7 Poker Tips To Turn You From a Loser to a Winner

According to my PokerTracker, the majority of the people I play against are losers overall. They may lose a little, they may lose a lot. But in the long run, they are losing their money to people like me, who thankfully are in the minority.

The things these idiots do are so fundamental, that I wondered if I could write up a quick article with 5 tips that, if they actually followed, they would stop being such losers immediately. Well, the shortest list I could come up with is 7. And here they are:

1) Read, study, and learn. If you are trying to earn money playing poker, then you need to take it seriously. Consider it a job. If you were one of those schmucks who went to school to work in a field,  you probably read a lot too (and paid a lot to do so). Well now you have the advantage of websites like mine, and tons of books that are available. So read what they have to share, and learn how to play poker properly.

2) Find out who you are, and change your game to suit yourself. Okay, so you just stopped reading this post after point #1, and went out and bought Power Poker by Doyle Brunson. You skimmed through it, headed to Ultimate Bet, and lost a few hundred dollars. What went wrong? Well you may have learned something from the book, but you also need to apply it to yourself. You are not Doyle. You are not me (thank god). You are you. You have your own strengths (well, most people d0 at least) and weaknesses (probably more than you’d admit). Find out what they are, work on the strengths, and try to avoid the occasions where you lose a lot of money. Manage your swings by adjusting your strategies either way, but don’t get too carried away.

3) Don’t force things. If you’ve stuck with me so far, you already know which areas of poker you suck at, and which ones you are… better at. So you will also know what will put you on tilt or make you feel invincible. Don’t let the game change your style of play. You can easily see a bad streak turn into a really bad week, or more. If you have the technical part of poker down, then just worry about what goes on in your head. Maybe even work on tilting other players, so you can see how not to play. Because I can almost guarantee, you can be manipulated if you’re not careful. I’ve done it many times.

4) Know your opponents. You are not playing against bots, you are playing against people. And like I said before, most of the people you play against will be losers. Knowing that, you should easily be able to be a winner. This goes beyond just knowing who is loose or aggressive. You should use tracking software, or at least take notes of certain plays. Like how much does this guy raise pre-flop when he has this type of hand in this position? Or do you notice someone always checking the flop when he gets the set with no two sets on the board? This will help you know exactly what you’re up against, and after a while will become second nature to you. When that happens, you will start to win more, I promise.

5) Know your positions, and respect them. I wrote about this at length already, so be sure to read those articles if you haven’t.

6) Pick the right table. If you play at the same poker room most of the time, and it’s not absurdly huge, you will begin to recognize players. So eventually, you’ll know who the newbies are (but remember, just because someone is new to a room doesn’t mean they automatically suck!). But more importantly, you’ll know who the sharks are, and who sucks. Learn who the sharks are, and stay away from those tables. That way, you’ll have more fish to yourself! You should also be able to determine a table’s style of play after watching it for a while. Is it aggressive? Passive? Lose or tight? Find out, and go to the one that matches your playing style the best.

7) Even if you are a winner like me, you have to keep in mind that you won’t win every single night. So keep in mind that your bankroll will swing here and there, and it is normal. Don’t get pissed off by losing streaks, and don’t get overly excited by winning streaks. They will all end eventually, and as long as you are winning overall, that is what matters most.