Small Changes Lead to Big Poker Profits
Treating life like a business and being organised and methodical is a good idea for everyone and treating your poker game like a business is also a good idea. Lots of books focus on playing draws, reading opponents but you should also do the little things right and this has an impact on the profitability of the larger parts of the game which you must also master.
Have you ever heard the phrase “Look after the pennies and the pounds will looks after themselves”? Attention to detail is a good methodology to apply to Texas Hold ‘em like you do with money. Even before you start playing, carefully selecting which poker software you will use is important, selecting a comfortable chair to sit in and buying a good monitor for your computer are all things easily missed in our eagerness to load up an online poker game and start playing poker.
One little change that can make a big difference is to close those internet browser windows when you play. We have all done it. I even do it when I am writing and it makes the day seem so much longer. Poker demands maximum concentration and you can increase your poker profits so much by just watching what is going on at your poker table. It is impossible to watch opponents when between hands you are writing a long email to a friend or partner. Your partner can wait and you can buy them some flowers from your poker winnings that you win from your extra efforts!
Do not worry about neglecting friends or family because the next small change is to carefully plan your sessions so life maintains that all important balance. The flexibility of being self-employed or playing poker for a living means that prioritising is difficult. In a full time job prioritising where you are is easy, you must attend your office or you will not last very long in your job but in poker it is different. Rather than play poker when it is convenient for everyone in your life you must plan and play poker when it is the right time to play.
Look for times when the most people are playing online and plan to play then. Often this is during the night. It may look like you are a nocturnal degenerate sleeping all day but in reality you may consciously decide you are required to play “night shifts” on certain days of the week to capture some of that potential online poker profit.
Develop a set routine for combating tilt issues as this has been known to more than half the normal earning rate of a winning poker player. You should not need to log out for ten minutes and stop playing on all of your tables after one bad beat, but if you suffer three beats within a minute and this starts tilting you into feeling very angry and emotional write down how you feel and develop ways to resistance these feelings. This is an effective way of improving your tolerance to bad moments of luck and helping you improve as a poker player.
Even seemingly unrelated poker factors like diet control helps you at the tables. A poker friend and I are doing a weight loss prop bet for 2010 to help us stay motivated. The fitter you are physically the easier it is to sit and play poker for longer periods at high levels of concentration. Think of how bloated and lazy you feel after over eating or eating lots of the wrong food. Considering the impact of food on your poker sessions can further improve your play. For those who want great poker results quickly, considering every single factor no matter how small is the right path to take to success in poker.
By Malcolm Clarke
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Tags: online poker, poker, poker diet, poker tips