Saturday 16 June 2012

Improving Your Poker

By Thomas Kearns


What will not improve your poker game is holding on to that arrogant attitude and trust in luck. Nor will you gain anything at the table by sticking to the small set of rules you learned from a book and never venture beyond them for fear of your safety. First, you must realize that no matter how many hands you win, there is still room for improvement.. Poker is not just a game of luck, skill or mindreading, a good player has learned the art of introspection. You must be very candid with yourself and define your strength and weaknesses as accurately as possible.

Besides bad amateurs and those playing by a fixed set of simple rules, there are those players who discover they actually have a talent, but who do not then try to improve much in any direction. These are rather lazy and uninspired players who prefer to hope that they will eventually knock their opponents out cold every time with one or two great moves.

Hardly anyone excels in every aspect of a complicated process, but to depend on just a few skills is perilous and likely to bring you down over time. Your weaknesses must be acknowledged and tended to. You are not alone at the table and not the only player with insight. Your opponents will discover that you do a few things well and often, and can bypass your play with maneuvers of their own. In the end, they will consistently apply these tactics, and take you by surprise. Why? Because they have taken the time and effort to improve all their poker skills and have the confidence to make a number of creative moves.

No boxer ever boxed with just one hand. Hone your best qualities, but do keep sharpening as many of the other required abilities as you can. The next step towards progressive improvement after you recognize your weaknesses is to learn to do that which, as Bartleby the scrivener would say, "you would rather not to."

The difficulty of this task likes in two basic concepts, you must understand that the game isn't really worth playing unless your goal is to win, and you must take on the burden of forming a disciplined habit of consistently doing that which you do not want to do. This won't work if you don't understand why you are learning to form this habit. You must engage yourself in the game and blindly following a routine that is incomprehensible to you will not lead to engagement or success.

A good golfer will have visions of where he wants the ball to go and the ideal way to put it there. A good poker player must do the same: envision himself as more than a competent player of the game, feel the rush of excitement that leads to triumphant results, and come to the decision that this is a good thing. If your imagination is too stifled to experience this feeling, you need to admit to yourself that you really don't get it and explore other opportunities that will successfully engage you. If this vision, however, stirs your passion, work on improving all your skills and the results will amaze you. As an added bonus, achieving the discipline it takes to consistently do things that do not appeal to you and you may even fear, is in itself rewarding.




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