Making myself a better player?

DKnight10

DKnight10

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Alright, what im asking you guys is how to increase my poker skills in general...

I'm not asking you how to start my BR or what is the first book i should read, but what i really need to know now is how to improve my overall game and decrease the mistakes i am making. I consider myself to be a very solid SnG player but not spectacular because i am only playing in $3-5 buy ins (but i am rocking almost an 80% ROI percentage). I know all the fundamentals of the SnG and what hands to play when (you might have read a couple of my posts and seen my stats on cash games but i am not the awful at SnG's) but i need to know where i go from here. I see some of the advanced players on CC talk about reviewing their play after a session going back through the hands, this is what i need work on. There are probably atleast one or two situations in each SnG i play, that after a hand i say, "Doh, i really shouldn't have made that call, i was mostly sure i was beaten but there was a slim chance that i could have taken that pot." These are the instances that label me as a good player instead of a great one. I know how to consistently win these tourneys playing tight and aggressive when i need to but i think if i start making better desicions then i will be a better player all around (these bad plays come more likely in the lower blind levels btw). So is it just more experience i need? I really want to know what it takes that seperates the best player from the good, i.e., reviewing their sessions and studying their play rather than just, "oops i made a bad call time for the next tourney." I am fairly new to this game so maybe expierience is the most important factor. But it is profitable so far, but i want to increase them. So please help me out if you can!
 
W

wooo

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I think when you play better players than yourself,
Thats when you improve becos you have to.
Or your out,thats the trick for me at least but move up slowly you dont want to kill your bankroll.
You are what you mix with.


Its hard to fly like an eagal when all around you are turkeys...gooble gooble
 
DKnight10

DKnight10

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wooo said:
I think when you play better players than yourself,
Thats when you improve becos you have to.
Or your out,thats the trick for me at least but move up slowly you dont want to kill your bankroll.
You are what you mix with.


Its hard to fly like an eagal when all around you are turkeys...gooble gooble
Click to expand...

Yes i agree with this, but i am the epitome of this...I started out with the $5 poker stars credited to my account, worked my way through $1 SnGs through the $3 SnG's and am now in the $5 SnG's with a $100+ bankroll...
 
bob_tiger

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DKnight10 said:
Alright, what im asking you guys is how to increase my poker skills in general...

I'm not asking you how to start my BR or what is the first book i should read, but what i really need to know now is how to improve my overall game and decrease the mistakes i am making. I consider myself to be a very solid SnG player but not spectacular because i am only playing in $3-5 buy ins (but i am rocking almost an 80% ROI percentage). I know all the fundamentals of the SnG and what hands to play when (you might have read a couple of my posts and seen my stats on cash games but i am not the awful at SnG's) but i need to know where i go from here. I see some of the advanced players on CC talk about reviewing their play after a session going back through the hands, this is what i need work on. There are probably atleast one or two situations in each SnG i play, that after a hand i say, "Doh, i really shouldn't have made that call, i was mostly sure i was beaten but there was a slim chance that i could have taken that pot." These are the instances that label me as a good player instead of a great one. I know how to consistently win these tourneys playing tight and aggressive when i need to but i think if i start making better desicions then i will be a better player all around (these bad plays come more likely in the lower blind levels btw). So is it just more experience i need? I really want to know what it takes that seperates the best player from the good, i.e., reviewing their sessions and studying their play rather than just, "oops i made a bad call time for the next tourney." I am fairly new to this game so maybe expierience is the most important factor. But it is profitable so far, but i want to increase them. So please help me out if you can!
Click to expand...

I completely understand what you are saying and I used to have this problem, to overcome this problem, you need to figure out your own problems first, if you don't know what you are doing wrong, you can't fix it, right?
Are you lacking confidence? are you not paying attention to your opponents? are you bluffing to much? there are many more questions I can ask, but you get the point, figure out what you are doing wrong, fix it.
Also it might be that you are lacking experience like you said, try out different style of plays maybe? Sometimes I like to play really laggy and try to just play post flop to work on my reading skills and try to work out different table images. Poker is more than just your hand, and once you understand that you will know how to become better.
And my biggest suggestion is, don't play scared money, I see so many unexperienced people do this, A lot of rookies get lucky and win satties to say Sunday mill or 750k or some big tourney, then they get in there and are all excited/scared/nervous or w/e it is, and they play really bad or really scared and blow all of their money either by playing too scared or trying to get a mill in their stack in 20 minutes, which is dumb. Try to put people on hands while you are watching, that might help also, and basically try to improve your reading skills.
A lot of players have what they call "their zone", what it is their comfort zone, everyone has their own style, I suggest you figure out something that you are comfortable with and just play your game. Good luck :)
 
C

checkoutcardschat

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There are so many ways to get better but to me the one quick way to improve at poker is to be confident. I'm not saying that a positive attitude will bring you better cards. It won't. But by avoiding a defeatist demeanor, you're making yourself mentally ready to take on your opponents.

Also make sure you show winning spirit and maintain good humor when the cards are not favorable (I know, i know easier said than done:( ). You'll be surprised how this can often make your recovery come quicker, while diminishing your losses and adding to your overall profit

A trick I've started to use is to sit for 2-3 minutes before i start playing and tell myself that I am a good player that willing and able to do what it takes to succeed tonight. I will make mistakes but will learn from them and move on. Then right before its time to start the tourney I say something like "OK I'm ready to win this tourney, lets do it". I know it sounds dorky. but hey whatever works right:) .
 
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jyow

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play as many hands as possible in as many situations as possible. play online and live. make sure you have poker tracker or some other tracking software to review your game after each session. if you don't know how, read the faq thread on poker tracker here or go buy the poker tracker guide pdf. this is the one thing that really helped my game and helped me discover leaks and weaknesses. read as many books form the pros as you can, and don't ever think you're too good such that you skip the beginner's strategy section or intermediate strategy section. there may just be one or two things in there you may have never thought of or never considered trying and may be basic to the author but not to yourself.
 
Deltafrost

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I think im actually gonna disagree with the above. I dont think you need a tracker at your levels. $5 Sng's are basic strategy and with an 80% ROI you sound like you have a pretty good read on whats going on.

If you want to become a better player I think you will have to expand beyond SnG's because SNG strategy is pretty straight forward. I would either start playing the micro tournies or the 2nl cash games. Maybe take a portion of your BR and devote it to learning a new game (cash is my pref). IF your set on staying with SnG;s I think all you can do is work on reads like Bob said above.

Cash brings alot more postflop and metagame play to the table, and tournies have the different stages like a SnG but at much larger degrees. Blind stealing comes into play as well as table image alot more than sng's.
 
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