Playing and Acting Like a Winner

There are many components to winning Texas Hold ‘Em in an online game.  If you want to be a winner, you have to build your knowledge, think like a winner, pay attention, know the odds and have a strategy that is credible.

Here are just a few of the factors that figure into a winning profile:

Aspire to be a Rock – Wherever it is appropriate and at whatever tables you can find to leverage this strategy, be a ‘tight/aggressive’ player. 

If you choose your table and the players carefully before you sit down, you can use this strategy to make you harder to read and you can drive everyone else nuts and win money. 

Be willing to wait.  Don’t panic.  Patience is important if you are going to improve and learn the game.  Fold when necessary and wait for the good hand.  It might take an hour or two to get that hand, but it will pay off and you will lose less money in the meantime.

If you plan to stay at the table for a long time, the other players will see that you fold when necessary and take pots with good hands.

After you have established credibility, you can bluff effectively, because you have an established image with the rest of the players at the table.  

Pay Attention – If you eliminate distractions, you will be more likely to catch the small details that will make a difference in the game. 

Tune out outside noise and tune into the music and sounds of the casino to help you stay focused on your target.  The sounds may be annoying, but they will keep you in the game. 

Most online casinos provide plenty of sound cues (shuffling, chips clacking, etc). 

If you are playing more than one game, keep your game windows open and refreshed so that you can keep track of changes, which can be pretty quick in online poker and especially in tournaments. 

Turn off the chat function so that you can really focus.  Players who chat rarely if ever have anything useful to say and chatting creates a distraction that others can use to their advantage.

Turn off the TV and close the door so that you are not distracted by other voices, watching the news or a sporting event or talking on the telephone. 

Take a Break – Play for an hour and then take a break and stretch.  Even if you are winning, you are less productive if you get tired.  You will lose your focus.  Go get a drink of water, stretch, talk to a friend or family member for a minute or two and then get your head back in the game. 

Stack Up – Go into the game with plenty of chips so you don’t get short-stacked.  You can lose a really good hand if you run out of chips. 

Bluff Occasionally – You don’t want to be TOO predictable.  Use bluffing judiciously and selectively.  You may win a pot on a weak hand, or you might lose a few chips if the bluff does not work, but you will teach other players that your behavior is not always going to be predictable. 

Don’t try to bluff unless you are in a position in a low-limit game, where you feel you can force other players out. 

Others may call you just to be sure you are honest and you don’t want to lose it all on a bluff in a big pot. 

Use the pot and implied odds to see if you have a one in ten chance of winning, with a ten to one return.  You may not be able to get enough tells to give you this information, but you can estimate and do your best to cover yourself. 

Remain Calm and Focused – Don’t sweat, shake and become emotional when you lose.  Don’t let others rattle or defeat you.  Count on the cards and your knowledge and pick yourself up and try again. 

Never give another player a reason to think you are rattled, or you have given them the edge. 

Remember that the best revenge is to beat your opponent on the next round, but don’t use revenge as your motive or your emotions are likely to get the better of you and you will find yourself betting, and raising when you should fold. 

Bide your time and wait for your win.  

Don’t Drink While You Play – There is nothing that will beat you sooner than a cloudy brain!  If you are playing for keeps, you should not alter your focus with a fuzzy brain. 

Let the other players drink while they play.  There is plenty of time for a cocktail after you win your pot.

Quit Before You are Broke – Know when to fold.  It sounds trite, but the tendency to stay in the game when you KNOW you should fold is one that even professional players fight. 

If your hand is really bad, if you are outranked by a better player or just misjudging odds, GET OUT of the game. 

If you are hemorrhaging money, you are not showing your best face to your opponents.  They are more likely to play against you because they will smell blood.  Just get up and leave. 

If the play gets too short-handed and you feel outdone, get up and leave. 

Don’t be chum!

Try another table or game to get a fresh start, or just quit for the night and start again tomorrow.

If your focus is slipping and you are making mistakes, get up and leave.  Get some rest and come back the next day with a fresh focus!

Think Like a Pro – If you watch and learn from the really great players, you can mirror their behavior.   Find a few players you really respect and watch them play online.  Note their moves, their style and the detail of their play.  If you think like, and play like a pro, you are bound to get better.

Start playing at a table when you are sure you have the right table with the right players. 

Don’t outplay yourself by getting in over your head.  Know your own skills and get out when you should.  Stay when you should stay. 

Be confident.  Be observant. 

Don’t rush or slow down your play.  Play at a steady pace and keep plenty of notes so you can look at your results later. 

When you are ready to strike, do so aggressively and with purpose.  Push out weaker players. 

Review your notes at the end of the night, while they are fresh in your mind and make decisions about what you did right and what you did wrong. 

Decide how you will change your behavior and what style was the best for you so you’ll have some options the next time you play.

Put the losses behind you and never get into a grudge match.  Keep an even head and a cool temper. 

You cannot play well if you are too emotional.

Do not use ‘selective reasoning’ to explain away your losses and gloat over your wins.  Look objectively at both your wins and your losses to learn from both experiences. 

Keep copious financial records.  These will chasten you when you are losing and keep you objective and realistic.  They will also help you understand where you won and where you lost and hopefully explain your betting behavior so you can avoid the pitfalls in the future.

If you want to get better at ANYTHING, you must study, practice, and analyze. 

The final tool we will give you before we end this book is the Glossary of Terms we promised you at the beginning of the book.  This Glossary is helpful if you want to understand what other poker players are saying, and moreover, it will make you SOUND like a pro.  

As we all know, half of the poker player’s advantage lies in the persona she/he develops and how that player is perceived by others. 

So learn the lingo and use it to your advantage.

May the odds be with you!