The reality is, most people who try online poker are losing. When you combine rake with tough opponents, poker is not an easy way to make money. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or that poker is dead just yet. The fact the major sites still generate over 100,000 real time traffic shows its popular and there must be some people winning right? In this article we’re going to help you by suggesting three things you can do to have an improved chance of success at the poker tables.
Poker Training
One of the quickest ways to see tangible improvement in one’s game is to invest in poker training. There are around half a dozen good Texas Hold’em training sites around. They have various methods of coaching and will get you on the right path. The fact that poker coaches will charge $100 + an hour to provide support shows how valuable their input is.
Don’t worry if you have a smaller budget. Most poker training sites have online courses or video memberships available at lower prices. It’s only the personal 1 to 1 coaching that costs a lot. This is a better option for those that play NL $100 and up but probably not worth it for micro stakes players unless you have a decent budget for it.
Only play when you’re mentally ready
In the modern era, we think the biggest thing holding back players is the mental aspect. Even excellent players suffer mentally from poker. They tilt too easily or play for too long and make mistakes when tired. Sleep affects the brain in many ways; therefore, we urge you to only play when you’re well rested and mentally prepared to play. Try this for the next month, document your results and see how you do. You’d be amazed at how much you can save in loss prevention if you only play when you’re going to be on your A game.
Optimise number of tables and take notes
Our final tip is to assess and calibrate the number of tables you play. Some losing players would actually be winners if they played the appropriate number of tables to them. Just because your favourite players are 8 tabling doesn’t mean its right for you.
Secondly, after you’ve fine tuned the number of tables you play, you must take notes on opponents. It will help you playing against fish and regs. They don’t need to be essay type notes but short hand and key notes will help you in decision making. Too many players are ignoring the note taking feature available on major poker sites. Use them and be sure to colour tag opponents too. You can then adjust your strategy to the opponent and hopefully generate a better hourly win rate.
Summary
As you can see, there are practical things you can do to stop losing at poker. If you follow the advice in this post and invest in some form of poker training, only play when prepared and find the optimum number of tables, you can do better next time.
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