Fifty million Americans have played poker, and at a
rough estimate I have derived from 30 years of playing at kitchen tables,
college frat houses, serious home games, and high stakes casinos, about
49,990,000 play poker pretty badly.
That doesn't mean these 49,990,000 people are
dumb. Mostly, they are either new or inexperienced poker players, or experienced
players who have chosen to focus on other things in life. Given that there are
at least a couple of dozen things in the world more important than an ability to
play poker well, these choices may represent a very intelligent allotment of the
limited number of hours we get to spend on this planet.
Nonetheless, for those of us who like to play poker, these choices represent
an opportunity.
I don't care if you play for matchsticks, beer money, paychecks, or sums
great enough to purchase large businesses, you can play a lot better than you
play right now, if you decide you want to. Here's the magic formula:
1) Decide your motivation to improve is strong enough for you to
devote some time and/or resources towards improving. You can't hit
a target if you're not aiming at it, and you don't improve (much) in poker
without an actual focus on improving. Ever since I started playing poker in
casinos at a baby-faced 21, I've had grizzled veterans try to intimidate me with
statements like "Son, I've been playin' poker since afore you were born, and you
played that hand like a fool." Before my poker ego was stronger, I used to
reply, "I'd be more impressed if I thought you'd been playing well all those
years. Looks to me like you've spent a lot of time practicing your mistakes."
These days, having learned that "lessons cost extra," fights are foolish, and
that people who run their mouths are usually giving away information I can use,
I let them talk, and I take their chips. Merely playing isn't enough. You have
to play with a view towards constant improvement.
2) Read GOOD poker books. I used to think that for
a raw beginner, any poker book was better than nothing, but I've changed my
mind. Many books teach you those mistakes those grizzled veterans have been
practicing for years, and you have to unlearn those mistakes before you can get
any better. Most of the best poker books are written by advanced player for
other advanced players, and so a beginner may find them rough
sledding. Nonetheless, if you want to become a good player, sooner or later you
will need most of the books written by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, T.J.
Cloutier, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy, Bob Ciaffone, and Mike Caro. If you're
totally raw, Lou Krieger's Poker for Dummies is a reasonable place to start, as
are the free online information section at Poker.Net "Poker School". Once you
understand some hold'em fundamentals, Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Hold'em is a
must read.
As you progress, you'll begin to understand that poker is more of a people
game played with cards, rather than a card game played by people, and books like
The Zen of Poker (Phillips), The Psychology of Poker (Schoonmaker), John
Feeney's Inside the Poker Mind and Mike Caro's Book of Tells will become more
and more important. If you play in a regular home game, studying your opponents
closely becomes even more important, because you get to use the information so
frequently.
Probably the single most important poker book of all is Sklansky's The Theory
of Poker, but if you've never played, you'll find it tough going.
The cost of this poker library might seem daunting, but you don't have to buy
them all at once (in fact, probably should not), and it's very common for me to
win or lose more in one single poker session than the cost of all of these books
put together. Unless your poker ambitions end at nickel-dime-quarter action, you
are providing an absolutely perfect example of the phrase "Penny-wise and
pound-foolish" by refusing to spend $29.95 on a book that might earn (or save)
you thousands of dollars over the cost of a poker lifetime.
You should NOT assume that if I haven't listed an author here, his work isn't
any good. I've just listed some of the best. By the time you've read these
authors, you'll understand enough about poker to be able to discern whom else
amongst the rest are worth reading, and who are not. One note about older poker
books: most of what the pre-1980 books teach is about five card draw, and while
some of the lessons translate well into more popular current games, much of it
isn't helpful in the modern era. Save these to read last.
3) Put what you read into practice, one piece at a
time. Any good scientist will tell you an experiment isn't much
good without a "control group" that allows a baseline comparison of experimental
results. If you read six books simultaneously and try to apply everything at
once, you'll have very little idea what's working, what isn't, and more
importantly, why what's working is working and why what isn't, isn't. If you
alternate reading with playing and practicing, you'll achieve a better balance
of practice and theory. You'll need both.
4) Consider practicing with computer
software. Wilson offers the best, followed by AceSpade. Software
can't simulate every aspect of live play, but it will allow you to get a feel
for how certain hands play out, and allow you to gain experience without paying
your opponents for your education. I believe computer software is a better way
to practice than the "free" games found online where you can play against live
opponents, because the software simulations will go more quickly, and your "free
game" opponents won't be very good or play very well. You might develop bad
habits there. Not every poker writer agrees with me on this point.
5) Re-read your poker books periodically. Very few
great poker players are great teachers or writers. Often, the true gems of
advice in their books are hidden amongst relatively unimportant points, and as
you are first learning, it's very difficult to separate the wheat from the
chaff. I've been doing this for a long time, and rarely fail to be surprised at
some subtle point I pick up the fourth time I read a book. Some of this is the
author's fault, and some is my own: the first three times I read the book, I
might not have been good enough to appreciate the importance of what I was
reading.
Eventually you will even reach a point where you disagree with some of what
these authors say, and you may be right to disagree. Even the best books
contain some errors, or at least claim certain things to be absolutely true when
they are true only under certain circumstances. Although as a beginner you
should tend to accept what you read without too many challenges, as you
progress, you will begin to realize that poker authors have feet of clay.
6) To thine own self be true. Yes, everyone has
nights where the cards are so bad, or the opponents' cards so good, that winning
is impossible, but these nights are considerably fewer and farther between than
most players are willing to admit. Although it's certainly easier on the ego to
blame the cards instead of your own play, if you approach each session as a
learning experience, and perform a post-mortem analysis of how you played,
you'll improve a lot faster than opponents who blame everyone and everything but
themselves. If you continue to believe there is always more to learn, keep an
open mind about mistakes you might have made, and continue to mix theory with
practice, sooner or later you'll become one of those players who, no matter how
charming your personality, I'd rather see sit down at someone else's table when
I'm playing.
This article is written by Andrew N.S. Glazer, the Poker Pundit.
