Tips to keep your game improving

Before reading this, really think about what your motivation for playing poker is. Is it to just have fun and hang out with the guys? Is it the gamble that keeps you feeling alive? Do you love to compete and want to be the best? If your motivation is a big yes to the last question then read on. If not, then move along, nothing to see here.

I'm going to assume anyone reading this has basic poker skills and unless otherwise noted we are talking about Texas holdem.

So what can help you along your way to becoming a good poker player and maybe even a great one? Let's start with the de facto "experience" factor. I'll tell ya that a lot of people rely soley on experience to get better. For some, that may be enough, but for most, it isn't if they really wanna get good. So what other "things" can you do besides just playing to get better?

1) Don't just sit there and play -- What I mean by this is, really think about what is going on in each hand (even the one's you arent in). Note this may be hard to do if you are multitabling online but you should still be paying attention to the big $$$ hands to see who is making the huge mistakes. During each hand you should be attempting to put each of the players on a hand, though this may be difficult if they don't play logically (and that happens a lot at lower limits). Even if you don't get to see a player's hand because they fold, you can still use info gathered to help you in a later hand. Example: on a drawless flop, something like K72 rainbow, playerA check/called a decent bet out of position and then folded to a turn bet. What did that line of actions say? Well, it probably meant playerA held a pocket pair or maybe hit a 7 or a 2 or possibly even a K with a weak kicker and wanted to see if the flop better had a good enough hand to follow through with a turn bet. This is not always a bad play but it told us something about playerA's habits which can be exploited. It may be a good spot to bluff again on the turn (assuming you were bluffing on the flop and didn't hit the turn card). Also, against playerA you may take the option to check the turn with a decent hand and either call a bet on the river or make a value bet there. Yes, there are missing factors from this example but I'm just highlighting some ideas on tactics here. I'll have some blogs on advanced tactics and strategic planning later.

2) Read alot alot alot of books -- There is a crazy amount of books on the market about poker and specifically Texas holdem. To figure out which books may be good for you start by looking at Amazon.com and reading some reviews. I'll have a future blog devoted to which books you should think about getting. There are alot of mediocre books on the market with a few worth their weight in gold. Just a basic though though is that a book will usually set you back like 20 bucks. If that book helps you win just one decent pot, even at lower limits, it already paid you back and will with dividends later. I have a library of about 15 poker books so far.

3) Use online resources -- Take a visit to each of the Links I have on the right side of the page and read all of my previous blogs. Cardplayer.com posts a new free access magazine online (a real paper version with some extras also available for a decent price) every couple weeks and has the most rediculous archive I've ever seen. You can spend weeks getting lost in all of those old magizines. Twoplustwo.com posts monthly magazine articles which are always great to read but the real meat of the site is in the forums on the left hand side. I started by reading the No-Limit Small Stakes which has a Master Sticky that you should start with. Create an account and ask some well thought out questions and people usually answer. Also read any posts that catch your eye with the title.

This should get you started in the right direction. Please email me at pokerbot101@gmail.com if you have questions or ideas on future posts to keep this site a rolling.