Five Tips To Build Your Poker Face
Posted on March 13th, 2008
So what does it take to have a ‘poker face’? Is that something people are born with or can you cultivate what it takes to win at Poker? Like any other sport, talent does help, but in Poker, there are certain simple mistakes that beginners often make that we see over and over again.
- Be the wolf and not the tiger - We all like to play to win a lot of money but so does everyone else at that table. Winning with a bad hand is not as common as the movies make it out to be. Once in a while everyone will fold and you may win even with a bad hand but, empirically speaking, those occasions are rare. The sooner you learn to treat a bad hand as just that, the better your chances of making it in poker.
- Do not over-bluff – Beginners often make this mistake. Bluffing may be one of the key components of this game but remember that it is just one of them. Over bluffing actually makes it easier for your opponents to read you front side up. Learn to bluff at the right time and Poker will seem a lot easier to win at.
- To expose or not, that’s the question – If you are one of those ultra-competitive people pouncing on every opportunity to prove your point, then this is for you. At the poker table, you may know when someone is bluffing, but you should still seriously evaluate if calling him or her out and exposing their bluff is going to be to your advantage. The catch is that calling someone on their hand means that you may have to put a few extra chips into the pot. Is that worth risk? Are you better off just letting it go and waiting for the right move? Be pragmatic when calling bluffs.
- Pay attention to the cards – Counting cards is much more popular in Blackjack but can be used effectively in Poker as well. Pay attention to the folded hands and the cards that are missing in the action. Try to remember patterns in these cards. This is something that you become good at over time, but if you can do this, you certainly have an edge over those that don’t have the ability to focus long-term. Not many have the ability to focus and remember cards after several hours at the poker table.
- Stay healthy – Last but not the least, a healthy body means a healthy mind and when one suffers, so does the other. Many successful professional poker players say that playing for 14 hours straight, their concentration only improved with the passage of time and that the tiredness and the numbness actually helped. Remember to keep drinking water so as not get dehydrated and make sure that you do break away from the game every now and then, to refresh yourself, in body and mind.
Finally, remember that it’s after-all just a game. Learning to enjoy it will mean that you stay healthy and focused longer and actually increase your chances of winning.
