6 Tips for Taking Your Poker Game from OK to Amazing

There’s often a small gap between an OK player and being a great one. Sometimes, all it takes is for you to fix one kink in your game to become instantly better. The issue is that so many players learn the game with their friends and through trial or error. Others think that watching the pros play is all they need to be better. But if you don’t have a solid set of fundamentals, you won’t even be able to fully understand why certain pros are doing what they do. You might also not realise some of the mistakes you are making that a pro would never make. Let’s look at a few tips you can follow to instantly up your game.

Start Playing Online

If you’re a beginner and you’re not playing online, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. This is because you’ll be able to see way more hands if you play online than you ever could offline. Games are faster paced, and you can play on many tables at a time. Whether you want to play a nine or six-player sit and go, or go head-to-head, you can find a table online in seconds and hop on it. This isn’t something you’ll be able to get by playing with your group of friends or a poker room.

There’s a reason why so many great poker players today started online. These players learn how to read pot odds and betting patterns better than anybody else because that’s all they have to rely on. If you don’t fully understand the mathematics of poker, then playing online and taking advantage of all the freeroll opportunities will allow you to sharpen up your maths skills.

Play Offline Too

With that being said, you also need to get plenty of live action. This is what will allow you to read body language and learn how to manage your composure at the table. A real poker player has to be able to play in any setting as both options have their benefits. And, depending on where you are, you could take advantage of live tournaments and even get a chance to win a seat at some of the biggest tournaments in the world.

You first need to learn a thing or two about tells before you go, however. If you want to learn, the best way to do so is to pick up a good manual on them. Two great options are Caro’s Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro and Reading Poker Tells by Zachary Elwood. These two books will give you a basic understanding of common tells and help you develop that x-ray vision that made players like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu so feared at the table.

Don’t Play Out of Position

This is probably one of the most important principles to integrate as a new poker player. An ace-ten offsuit might seem attractive to you whatever your position is on the table, but you’ll routinely see pros fold these types of hands instantly if they’re too early in the rotation. This is because they understand that many people after them could get a better hand and they don’t want to lose money unnecessarily or get sucked into a hand they can’t win.

Ideally, only kings, queens, pocket aces, ace-king suited, and ace-queen should be played early in position. Doing this alone will reduce the number of bad hands you get.

Manage Your Emotions

Learning how to manage your emotions and sticking to a game plan is also very important. This is especially important if you’re playing online. Losing control of your emotions and spending is easy when you’re playing online, so you will have to find a way to let off some steam when you’re on tilt. If you find yourself getting too emotionally involved in games, then you either want to take a break from the game or lower the amount you spend. You also need to have some sort of mechanism in place when you know you’re starting to play with your emotions and not your head.

If you like playing at the casino, one of the best things to do is take a walk or go to the bar and grab something to eat. If you’re at home, do anything that will take your mind away from the game. This could be listening to music, sipping a cup of tea in your garden, or meditation. Meditation is especially beneficial for keeping your emotions under control and many pros swear by it. So, don’t assume that it’s some new-age rubbish and give it a try next time you’re fuming after a bad beat.

Play Other Casino Games

Playing other casino games could also help you increase your skills as a poker player. Games like craps, for instance, can help you with pot odds, while games like roulette could help you understand odds. You can play those games at your favourite land-based casino, but if you like to concentrate on poker when playing there, you can always try playing online. Sites like OnlineCasinos have a full list of great casinos you can try, and they’re all tested for fairness and security. OnlineCasinos ranks casinos based on many factors including their bonus structure, game selection, customer service, and more. This will allow you to know which casinos out there are worth it without spending hours finding a good one.

Forget Your Favourite Hand

Pretty much everyone has a favourite hand, but good players know how to ignore them. No matter how enticing that jack-ten offsuit looks right now, you still have to remember that there’s nothing magic about it and that poker is a game of probabilities. Learn what these probabilities are and know which hands should be played or folded depending on where you are on the table and other people’s betting patterns and reactions.

There are tons of things that you can do as a beginner if you want to take your game to the next level. The most important thing to remember is to spot the mistakes you make and get as many hands as possible under your belt.