Professional Poker Player Skills
What makes a poker a player a professional? Does it mean that
by adding the word professional the person loses less money? Or
does it mean that the player enter tournaments through out the
year? If you are thinking about getting the word professional
embossed on your 'poker resume', here are some skills that you
should consider mastering.
1. The Mathematician a. These guys have mastered the odds of
certain combinations that comes out already. For example, they
know that when you hold a pocket pair, you can hit the set with
only one in eight and a half chances. Those pocket cards also
give you odds of having one in three chance of completing a 'by
the river' flopped flush draw. b. Mathematicians also able to
compute the number of "outs" because they know it is important.
Outs are the number of cards that will improve your hand. They
compute it by multiplying it by two and adding one and that's
the percentage of them hitting the pot. c. Knowing outs will be
useless unless it is translated into rational and calculated
betting. When you figure out that you have a 20% chance of
hitting, you then figure out your chances of winning or losing.
You divide the size of the pot at the river by the amount you
have to put in. I.E. the current pot and the amount of bets that
will be added on in the future. If you have calculated that the
bet to you will be 50 and have 20% chance of hitting and the pot
at the river will be higher than 250, try to call for it. If
not, fold. Confusing right? d. Review these concepts if you
really want to be an expert.
2. Discipline a. Always try to find a table where you have an
advantage. Try finding tables where there are more amateurs or
"fish". Fish only want to win by being lucky. Poker players want
to win by skill and by hoping that his opponents don't get
lucky. b. Every different game, table or opponent set needs the
poker player to have different disciplines or styles. He or she
cannot always rely on one style. For instance, a player may play
the better hands when there are not much pre-flop actions. The
player can make a loose call with other speculative hands when
lots of opponents are limping in. c. A disciplined limit player
has excellent pre-flop skills. However, the disciplined no-limit
player is quite different. This player doesn't care much with
paying lots of blinds but instead this kind of player would not
want to be trapped. The difference is that limit players avoid
squandering their stack bit by bit while no-limit players avoids
losing his whole stack in just one hand. A disciplined no-limit
player can play a lot of hands. Even if he or she has cards such
as 5 spades and 3 diamonds he or she will still be loose
preflop. But expert no-limit players know how to quit as well
when their hands are really bad. d. The disciplined player knows
when to quit even when the pot is really juicy. e. A disciplined
player learns from his mistakes and admits that they will still
make them later on. Disciplined players will just keep on
learning because nobody is a perfect poker player. There is a
ton more to learn about poker and gambling, this is just the
start.