How to improve at poker?

Jollocks

Jollocks

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Hi, I've been playing poker for about 4 months but I took a break for a month. I came back about a week or two ago, and I know overall i'm a terrible player, and can't beat 2NL. I want to improve, what are some top tips for me to improve as a player and beat these stakes so I can build my roll?
 
n3rv

n3rv

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Fold a lot. Stop bluffing. If you think you might be behind, you probably are. Make rational decisions based on the cards you have, the money in the pot, and what your opponents are doing. Never play with any more than 5% of your bankroll. If you are playing bad, quit. If you are emotionally involved, quit.

Study any hands you lose and work out why you lost them and how you won't lose them again. Equally study how the best players at the table keep winning. Do what they do when you have similar hands in similar situations...
 
Jollocks

Jollocks

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Fold a lot. Stop bluffing. If you think you might be behind, you probably are. Make rational decisions based on the cards you have, the money in the pot, and what your opponents are doing. Never play with any more than 5% of your bankroll. If you are playing bad, quit. If you are emotionally involved, quit.

Study any hands you lose and work out why you lost them and how you won't lose them again. Equally study how the best players at the table keep winning. Do what they do when you have similar hands in similar situations...

Cheers mate, will do!
 
abzdolc

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use calculators to decide what to do in situations with dro, opp 3 bet , who you are playing vs ( style ) and range of his hand
 
NoWuckingFurries

NoWuckingFurries

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When I was playing cash games I found it useful to post a few hands that I had played, which I wasn't sure about, in the hand analysis section of this forum.

You need to provide them with as much information about the hand and the other players as you possibly can.
 
Jollocks

Jollocks

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When I was playing cash games I found it useful to post a few hands that I had played, which I wasn't sure about, in the hand analysis section of this forum.

You need to provide them with as much information about the hand and the other players as you possibly can.

Hi, People tell me to always post hands on hand analysis forums. But I can;t understand why, Very rarely am I going to be in the exact same situation, same board, same cards, same opponents etc. Am I thinking about this in the wrong way?
 
NoWuckingFurries

NoWuckingFurries

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I did find it useful, possibly because I was an absolute beginner at the time and was mainly playing freerolls, so things that seem to be obvious now (such as "donk bets") came as a bit of a surprise.

Also when you are multitabling and playing thousands of hands a day it is surprpising how often those exact same sort of situations do come up again, even if you think it might not ever happen again.

We're not talking about bad beats here, nobody really wants to hear about those, we're talking about a situation that you have been in and thought "not really sure what the best thing to do here would be". You just show people here at CC the hand up until that point and ask them:

1) Would they have played it the way you did this far?

2) What would they do next?

Quite often it will be down to the bet sizing that has been used on a previous street or something like that, and the chances are that some people will disagree on the best way to play it or how to proceed, which can give you ideas of alternative approaches for tricky hands.

I agree that it's quite a lot of effort to provide them with all the info, but I did find the feedback very useful. It also encouraged me to take tons of notes about other players at the tables in order to be able to provide the background info needed, that in turn helped me when I had another tough decision to make against that particular player in future. I started taking a screenshot of a tricky hand in order to have their HUD stats available and to remind me to post the question about the hand at a later time.
 
Jollocks

Jollocks

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I did find it useful, possibly because I was an absolute beginner at the time and was mainly playing freerolls, so things that seem to be obvious now (such as "donk bets") came as a bit of a surprise.

Also when you are multitabling and playing thousands of hands a day it is surprpising how often those exact same sort of situations do come up again, even if you think it might not ever happen again.

We're not talking about bad beats here, nobody really wants to hear about those, we're talking about a situation that you have been in and thought "not really sure what the best thing to do here would be". You just show people here at CC the hand up until that point and ask them:

1) Would they have played it the way you did this far?

2) What would they do next?

Quite often it will be down to the bet sizing that has been used on a previous street or something like that, and the chances are that some people will disagree on the best way to play it or how to proceed, which can give you ideas of alternative approaches for tricky hands.

I agree that it's quite a lot of effort to provide them with all the info, but I did find the feedback very useful. It also encouraged me to take tons of notes about other players at the tables in order to be able to provide the background info needed, that in turn helped me when I had another tough decision to make against that particular player in future. I started taking a screenshot of a tricky hand in order to have their HUD stats available and to remind me to post the question about the hand at a later time.

Ok cool thanks. But I still can't see how it helps. Even
if it does come up again, wouldn't it be difficult to play the hand how that one guy said on the forum? Maybe i'm just dumb and taking the advice the wrong way
 
sergios

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Fold a lot. Stop bluffing. If you think you might be behind, you probably are. Make rational decisions based on the cards you have, the money in the pot, and what your opponents are doing. Never play with any more than 5% of your bankroll. If you are playing bad, quit. If you are emotionally involved, quit.

Study any hands you lose and work out why you lost them and how you won't lose them again. Equally study how the best players at the table keep winning. Do what they do when you have similar hands in similar situations...

good advice! I will consider your words, thanks
 
NoWuckingFurries

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Up to you. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another, but hand analysis definitely helped me. You might find that watching Jason Somerville:

http://www.twitch.tv/jcarverpoker

https://twitter.com/JasonSomerville

http://www.twitch.tv/jcarverpoker/profile/past_broadcasts

is what floats your boat, although he tends to be on fairly late for the UK timezone. That's not a problem for me as I work late shift. There are also various books available on poker strategy.

If you're serious about it you'll need to find out what works best for you and then #runitup :proud:
 
Jollocks

Jollocks

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Up to you. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another, but hand analysis definitely helped me. You might find that watching Jason Somerville:

http://www.twitch.tv/jcarverpoker

https://twitter.com/JasonSomerville

http://www.twitch.tv/jcarverpoker/profile/past_broadcasts

is what floats your boat, although he tends to be on fairly late for the UK timezone. That's not a problem for me as I work late shift. There are also various books available on poker strategy.

If you're serious about it you'll need to find out what works best for you and then #runitup :proud:

While hand analysis doesn't work as well for me as it does for others, I think that it does help in terms of mindset and seeing what I need to work on, rather than what to do in specific situations. Another place online is pokerstrategy. Great website I think, and it's article on post-flop play is particularly good.
 
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Keep playing every day, that's where you learn from mistakes and learn patterns in different types of players.
 
Rain92

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I would also like to say dont bluff much much but then again sometimes a few here and there will help. Once your opponent thinks your not gonna raise with weak hand thats when you can vary the game so he gets confused.
 
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hffjd2000

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Read, read, read more and play, play more.

You have to read those theories/strategies and apply it through play.
 
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You are a player, you are enabled to play because you had not played from past one month, you only need to get back in the game. You need to think more about this game, need to increase interest in it. You should need to revise good playing strategies only. Remember, you are not a beginner, don't let your mind act like a newbie.
 
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Well, taking a break in poker is good and it helps especially when you experienced a downswing. Bluffing for the sake of bluffing boomerangs. You can bluff when you and your opponent(s) are drawing and if you are so sure that they didn't hit it at the end.
 
thetick33

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first play at the level your comfortable with and play with good players the better they are the better you will become imho.

The at your level is key I think a majority of failure imho of poker players is by going above comfort level before they are ready. Just because you should be moving up or think you should move up if your not ready it will not work is with everything else practice practice practice and application and if you do this and dont push too fast too hard you will be fine
 
VizziVizo

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Just learn more, try to get better and do not be afraid to practicn your game on micro limits.
 
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joepav12

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Fold a lot. Stop bluffing. If you think you might be behind, you probably are. Make rational decisions based on the cards you have, the money in the pot, and what your opponents are doing. Never play with any more than 5% of your bankroll. If you are playing bad, quit. If you are emotionally involved, quit.

Study any hands you lose and work out why you lost them and how you won't lose them again. Equally study how the best players at the table keep winning. Do what they do when you have similar hands in similar situations...

Great advice here! I couldn't agree with him more. If you are going to play and know you aren't very good then basically play straight up and observe others. If you are observant, tighten up your range, and know when to walk away you will be in good hands.
 
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know how to count outs and figure out the odds from that. should lead you to be conservative on draws.

reading helps some, but playing and reviewing your play helps more. see what hands you are losing chips on and why.

I take a little bit of my poker time and just observe tables. If i see someone heavily stacked (ie about 2.5 times starting max buyin or greater) I start analyzing their play. not the easiest since you can't see their cards unless they showdown, but how many cards are they playing under the gun. On the button? How often are they defending their blinds, and with what? do the cbet and on what flops.

sure, you'll pick up their bad habits too, but it can help. and added bonus, you are getting practice reading players, which is a necessary part of things.
 
Mark Gavr

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As has been said above that one good, the other can not, so that you yourself have to choose or calculators, or other software, the game daily, because you learn from your mistakes
 
PapaC

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I just want to say one thing about how you can improve your game. Do just what you are doing now. Ask questions for these players to answer for you. I did and used what they told me to do and in 4 months there has been a big change in the way I play and I'm adding to my bank rolls most every day. Now don't get me wrong, because I sure don't win everyday, but I use what they have taught me about bankroll management. A winning player is a player that can win and hold onto it. I been playing 12 years and the best thing I done in all those years is to have found Cardschat.
 
thetick33

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2 keys I think for success in poker is first playing enough meaning when you have lost every way possible and seen thousands of hands you have in my humble opinion the start of learning to become an excellent poker player.

Step two is harder step two is not numbers to me anyone can learn the math etc..

Step two is learning people. I don't want to come across as arrogant but honestly most players online are not as good as they would like you to believe. Yes is a lot of people who win at poker and a lot of people get lucky against you. Yet most have patterns most cannot really pull out all the stops so to speak in a game and trick people.

Most people I see bet a king four like its 5 kings. When a king flops. Most of the time people cannot help themselves and have to bet not trapping not setting up anything. I am talking tournament play. I regularly finish in top 20s when play whether is 100 people or 2000. I see same people all the time on different sites winning usually. Run across over and over.

Taking notes is vital. I just finished an event on winning poker network. Honestly till final 20? There were more bad players than good think was a 2.00 buy in 200 guarantee finished 13th on a bad beat to the chip leader on the river. He actually played a good game but got lucky.

You are going to run into that over and over and over and over lol.

Have to have short term memory get right back on the horse so to speak. I hope some of this helps. You have to read people even online read their betting patterns. Set them up for falls. Have the patience to toss hands that might win cause can out draw you by river flush whatever. Knowing you have a skill set above them.

So cash games is something else entirely im just speaking on tournament play here.

I am too arrogant and know that but basically not impressed often and tricked less. I make a horrendously bad move here and there lol. Yet do ok overall. I am 30 something years playing and daily learn more.

Study your opponents learn their tendencies use it against them. Have to have played enough that have no fears at the tables. Me I just get mad and frustrated lol.

I know this is long winded but trying to get across to you most players are bad or worse. This is probably the deepest best forum or one of the top online for players. I know a lot of these guys even though havent started playing the freerolls or leagues. My notes?

go bingo player idiot moron terrible and than is ok player and good player.

a majority of notes are the first four lol. I can say in this forum I have a lot of guys even though they might not know me yet? I have said good player for in my notes on sites. I find that very interesting and some play bingo depending situation lol

This is a hard game harder than people realize and frustrating as hell at times.

I have been playing now approximately a month and half I got lucky and am up withdrew many hundreds but not playing even 1k events yet. Nothing over 3.00 basically. Freerolling to the top lol.

I have seen the hands now where am comfortable after taking a few years off. Yet know I need a lot more notes

That is my key knowing my opponents. Where can make a move when needed cause they are solid enough to lay down a marginal hand unlike most others etc.. Deep in tourneys sometimes you got to take risks. Putting the odds in your favor whether have a great hand or decent hand can be vital.

So patience keep playing see a ton of hands TON and learn people.

This is a deep forum when you get into freerolls here you will be playing real poker!!

I am positive of this. My tourneys on wpn take hours sometimes 6-7 just to get to the money.

Take your time have patience. Listen to people here watch the good ones. Use what they do to be successful.

Good luck!!
 
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