situations are what we will discuss in the next e-mail. Til then.
Love Dad