Poker Think

Often in the poker room, a player will come up to me and ask; "Did I do the right thing?" Then he or she goes on to describe a particular hand, the betting etc. I reassure them that they played it fine (which they usually did). Now that I have these intensive poker courses, I get inquiries from people who ask me something like; if you have AK and a player goes all in ahead of you, do you call? I sent them a response that essentially amounts to; "it depends."

My real feeling about these scenario interactions is that if you ask a question like that; you're not getting it. You're not thinking like a successful poker player. Poker is a game where you not only need to take a myriad of factors into account when you consider what to do, but you also need to work hard to NOT play hands the same time every time. Deception is a HUGE factor in being a quality player. You're trying to throw your opponents off. You're trying to get in their head. Frustrate them. How in the world could you possibly do that if you play hands by way of some formula. Can't be done.

Also, the world of quality poker is a world of probabilities. A very tricky world. You take into account the probability that you have the best hand. The chances of hitting a draw. The chances your opponent will fold. This all makes poker so interesting. So you need to keep a running sense in your head how often you performed certain moves and try to keep your proportion within a prescribed success range. As I've been thinking about poker and poker strategy, I figured a dozen or so detailed courses. But it wasn't even close. First one needs so to understand poker think. Then one needs to know how to play basic (ABC) poker. Then all the standard situations need to be reviewed and analyzed. That just lays the groundwork. Now we need to get into tournament poker. Then live, cash poker. Then advanced moves. By the time I was done, it was clear 60 to 70 hours (courses) of instruction would be necessary. I'm up to 13 courses on the site and I'm having a ball reaching back into my pedagogic grab bag and creating all kinds of content, exercises and interactions. At least 50 more on on the drawing board and are coming available at a rate of about 3 every two weeks. (That's why I'm offering unlimited access now for only $4.99/month. The offer is only available for the next few months or so. The price will be much higher later on.)

If you decide you want to be a great poker player, expect to put in hours and hours of study, work and practice. Some say you need ten years to get to the highest levels. I think you can get there much faster. But you have to be focused and motivated. But most importantly, you gotta love to play the game.