Building your Poker Game from the Ground Up

The beauty of poker is that there are so many levels of complexity beneath the apparent simplicity of the rules. For the beginning poker player the depth of strategy and skills related to the game can seem bewildering. This article looks at a structured approach to building your poker game from the ground up – focusing on both the ‘in-game’ skills and other important factors required to be a successful poker player. 
 

There are several elements to building a solid foundation for your poker skills. An understanding of what hands beat what at showdown is just the very start. Odds, outs and expectation of making certain plays will all help and should be second nature to any player serious about the game.  
 

Once you have mastered good starting hand selection and positional play the next step to building your poker game is to start thinking of the actions at the table from the perspective of your opponent. Seeing the game in this way can give you an important insight into the strength of the hand that your opponent holds and is the first step in developing the ‘hand reading’ skills that are the hallmark of all winning poker players.  
 

A thinking opponent will try and put you on a hand or range of hands during play. His actions will therefore reflect not only his own holding but his estimate of what your cards are too. Trying to work out not only what you think your opponent has but what he assumes you have too is known as second level thinking.  
 

Bet sizing and pot control are a crucial step in building your poker game. Make sure that you are the player deciding when to play a big pot and when to keep this small – rather than let your opponent make this decision for you. Everyone gets the same hands over time in poker, the long term winners are those players who win more with their good hands and lose the least when they are behind. 
 

Building a solid foundation for your poker game involves more than skills directly related to the cards. There are several areas that a poker player needs to work on in order to provide a solid foundation for their poker game. These are bankroll management, discipline / emotional control and table selection. 
 

Bankroll management is crucial for players at all levels. The natural element of chance, cold-decks and bad-beats means that sometimes you will suffer with the natural variance of the game. To control this winning player’s make sure they have a big enough bankroll to withstand any natural swings in the game – after all, superior skills will show profit over time no matter how the cards turn out on this occasion. 
 

Tilt is the enemy of all poker players. This can take several forms ranging from the well publicized ‘angry tilt’ to a resigned and passive ‘expecting to lose’ form. Make sure you are aware of tilt, its effect on you personally and ensure that you have a strategy for dealing with this. A short time away from the tables or a change of poker site can often be an effective remedy. 
 

Finally, table selection is a skill worth mentioning as part of a balanced strategy to build your poker games. Instead on sitting at the first available seat take a short while to look for the loosest or least experienced opponents. Likewise make a note of good players at your site and actively avoid them. Success in poker does not come from challenging the best – it comes from taking the time to find the most profitable table or poker site for you.