Always remember this principle: Play The Player, Not The Cards. Most of the inconsistencies that you are currently experiencing are because you're focusing and relying too much on the cards, cards.
Ultimately, yes, the cards determine who's the winner for a only when a hand is played out until the very end and all cards are revealed. Good poker players will rarely let a hand make it that far. They will either force their opponents to fold, or fold themselves because they get a read on their opponents.
The ONLY time you should be flipping your cards over at the end is when you KNOW you have the best hand and you've just gouged a huge pile of chips from your opponent.
Understand? Your opponent is what you need to focus on. Don't focus on your cards. Decipher your opponent's betting patterns, his tells, his habits, his movements...everything. Then play him like a monkey for all of his chips.
If you rely on your cards to win tournaments or to be profitable in cash games, then you ARE gambling. You're relying solely on the odds of what cards you'll be dealt and what cards your opponents will be dealt. Like gambling on race horses, you're relying on luck!
When playing for real money, would you prefer to rely on luck, or would you prefer to rely on proven poker skills? We both know the answer to that questions. Yet, the majority of the people playing Texas Hold'em Poker count on luck to win.
Sure, luck does play it's part. People do get lucky and hit Runner-Runners or hit their two-outers on the River. Accept that as part of the game. Luck accounts for about 10% of Texas Hold'em. The other 90% should come from skill. This is exactly why you see the same players at the final tables of WSOP tournaments.
When most people think about looking for tells, they visualize playing a big pot and staring a player down until they crack and give off that uncontrollable eye spasm. Identifying tells should begin before a game even begins.
If you're playing a cash game, one of the most important "pre-game" tells is the size of your opponent's buyin. When you sit down at a table, the first thing that you should do is look at your opponents' chip stacks. When a new player sits down at your table, did they buy in for the maximum allowed at that table?
Most good Texas Hold'em players prefer to buy in for the maximum allowable amount because it gives them plenty of ammunition to bluff, semi-bluff and bully their opponents.
Inexperienced Texas Hold'em players are more inclined to buy in for smaller amounts, often the minimum amount for the table. Why? Because they're scared of suffering a huge loss. Use this to your advantage to bully these players. They don't want to lose the small amount that they bought in for because they know if they lose, they'll either have to pull their wallet out and re-buy, or get up and leave the table. They don't want to do either.
When you're selecting a table, if you get the choice, sit next to these weak players because they will play scared. Be careful though. If you are sitting down at a table, don't sit next to the player with the lowest chip stack and expect that they are the weakest.
They may in fact be the best player at the table and have recently suffered a big loss or a bad beat. There are also some advanced players who buy in for less than the table maximum in an attempt to get you to believe that they are weak players.
If you are playing online poker, find out how many tables your opponents are playing simultaneously. If a player is multi-tabling, playing at more than four tables at once, then it's highly likely that he's a solid player worthy of respect. Quite often, you'll find that those players who are playing multiple tables at once are professionals.
Ultimately, yes, the cards determine who's the winner for a only when a hand is played out until the very end and all cards are revealed. Good poker players will rarely let a hand make it that far. They will either force their opponents to fold, or fold themselves because they get a read on their opponents.
The ONLY time you should be flipping your cards over at the end is when you KNOW you have the best hand and you've just gouged a huge pile of chips from your opponent.
Understand? Your opponent is what you need to focus on. Don't focus on your cards. Decipher your opponent's betting patterns, his tells, his habits, his movements...everything. Then play him like a monkey for all of his chips.
If you rely on your cards to win tournaments or to be profitable in cash games, then you ARE gambling. You're relying solely on the odds of what cards you'll be dealt and what cards your opponents will be dealt. Like gambling on race horses, you're relying on luck!
When playing for real money, would you prefer to rely on luck, or would you prefer to rely on proven poker skills? We both know the answer to that questions. Yet, the majority of the people playing Texas Hold'em Poker count on luck to win.
Sure, luck does play it's part. People do get lucky and hit Runner-Runners or hit their two-outers on the River. Accept that as part of the game. Luck accounts for about 10% of Texas Hold'em. The other 90% should come from skill. This is exactly why you see the same players at the final tables of WSOP tournaments.
When most people think about looking for tells, they visualize playing a big pot and staring a player down until they crack and give off that uncontrollable eye spasm. Identifying tells should begin before a game even begins.
If you're playing a cash game, one of the most important "pre-game" tells is the size of your opponent's buyin. When you sit down at a table, the first thing that you should do is look at your opponents' chip stacks. When a new player sits down at your table, did they buy in for the maximum allowed at that table?
Most good Texas Hold'em players prefer to buy in for the maximum allowable amount because it gives them plenty of ammunition to bluff, semi-bluff and bully their opponents.
Inexperienced Texas Hold'em players are more inclined to buy in for smaller amounts, often the minimum amount for the table. Why? Because they're scared of suffering a huge loss. Use this to your advantage to bully these players. They don't want to lose the small amount that they bought in for because they know if they lose, they'll either have to pull their wallet out and re-buy, or get up and leave the table. They don't want to do either.
When you're selecting a table, if you get the choice, sit next to these weak players because they will play scared. Be careful though. If you are sitting down at a table, don't sit next to the player with the lowest chip stack and expect that they are the weakest.
They may in fact be the best player at the table and have recently suffered a big loss or a bad beat. There are also some advanced players who buy in for less than the table maximum in an attempt to get you to believe that they are weak players.
If you are playing online poker, find out how many tables your opponents are playing simultaneously. If a player is multi-tabling, playing at more than four tables at once, then it's highly likely that he's a solid player worthy of respect. Quite often, you'll find that those players who are playing multiple tables at once are professionals.
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