The Biggest Secret of Online Poker
(by Fred Thompson)
Of all the tips I've received during my six years of playing
poker online, only one stands above the rest - have patience.
Patience is what will make or break Internet players and bring in
the money.
It is common to occasionally encounter cold runs of cards for
weeks, and a good poker player learns how to ride it out. A general
poker rule is that playing too high of a limit will bust you really
fast, but playing impatient will bust you even faster.
Professional Poker Players Are Extremely
Patient
You won't find a professional poker player who's
impatient because poker is a game won over the long run. There's
just enough luck involved in poker to keep the fish coming back, but
the best players know the game comes with more highs and lows than
the stock market and the most rewarding plan is to stay steady and
play consistently.
I've heard that it can take over 1,400 hours of play before you
can expect to make a profit. While I don't believe this is
completely true, I do believe that poker should be taken month by
month. If you played well and consistently, each month should return
a profit.
Occasionally, you'll have a horrible streak and may lose for the
month. If you find yourself losing month after month, ask yourself
if patience could be your problem.
There are two types of impatience:
- Betting too much on busted hands
- Playing too many hands
Betting Too Much On Busted Hands
Even if you only play the best hands, you can still
be impatient. You could be putting too much money in on busted
hands. For example, say you raise kings and receive three callers.
You see an ace hit the flop and bet anyway. You get re-raised and
know you're beat. Good players know to lay this down. Impatient
players won't recognize that their hand is busted, and will keep
playing it as if it's the nuts.
While you want to push good hands hard, you never want to be dead
money. If you totally miss your flop with ace-king, don't go crazy.
Live to fight another day.
Playing Too Many Hands
You could also be playing too many hands. Staring
at your computer screen for an eight hour session of poker can be
boring. This causes some people to get tired and loosen up their
playing too much; it becomes easier to click the call button rather
than stay alert in the game.
The best advice I have for combating the fatigue and boredom that
can accompany long poker sessions is to only play when you're alert
since it's your best defense against new players. Otherwise, you'll
most likely become uninterested in playing your best poker and look
for luck as the way out. Learn to log out or leave the casino when
you feel tired. |
