Some people believe that poker is intuitive. They believe that winning players can “feel” when their cards are coming and they “know” when their inside straight is going to fill. I believe that those people are idiots.
Poker is a game of exploiting probabilities. Every read that we get on a player helps us to narrow down their probable holdings and judge how likely we are to beat that player. If the pot is laying us good enough pot odds, we play. If the pot isn’t, we fold. It’s as simple as that.
Unfortunately none of us are poker robots and we make mistakes. We play hands that we shouldn’t be playing and we make moves that we shouldn’t be making and we lose money every time we do it. Here’s how to analyze your game to spot these poker blunders so you can eliminate them.
Buy Tracking Software
All of the tips in this article can be done without poker tracking software but it’s tedious and time consuming work. A program like PokerTracker will save you hours of data entry or worse, writing it out by hand. There are several free poker software programs floating around as well.
Review Your Hand Histories Daily
No software needed for this one. Skim through your hand histories the day after your poker session and watch all of the hands you got involved in. Note which hands you raised and when you raised them. Are you playing tight enough? Are you playing too tight? Are you paying attention to position?
Make sure you also watch how you reacted to other players’ moves. You’ll be surprised what you notice when you watch your game when you’re emotionally removed from the situation.
Analyze Your Win Rate Hand By Hand
Here’s where poker software starts coming in handy. Pay attention to which hands make you money and which hands lose you money. Are you losing cash on suited connectors? Then stop playing them or study how to play them correctly. Are you making less money with pocket Aces than you are with Ace-King? Then analyze your play and see where you’re making mistakes.
Analyze Your Win Rate By Position
Late poker table position should make you more money that earlier positions. If any one position shows a significantly higher loss than the others, start looking at your play to see if you’re playing too loose.
Analyze Your Win Rate By Player
Poker software like PokerTracker can tell you how much you win or lose against a certain player. The software can even typecast the player’s style. Find the five or six players you lose the most money to and analyze their playing style. I bet all of them will be similar. This information will tell you if you’re playing poorly against a particular type of player. Once you know that you play poorly against loose-aggressive or tight-aggressive players, you can look at your hand histories and find out why.
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The best poker players are constantly learning and evolving their game. By analyzing your play and plugging you leaks, you’ll make yourself a better player and drastically increase your win rate.
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