Improving In Poker By Doing What You Dislike
Poker is as complex a game as any and it would not be an exaggeration to call it an art. And as any art, it requires a bit of philosophy. Because unless you are a machine you need more than the electricity running up and down your spine to motivate you towards genuine love (of a game as well as of a person) and true accomplishment. Naturally, you don’t have to be a “philosopher” to have a philosophy and if the term makes you uncomfortable you might as well change it to “imagination” or “psychology.”
You can learn to force yourself to do whatever it is you dislike and improve exponentially by tapping into the imagination and perception within you. For instance, compare developing your skills of communication with taking a cold shower, an unpleasant shock to the system at best. But that feeling can be ameliorated over time and after a few months of cold showers once or twice or week, you may begin to look forward to them. They have certain advantages, like waking you up and making you feel so good when you get out.
Learning any new skill is applicable to the cold shower story. Most of us like the challenge of learning something new even though there is some stress involved.
Try cold showers and, with the perspective of the enterprise washed in healthy glowing colors, with this philosophy in mind plunge into whatever poker areas you most dislike.
Okay, no more lessons on philosophy, it is now time to consider more pragmatic advice. A good way to acquire meaningful expertise is by hiring a professional trainer to give you private, hands-on lessons without the embarrassment to you caused by onlookers. The coach will point out your weaknesses, most of which you are probably unaware of, so you can learn from them and move on. A good trainer will have you make notes of your play so you can continue to learn from both your strengths and weaknesses.
If the idea of a professional coach is too pricey for you, try making the acquaintance of poker playing buddies. The honest debates between even run-of-the-mill players can greatly improve strategy and perception. Poker forums are another good place to learn. Some exceptional poker players post to these and you can gain some valuable insights from them sharing their experiences.
Don’t forget to take notes. Whether on or offline, while playing the game, record your play to enable you to review the hands later and learn from this as to where you went wrong. Notes can reveal all the choices you could have made but didn’t, putting you on to greater possibilities of alternate moves in the future. They will also help your self-introspection and will lead you to ask yourself why you made the moves you did. This skill at introspection also applies greatly to your opponents moves. You want to reach the point where you can ask these crucial questions of yourself before you make that bet or play that card.
Did your opponent react the way you thought he would? Is his reaction in keeping with what you expected after learning the ways of your opponent? Did he bet or raise according to your expectations? What cards do you want him to think are in your hand? At which point in the hand to you want him to call or raise?
Constantly asking yourself questions like these is difficult to learn, but after a while it become a habit and then a challenge. And then you are playing poker for real.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Paradise Rakeback and Fortune Poker Rakeback.
