by James Briscoe

Created on: May 03, 2008

Poker is a game that requires a set of skills unmatched by any other card game. Luck is at the bottom of a long list of things a good player needs. At the top of this list is patience. It is the single most important part of a good players game. There will be a lot of hands that look like the right time to strike, but you must always keep the odds in your mind. Next a player will need to develop intuition and judgment. These are very important skills in knowing what moves to make. Finally there is the critical skill of acting. This is important in every hand a player gets into. Of course there are the basics too, knowing a hands ranking, knowing your position, and keeping an eye on your opponents.

Patience is very important in poker, and in all parts of life. There are many ways to improve ones patience skills, rather it be through meditation, or some other technique. The reason patience applies to the game of poker is because when playing a long set, you have to remember to wait for a good starting hand. Some players lose their patience after seeing too many terrible hands, and wind up playing a loser. After they lose this hand, the impatient player may become tilted and go all in on another loser shortly after. This is a mistake, and even if a player loses big money, they must recuperate and stay focused on winning.

Intuition and judgment are also critical skills a player needs to possess. Intuition in poker is the ability to read the cards as they fall and predict what is going to happen next. If a player sees a lot of low cards falling, it may be assumed that at some point this will turn around and the high cards will fall again. Depending on what that player is holding, they may sense the right time to make a move. Judgment is as important in poker as patience. It is important to watch the other players around you, find their tells, and see how they bet. If a player gets good at judging, that player will be hard to bluff, or may know when to bluff another.

Next there is that unique poker trademark skill of acting. Acting is a good skill for not only bluffing, but also for getting the most out of a winning hand. If you can convince another player that your hand is bad when it is actually dominate, they may bet right into the traps you set. On the other hand, if you have nothing, but can sense your opponent is only holding a middle level hand, you may be able to push then off a hand with a well placed bluff bet. Bluffing however is not recommended too often, as eventually an impatient player will make the call and cost you money.

The other basics such as ranking and position are self explanatory. Rankings are what beats what, and position is where you are sitting opposed to the button. If a player is in a good position, and most players before them have folded, this will allow that player a better chance to bluff, or play a less than perfect hand while limping in. Finally keep your eyes on your opponents. This is another critical thing to do. If you study an opponents moves, you will have more success in knowing what they are thinking. Always play to win, and remember to have fun because if you are not having fun it is likely that you will lose focus, and that is the worse thing a poker player can do.

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