Copyright 2005 Giorgio Maldini
Playing poker and winning is a very difficult task to do, you can lose most
of the times specially if you don't know the little dirty psychology secrets
that anybody playing poker for real has to understand.
1. Don't expect people to play like you.
Even good players have different concepts about how to make a good game. Don't
count on other good players to do what you would do in a certain situation.
There is more than one way to be right.
2. Look your opponents in the eye.
See who they are and study their features. Get to know them. This observation
will make you fear them less.
3. Try playing in silence.
Silent play is an image play, sure, but here's something else to
consider: When you play in silence, you end up holding more detailed "inner
conversations" with yourself, which improves your concentration, and also
your play.
4. See things as they are.
Wishful thinking like fearful thinking leads to bad decisions. Make your decisions
based on real information, not on what you hope or fear that your opponents
hold. It's bad enough to get bluffed by someone else but even worse to get
bluffed by yourself.
5. Keep it impersonal.
At the poker table it's easy to get sucked into our opponents' personalities.
When you're driven by the desire to beat the player in seat four, just because
he happens to be a jerk, you're moving away from your good game and into the
dangerous teritory of personality poker. To keep it profitable, you have to
keep it impersonal.
6. Respond to change.
A poker game is not static. It's a dynamic, living organism that changes from
moment to moment. You have to respond to those changes. Just because a player
was bluffing an hour ago doesn't mean he's bluffing now. Has he lost a lot
of money since then? Has he had a few bluffs? Be up-to-the-second in your
thinking or be prepared to go home broke.
7. Beware subjective reality.
When the hand you folded an hour ago is the hand you raise with now, it's
time to get up and go home.
8. Serve your game, not your ego.
Serving your ego in a poker game is not your purpose and it will harm you.
It will only cloud your card sense with a lot of irrelevant issues, and also
alienate your opponents. Be humble, act humble, and leave your ego at home.
9. Have a scenario.
When you're in a hand against one or more opponents, put them on something.
Make your best guess about their holding in light of their betting. It sounds
obvious, I know, but so many of us get so caught up in our own hands that
we don't stop to consider, really consider, what our enemies are up to until
it's too late. If you have a scenario, you may be wrong but at least you have
a chance to be right. If you don't think about what they have, then you have
no chance of being right.
10. Should you count your money at the table?
Ideally you have so much money that you can't count that high, but try not
to do this.
Giorgio has been a Professional Poker Player for years, he has won several
small tournaments and has made a fortune online. He teaches people how play
poker and win big. Get Free tips at: http://www.maldiniholdemsecrets.com
