Monday, January 09, 2006
4 Easy Ways to Increase Your Poker Win Rate
People want to improve their poker play. But really, there are a pretty limited number of things that you can actually DO to increase your win rate. I've listed 4 easy ways to increase your poker win rate here:
1- Track your results. If you're an online player and you're not using Poker Tracker, then you're losing (wasting) money. If you're not keeping records, you're just not serious about improving your win rate, because you don't even know what your win rate is.
In management they say that you can't manage what you don't measure. So it would be appropriate to start measuring your results.
2- Play poker. One of the surest ways to improve your game is to practice. This seems like it would go without saying, but it needs to be said, because there are plenty of studious players who spend more time reading and talking about playing poker than they actually spend playing.
3- Read about playing poker. If you're reading books, blogs, websites, magazines, and message boards about playing poker, then you're encountering new ideas. If you think about those ideas, and compare them with your experiences while you're playing, then you'll improve your game and your win rate. Reading isn't enough though; you still have to do the critical thinking part and get in your hours at the table.
4- Write and think about playing poker. Iggy pointed out to me once that the most important think about writing about poker was that it forced you to THINK about poker. If you're not thinking critically about the game and how you play, then you're not improving, you're just playing automatically, on auto-pilot.
Writing about something is one of the best things you can do to force yourself to think about it. So comment on poker blogs, blog, and participate on message boards.
1- Track your results. If you're an online player and you're not using Poker Tracker, then you're losing (wasting) money. If you're not keeping records, you're just not serious about improving your win rate, because you don't even know what your win rate is.
In management they say that you can't manage what you don't measure. So it would be appropriate to start measuring your results.
2- Play poker. One of the surest ways to improve your game is to practice. This seems like it would go without saying, but it needs to be said, because there are plenty of studious players who spend more time reading and talking about playing poker than they actually spend playing.
3- Read about playing poker. If you're reading books, blogs, websites, magazines, and message boards about playing poker, then you're encountering new ideas. If you think about those ideas, and compare them with your experiences while you're playing, then you'll improve your game and your win rate. Reading isn't enough though; you still have to do the critical thinking part and get in your hours at the table.
4- Write and think about playing poker. Iggy pointed out to me once that the most important think about writing about poker was that it forced you to THINK about poker. If you're not thinking critically about the game and how you play, then you're not improving, you're just playing automatically, on auto-pilot.
Writing about something is one of the best things you can do to force yourself to think about it. So comment on poker blogs, blog, and participate on message boards.
4 Easy Ways to Increase Your Poker Win Rate posted by Randy Ray @ Monday, January 09, 2006 
