If you have had the displeasure of being summarily removed from a poker tournament, you will have no doubt agonised over your playing strategy and feel that you made some gross miscalculation in your strategy and that is what left you wide open for defeat. You will no doubt be feeling rather glum about your defeat but every cloud has a silver lining and if you are questioning your strategy then you are already on the path to improvement. It can be difficult at times to identify what areas of your poker playing need to worked upon, and so this article will consider them all in some detail.
Odds and Outs
First off, poker is a game governed and ruled by odds and therefore you need to develop a working understanding (even if it is just rudimentary at best) of the calculation of the mathematical odds on offer. In order to succeed you will need to encompass both ordinary odds and implied odds as well, because the odds associated with a particular hand can affect how you succeed or fail. A good player needs to be able to count outs, and calculate odds on the fly. It’s realy not that hard, so watch this Poker odds and outs video and practice!
Player profiling
Next on the list is the importance of ensuring that you properly profile your opponents, and you will find that your rivals will end up falling into a series of narrowly defined playing types. By being familiar with these playing types you can then more easily develop a decent counter strategy for them, allowing you to rebut their advances and take exploit their weaknesses. Is the player to your right a “calling station” who can nevre be bluffed? If the guy on your left an maniac who enters the pot with any 2 cards? By asking these questions, and carefully reading your opponents you’ll have a much better idea of what cards they are likely to be holding, and what reaction they are likely to give when you check, call or raise.
Keep track of EV during a hand
If you play poker tournaments online, it is imperative that you cultivate the ability of being able to quickly and accurately compute the EV of hands as this will seriously bolster your chances of success. Be on the lookout for dealt hands that would appear to be fairly strong initially can actually prove to be a major drain on your chips in the long run. At each betting round ask youself whether you should be folding, remember that a bet saved is just as good as a bet won!
Keep and eye on your stack!
You need to appreciate the importance of your m-ratio as well as your relative position within any given tournament. Being proficient with the M-zone can be a fairly daunting task to the novice poker player because they are intimidated by the requirement of maths and technical knowledge that is required to do it. However, to the player who is prepared to learn it, they will get a very generous dividend at the end of it all for their efforts. Make sure that you are also on the lookout for the manner in which the prize money will be paid out to each of the winners, so that you can keep enough chips to either bargain your admission to the final table, or simply out bid the remainder players.
Keep your emotions in check
Make sure you get a firm handle on your emotions, because they will be your undoing if you allow yourself to be ruled by them. The greatest hand in the world can be rendered utterly useless if the player who happens to possess it at that particular time, gives advance warning to their rivals as to their strategy.
The overwhelming majority of poker players who play online will end up succumbing to one of the weaknesses that have been outlined earlier within the article. If you do suffer from one or more of these…take action now.
Winning tournaments takes experience and skill, but it’s a skill you can develop over time. Study, practice and coach youself and you’re sure to improve!
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