Learn Texas Holdem

While learning how to bowl, I was reading a book and in it the author mentioned that if you go to the alleys without a clear idea of what you are trying to hone, your efforts are largely useless -- idle practice. This is true in poker too.

If you just go and play day-after-day, there is nothing that says you'll get any better. Up to a point you will progress, as far as learning the basics, but eventually you'll hit your peak. You'll find many old timers who have been playing poker for decades, but still are playing in $2/4, $4/8, and other little limits. The reason is because they have never fully figured out the game. If you go to the poker table without a uniformed strategy, much of what happens doesn't make sense. You'll come away from winning days thinking you played well and losing days assuming you just got unlucky. Back and forth you'll go, never getting anywhere.

What you need to be doing is spending time away from the table trying to make sense of the game at its most basic level. What is poker? How do you beat it? Why are some hands good and others aren't? How can I exploit weakness in other players games? How can I manipulate the amount of players in to my benefit? How do I make the most with my hands? What is the best strategy against various types of opponents? And how can I use these questions and answers in my own game? I would try to read every bit of literature I could, buy as many books as I could afford, and make notes. I think probably the best thing for my game has been this site.

Writing here about strategy has forced me to formalize my thoughts the game and look more deeply into its components. Lastly, I would suggest trying to flesh out your skills by playing in shorthanded games, full tables and heads up. If you can play well in those three areas of holdem, you'll have a good understanding of how the game really is and what approach is needed to beat it. When you play at three handed or heads up poker, it changes the way you view starting hands and their value. You begin to see how a hand's strength is relative to how many people get dealt in preflop and you start to automatically adapt.