12 steps to being a winning player

[wilsonmja]

I used to lose a lot of money playing poker. Finally, I had had enough, got serious and took the steps necessary to become a better player. Here are the 12 steps I took to become a better than average poker player.

1. Admit that you are not as good as you think you are. Also admit that poker is a form of gambling. The latter is much easier to admit than the former, but both are important facts to face.

2. STOP watching poker on T.V. They rarely layout the entire scenario therefore you are not really learning anything useful most of the time. Besides, the pros know a lot more about what they are doing than you do, and unless they stop tape and explain their reasoning behind every move, you cannot obtain a clear enough picture to learn anything.

3. Read Slansky’s book on low stakes limit holdem and Harrington’s books on tournament play. Super-system is better than nothing, but these other books will change your game for the better if you apply their principles.

4. Start a bankroll and learn how to manage it. Tell yourself that if you get rolled you’re done with poker for x amount of time and be disciplined enough to follow your own rules.

6. Learn patience. If you have to fold for a half hour so be it. If folding is correct in a given situation then you must fold even if it’s the 20th time in a row you had to do so.

7. Never put more than 10% of your bankroll at risk at one time. This means playing micro stakes if need be.

8. Playing lower stakes does not mean playing more loose or widening your range of hand requirements. If you put $10 down at a $.05/$.10 game then play the same as if you put $10,000 down at a $50/$100 table. If you are thinking correctly in terms of your bankroll, this should not be a problem.

9. Know when to walk away. Set a stop loss before you ever sit down. If you lose x amount it’s time to go. Also, if the table suddenly shifts and everybody is playing pretty solid it’s time to go. This is especially true if you are up. The prior table conditions are likely a large part of your success. If you just have to stay then at least sit out for bit and take a breather. Get in the right mindset for tougher opposition.

10. In live play (not online I mean), don’t be a cocky jerk. Spend more time studying your opponents and less time shuffling chips and talking about your latest big cash in a tournament. Do you really want respect? I always fumble my chips and ask the dealer questions like, “So how much can I bet here?0” If I win I act embarrassed or say, “yes!” to myself like it’s the first pot I ever won. Laugh if you want, but when you’re sitting across from me with top/top and put me on top/week kicker instead of the set I’m about to break you with, who gets to laugh now?

11. Never criticize someone for making a bad call and beating you. In fact let him/her believe that he/she just outplayed you badly. It would be like owning a store and chastising your customer for buying way too much stuff they don’t need. You are taking money out of your pocket by teaching them how to be more thrifty. You want them to continue playing badly because that bad call made 100 times pays you big.

12. Study your hand history. Chart it out and see where you are losing the most money. Fix it. This sounds tedious because it is, but if you want to maximize your earning potential, you’ll do it.

Hope this helps somebody. I still struggle to barely break even, but I cash more and more frequently and have more winning sessions than ever. Maybe I'm way off and I just got llucky, but this is how I got better.

Thanks,
Michael W.

[stoffmakers]

u a pro by any chance?

[wilsonmja]

Are you being sarcastic? Like I said, this is how I got better. I'm just putting it out there to help somebody that it might work for.

Answer is no. I play online about 20 - 40 hrs per week. If I didn't have rakeback I'd only make about 5 to 10 cents off of every dollar I play. I have cashed in 2 WSOP events, however. A PLO 8/b event and a NL Holdem $1500 buy in. I will be entering in one of each this year as well.

Bottom line: I don't have what it takes to be pro. The life, the swings, the hours...no freakin' way.

Michael W.

[stoffmakers]

lol no i wasnt being sarcastic, sorry if you took it that way. u just seem to know a fair amount so i figured maybe u were an online pro

[Vito_Nuccio]

Thanks for the post. I basically agree with your points. Personally I would be a little more strict with my bankroll rules. I prefer the 5% risk vs. 10%. 10% is decent number, but I would rather not risk that proportion of my roll.

I see you are reletively new to Rakeback forums, welcome and keep up the posts and responses.

Have a good One.

[Brooklynbum]

There are a few others I'd like to add to this list.

Know when to fold. Folding a set or AA when you're beat is essential for a winning player.

Folding isn't a weak play if it saves you money. I know people think folding is considered weak playing. I don't think so. I'd much rather fold a hand (even a monster) if I think I'm beat rather than call down a big bet and lose. Sure he could be bluffing, but most times they're not.

Don't get greedy. Be happy with winning even a small pot.

Learn to lose with grace. People get sucked out on...that's poker. The better you deal with it, the better player you're going to be.

Poker is one long game. You win some and you lose some. It’s what you do over the long run that determines if you’re profitable or not. The more profitable decisions you make the better off you'll be.

Don't be results oriented. Just know that you got your money in with the best of it and that's all you can hope for as a poker player.

Otherwise this was a nice post to read.

[liladypokerpro]

I also like this thread...lots of good info.

I do have one question regarding the following:

10. In live play (not online I mean), don’t be a cocky jerk. Spend more time studying your opponents and less time shuffling chips and talking about your latest big cash in a tournament. Do you really want respect? I always fumble my chips and ask the dealer questions like, “So how much can I bet here?0” If I win I act embarrassed or say, “yes!” to myself like it’s the first pot I ever won. Laugh if you want, but when you’re sitting across from me with top/top and put me on top/week kicker instead of the set I’m about to break you with, who gets to laugh now?

Now, I don't mean to read too much into this statement, and perhaps I'm just reading it completely wrong, but in the beginning it says: "don't be a cocky jerk" and then you speak of taking advantage of the dealer and the other players by pretending to be unfamiliar with the game or the rules.......now, that may not be considered a "cocky" or "jerk" move, but if you are speaking of intentionally deceiving others to gain profit, then I'm not sure that is very good ettiquette?

Please forgive...I am not trying to be rude, just trying to understand...

Thanks...

[Vito_Nuccio]

I also like this thread...lots of good info.

I do have one question regarding the following:



taking advantage of the dealer and the other players by pretending to be unfamiliar with the game or the rules.......now, that may not be considered a "cocky" or "jerk" move, but if you are speaking of intentionally deceiving others to gain profit, then I'm not sure that is very good ettiquette?



Thanks...

There is a definition for this: Angle Shooting!

[liladypokerpro]

There is a definition for this: Angle Shooting!

Hmm...perhaps I did read it correctly then LOL Decided to be curious and look up the exact book definition of Angle Shooting, as I only know the basic meaning which is being dishonest. Here it is:

Angle-Shooting
Using unfair tactics.

Usage:
A poker player who uses various underhanded, unfair methods to take advantage of inexperienced opponents. The difference between an angle shooter and a cheat is only a matter of degree. What a cheat or thief does is patiently against the rules; what an angle shooter does may be marginally legal, but it's neither ethical nor gentlemanly. Nor is it in the spirit of the game. Unfortunately, poker is not a gentleman's game. In addition to learning how to protect yourself against cheating players, you must learn to watch out for the angle shooters.

So okay, with that being said, I don't think I'd recommend that option to anyone for becoming a better player LOL But everything else sounds great!

[IFixlexus]

People don't generally think folding is a weak play. Calling, however is considered a weak play.

[wilsonmja]

Notice I said that that's what I do. My advice was just to study your opponents and don't focus on being certain that everybody knows that you are pretty good.

THEN I said I like to....etc. This was a suggestion and not adviice.

On the subject of ethics: Who got to decide that bluffing, checkraising, and smoothe calling are ethical, but putting on a little persona to fool your fellow players into passing you off as a novice is wrong?

Deception is part of the game and as long as it's within the rules then I will do ANYTHING to give myself any extra advantage, with the exception of mis-representing my hand verbally at showdown in an effort to get a stronger hand to muck before looking (However, if another person does this, I will not begrudge him. There is no rule against it and it's not my place to question someones ethics.)

To be fair, if I know the dealer I will not ask him questions to answers I know. As a former dealer I would consider this collusion.

Ok, hope this clarifies a bit. I'm sure I'm still dirty to some folks but I don't mind being the Dale Earnhardt of poker

[liladypokerpro]

LOL Nobody said you were "dirty" - only people who make a constant habit of these tactics are dirty IMO. Just don't want someone trying to take your advice too literally, that's all.

Someone trying to improve might say to themselves "hey he got better by doing this...so I'll try it from now on" and just by reading your post, they might not realize that you don't mean to do it all the time...ya know what I'm trying to say?

And, of course, there are plenty of times when deception plays a role....otherwise there would be no bluffing

[Wyte22]

People don't generally think folding is a weak play. Calling, however is considered a weak play.

Calling is not a weak play IF it is setting you up to find information, if you got good odds (implied or not) to see the next card and see if it will improve your hands or if your trying to trap someone with a monster.

[iceveins0901]

Calling is not a weak play IF it is setting you up to find information, if you got good odds (implied or not) to see the next card and see if it will improve your hands or if your trying to trap someone with a monster.

I understand where IFixlexus is coming from, calling Generally is a weak play, especially preflop, it can only be good in the situation you describe, otherwise really, calling in the long run is a losing situation. Check calling with mediocre hands like "top pair" is not that good.

[HeyKidMove]

8. Playing lower stakes does not mean playing more loose or widening your range of hand requirements. If you put $10 down at a $.05/$.10 game then play the same as if you put $10,000 down at a $50/$100 table. If you are thinking correctly in terms of your bankroll, this should not be a problem.

I think that people usually have a harder time thinking of their money the other way around. You're saying to think of your $10 as $10,000, but when you're playing poker you're not supposed to think of your chips as money. Thats part of winning, if you think about the money at risk then you're not going to be making the correct decision a lot of the time because you don't want to lose the money. I had trouble with this when moving up stakes because there was more money at risk and I was often playing too passively.

[Boeggs]

I think 10% of bankroll is way to much. It should be more like 2%. Ask any Pro.

[Jonathank]

step number 13:

if you know how to win keep it to your self.

[wilsonmja]

1. Maybe I wasn't clear. My point was that you should not play differently based on the stakes or your chip stack (fundamentaly).

2. In general I agree that you should keep your methods of success to yourself. However, I got better by lookiing for advice. I think that once you've humbled yourself to wanting to find out how to get better, you deserve it.

[wilsonmja]

3. I agree that 10% is way too much. It worked for me when I had a small br, but I admit that I don't go that much anymore.

[Fictive]

Calling is not a weak play IF it is setting you up to find information, if you got good odds (implied or not) to see the next card and see if it will improve your hands or if your trying to trap someone with a monster.

I don't personally like just calling even though I do it sometimes, but most of the time it's raise or fold. When i just call it's because 1. I don't want to commit too much money in to the pot at that time for one reason or other, or 2. I'm looking to get another bet on the turn and then raise.

The reason I quoted this, was because of the "if it's setting you up to find information"-part. I don't understand what you mean by that. How do you get information by just calling? You have no clue what the other guy has, he can easily check the turn with basically whatever, and he can bet the turn with basically whatever. Is he on a draw? does he have the nuts? Are you beat or not? No information.