Thinking more like a pro

Poker Strategy / Matthew Pitt / 04 January 2011 / Leave a Comment

Many poker players see the start of a new year as a chance to wipe the slate clean and begin again whilst others use it as an excuse to set themselves huge challenges such as playing a million hands throughout the year or earn $100,000 in 12 months. There will be thousands of players out there right now who's sole goal this year will be to go from being an amateur player into a professional poker player, though only a handful will succeed.

In order to succeed they will need bags of discipline, as without discipline there is almost zero chance of success in poker but they will also need to realise a few things about themselves, their opponents, the game in general and be able to put certain situations into perspective.

The first realisation one will need to make is that there is always someone better than you out there, you might not have bumped into them just yet but trust me they are there. This makes table selection vital, especially as you progress through stakes, so make sure that you simply do not sit at the first table that becomes available. Instead bide your time, do any research possible then choose your seat. If you are being outplayed by one or more of the table then simply leave, there is no room for an ego in poker.

At the start of a challenge most of us fly out of the blocks only for us too fizzle out after a few days or weeks of solid grinding. Make sure you have hobbies outside of poker, something that can take you away from the game even if these means having poker friends and non-poker friends. If you burn yourself out you will resent the game, and anything negative will be amplified, which is not a good position to be in. Remember that there will always be a game to play in, especially online, so you do not need to play every hour God sends, you can have a life and a career in poker regardless of what they will try and tell you.

If you are going to try and take the leap of turning pro, or at least semi-pro, then you need to do what Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt did and start to treat your poker as a business or at least like a job. Set yourself a schedule, give yourself breaks and even pay yourself some sort of wage. Think of poker as an employer in an attempt to give you more focus and discipline to your game and it will probably stop you from playing pissed up at 0130 in the morning, after all you wouldn't roll into work full of booze would you?

Above all you need to put everything into perspective. First, do not be down beat when you only earn $250 in a month when you wanted to win ten times that amount. There will be someone somewhere who is actually dodging bullets for $250 a month whilst you sit in your central heated home clicking buttons! Also, realise that one good session does not make you the next Phil Ivey but at the same time a disastrous session does not make you a failure.

Get your year off to a great start by signing up for a free Betfair Poker account here. If you do, you will be able to choose your own sign-up bonus of between $50 and $2,500!