Stay sharp away from the poker table

As a poker player it is essential to stay sharp at the poker table but if you are to make this a long term activity that generates cash instead of consuming it, you need to do the right things away from the table as well. Any success story has its fair share of obstacles, but the ones who made it as professional poker players were the ones who doubled their efforts even when not playing poker. Many players get familiar with the game by seeing the pros competing in television shows and assume that they can do the same.

Fascinating as these shows might be they can only present the tip of the iceberg, but the hidden record is just as important to explore. Poker players seek recognition and will not settle for the solid cash they win, and how they continue to hone their skills. Those who watch High-Stakes Poker and hope to extract valuable information from the way the hands unfold, are probably going to be disappointed.

When you can see all the cards, it is easy to comment whether a player made the right choice or not, but it is not useful. One can learn more by watching poker tutorials online, because the ones who film their hands and explain their decisions are taking the time to go into details. Watching such videos between poker sessions is not only relaxing but also enlightening because you can use a great deal of the information to improve your game.

Each hand is different, but some powerful observations made by poker pros in video tutorials are universally correct and could be implemented in various occasions. Learning why it is worth making an aggressive move out of position and how to deceive your opponents by making a string of actions, will make you more effective at the tables. The benefit of watching a longer video that includes a small poker session is that you see for yourself what went wrong as well as the plays that generated profit.

While these guys know what they are doing and saying, always take the video tutorials with a pinch of salt, and pay attention to the stakes where the pro is playing. If you are stuck at lower limits, you are probably competing against a very different type of opponents and some elaborated moves will backfire. The risk of auto-leveling is all to real, but the overwhelming majority of the lessons that can be learned by watching these video tutorials will serve you well. The bottom line is that TV shows depicting cash games between professionals should be treated accordingly, and not regarded as substitutes for tutorials. If you want to master the game of poker, you should know that the only way to do this is to play and gather experience. The TV shows will never teach you how to play the game accordingly as you may never have the necessary funds to play at high stakes.