The complexities involved in the game of poker make it necessary for players to consistently practice and improve their skills. The most successful poker pros do not rest on their laurels. They continually seek to elevate their game. They make it a point to evolve with changes to stay competitive.
Jonathan Little is pretty well known on the poker circuit. He has over $7 million in career prize money with his best live cash out being over $1.1 million. The Florida poker pro recently opened up and shared some valuable advice to help you take your poker game to the next level. Here is some good advice to help you play better at the tables.
Protect Your Mental Health
Maintaining a healthy mental wellbeing is extremely important in the game of poker. Your current mental state has a direct impact on your performance at the table; the game requires good decision-making skills, and if you lack the mental toughness to properly deal with variance and downswings, you will most probably not achieve the results you want.
This is why you need to keep a healthy mind as you go along with your poker journey. Stay away from things that can negatively affect how you think. Go for a healthy diet and keep alcohol and other damaging substances out of your system.
Study the Best Players In Your Level
Most of the highly-accomplished poker players are competing in the highest-stakes tournaments, and while watching them play and win gives you inspiration and motivates you to pursue your dreams, it’s always a good idea to stick to your level first and improve from there.
If you’re currently playing low and mid-stakes poker, watch and study the players who often win and excel in that level. Take note of their strategies, adopt them and see if you’ll get similar results. From there, you can then step up your game and move up to some higher stakes tournaments, but remember though that strategies don’t always stay the same as you climb up the ladder. Keep studying.
Assess The Ranges Of Your Opponents
Avoid putting your opponent on a single specific hand as it will only prevent you from assessing his or her ranges, which is important if you want to be a better player. So when an opponent raises under the gun, do not put him on a singular hand like A-J or A-A, instead, pay attention to all the possibilities, and you can do so by putting him on a wide range of hands, such as, J-J, 9-9. A-K, Q-Q, A-Q, or K-K. That way, you will better understand your opponents’ play, which in turn will result in good decisions from your end.
Learn To Make Major River Bluffs More Frequently
In poker, you win a hand by either holding the best cards or by adopting an aggressive strategy in which your opponents end up folding. The latter works effectively when you are fully aware that it is not possible for you to triumph in a showdown.
If you are in that particular situation, it’s a wise idea to double or triple barrel more often, as it will give your opponents the impression that you’re holding a strong hand, forcing them to fold. This strategy is risky though, and you can always shift to value betting if a certain opponent is brave enough to call you down with a weak hand. The thing is, don’t be afraid to make sizable river bets, it works most of the time.
Avoid C-Betting All The Time
While continuation betting is a great strategy to establish an image of strength at the table, you don’t need to do it every time. Doing so will make your moves predictable, hence your opponents will be able to trap you. When you c-bet, you are the pre-flop raiser and your goal is to force your opponents to fold.
There are certain situations where this strategy works best. You don’t need to do it with 100 percent of your range, especially if you know the board doesn’t favor your range, or your made hands won’t be able to hold out against aggression.
Keep these five things in mind as you play and you will go a long way!