Well, the first three words in my mind are: work, work, work. This is, and will always be a fact in poker. You'll need to work in order to win significant amounts of money one day. But, just like in a whole bunch of other stuff, it's always better if you know how to work, and what to work for. This article is about how to develop hand reading skills in poker - simple tricks to make sure you're doing it effectively.
- Play less tables. If you're playing 4 tables simultaneously, you'll get distracted from key hands all the time. This is why you should play the maximum of 2 tables at the same time, just to have better concentration on more important hands, plays and players.
- When you don't play, it's extremely important to follow the game. Observing others is a great way to improve your hand reading skills, since you won't lose anything by figuring out other players' hands. I think there's always a certain amount of fear when playing for my own money. This fear affects to a lot of stuff, but basically you start questioning whether it is a good move to do something since there's so much money at risk. This won't happen when you watch others play, and your self-confidence will improve.
Another definite factor affecting your game when you play for your own money, is what I would call "a wishing factor". Meaning you'll find yourself making calls, bets and raises because you wish a certain pot would be yours, because there's so much money in it. This usually results bad, sloppy decisions that aren't even near profitable.
- If you're right about the hand, review it and explain it to yourself. Find reasoning for why you came to that particular conclusion. Then try to memorize the reason.
If you're wrong about it, review it and explain what went wrong. After you've figured that out, figure out what should have been done. Work some more by playing, review again and play some more.
Obviously "basic" stuff will work too - discuss hands with other aspiring players, and a very important thing some players are afraid of trying: play against better players. You can't possibly think you would get a lot better by playing against other beginners. When you play against better, skilled opponents, you'll learn a lot more... faster. I was myself pretty "afraid" of losing money when I decided to try out bigger games with better players. I got a bit lucky in the beginning (not in all-in situations, I just got dealt good hands) and that definitely made it comfortable to keep playing. However, I got so much better in a relatively short period of time (2-3 weeks).
If you haven't read this yet, now it's time: Texas Hold'em Hand Ranges
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