The game of poker can seem quite intense to a beginner. It is also so fascinating that once you have gotten the hang of it, you want to keep playing. However, you might notice that you’re not nearly as good as the other players, and this might make you worried. The good news is that you too, can attain that level of expertise.
Can anyone be a good poker player? Yes, anyone can be a good poker player. As with most games of skill, you’d need to do a lot of practice, but if you put your mind to it and put in the necessary work, you can become a good poker player.
While it’s true that just about anyone can be a good poker player, many people who set out on the journey to becoming great poker players couldn’t make it. Poker success might be achievable, but it’s certainly not easy.
What Does Being a Good Poker Player Entails?
Is it winning a couple of hands? Winning the pot, the tournament? Whatever your answer is, it will require more than luck or natural abilities. Poker is a game of skill and not luck, and whatever natural abilities you may have, only a skill for the game will rank you as good.
The good news is that you can nurture your poker skills until you’re good enough to challenge the big guns. Frequently, the reason people aren’t successful in their quest to become good poker players is their lack of dedication. If you thought there was something of an easy way to this, you might as well give up right now.
A good poker player doesn’t need to be a certain size or built. What a good player needs is to play, play, and play again. If you don’t keep playing more hands, you’ll end up like all the people who start but give up on because they think it’s not very easy.
Here’s what real professional players know, you have to keep playing, keep learning.
Thanks to online poker, you don’t have to be in Las Vegas or a specific city to play. You can play multiple tables at your comfort, so you have no excuse but to keep playing. Experience is something all good poker players have in common. They have been at different tables and know how to handle the pressure of sitting long hours at a table folding, raising, losing, or winning.
It’s not going to be easy. Many professional poker players had to drop out of college to focus on improving their game. This doesn’t mean you have to end your education. But you must know that you’ll have to give poker a fair amount of your attention as well.
What I can guarantee you, however, is that your hard work will be rewarded. The best poker players today were guys who started as novices. They had to put in consistent work before they became good enough. If you’re willing to make the same sacrifices, there’s no reason why you can’t be successful.
There are no born pros at poker. If you aren’t ready to dedicate time to the game, then I have to warn you, you might never be a good poker player. Good players invest their time in the game, working the tables at night and even during the day. That’s not all; they spend their time learning the game to recognize play styles and adjust their game if need be.
Also, good poker players are usually cool-headed and have a firm grip on their emotions. The way for anyone who truly wants to be good at poker is to control their emotions. No matter how good you get, there will be bad days. Keeping your head in the game is something only good players can do. They can calmly access their opponents and make certain decisions to win.
How Do I Become A Good Poker Player?
Of course, asking you to practice to attain expertise might seem too simplistic, so I will further explain by sharing practical tips from my own experience and renowned poker players. I had it rough at the start because I didn’t know any strategies. I relied on luck, and as you can guess, I wasn’t always lucky. I made several deposits before I finally started winning.
In no particular order, here are some ways you can consistently improve your poker skills to achieve excellence as a poker player:
Know The Game
Go beyond learning the rules to learning all you can about the game. Contrary to what most people believe, poker is a game of skill. This means that the more knowledgeable you are about poker, the better your chances of improving. You need to learn winning strategies, calculate pot odds, and improve your starting hand range.
You’ll also need to learn to hide tells, so you don’t give off valuable info about your hand to your opponent. While learning to hide tells, you should also learn to read your opponents. Some of the best poker players can predict their opponent’s hands and moves from physical tells alone.
Research
Technology has made the process a lot easier than it once was. What took past poker players years to learn with higher stakes can take a determined person a week to learn by reading books, articles, and watching videos on YouTube. I’m trying to say that you have all the tools to become a great player at your fingertips. There are many free materials on the internet; audiobooks you can listen to on the go, poker tutorial videos on Twitch, poker forums (here is a list of best poker forums) to discuss and learn from, the list is endless. A good way is also to join the right discord channel.
Hiring A Poker Coach
Hiring a poker coach is one of the best decisions you’ll make on your poker journey. A coach sees your leaks where you may not and doesn’t seek to exploit them but help you overcome them.
The coach will be there to go over your hand history with you and teach you skills that only years of playing thousands of hands can give you. Most poker coaches are successful pros who have tasted success in the game. With loads of experience, they know exactly how to help you.
While hiring a coach might not be cheap, the wealth of knowledge they bring to the table is simply priceless. If you are looking to become a good poker player fast, then hiring a poker coach is the way to go.
A great way to get good is also to join a poker training site, and it will be cheaper than getting a poker coach. You are shown how to get better, but you still need to learn on your own, and nobody will hold your hand as a poker coach would. That’s why it is cheaper than hiring a poker coach.
In fact, I have become a winner after I joined a poker training site. If you are interested in joining one, then here is the list with the best ones, for every poker format. Most of them even have many free videos.
If you have more money to spend, then a good option is to spend it on a poker course – those are often more expensive, but often needed if you want to truly master the game and become a great player.
Consistency
The last you’ll need is consistency. I’ve discovered that many up and coming poker players immediately lose interest when they lose money. Some abandon their books for some time in favor of other activities. Unfortunately, this is the worst possible way to learn the game.
Consistency is what will keep you learning nonstop. The more you try to improve your skills, the quicker your transition into a great player will be.
Hence, you need to keep putting in the necessary work until you’re good enough to challenge some of the best players out there. Even after you become that good, you’ll need to keep trying to improve to keep you on top of your game.
Final Thoughts
Good poker players are not born; they are made. Anyone can make themselves into a good poker player by following the steps we have outlined above. You may have had it a bit rough, but who hasn’t? Don’t give up on the game of poker simply because you have had a few bad luck. Commit to knowing the game intimately, practice, and give yourself some time, and you’ll be just fine.
