World Poker Tour(TM): Shuffle Up and Deal Chapter One You Can Become a Winning Poker Player! If you want to become a winning poker player it will take some time and effort. The truth is that many players don't want to work on their poker game before they play poker for money. They just hope they'll get lucky and catch some cards. I like to relate poker to golf. Most people don't want to go out to the driving range and beat balls all day long, or practice putting for hours, or blast out of sand traps again and again. They just want to march directly to the first hole, put the tee in the ground, hit the ball, and play golf. They don't want to spend time practicing to improve their skills -- it's much more fun to play on the course. To play poker well, it is essential to work on your game. That includes reading books, watching televised World Poker Tour (WPT) tournaments on Travel Channel each week, running computer simulations, practicing in games online, and analyzing hands. You can't just walk into a poker room, sit down, and say, "Deal me in!" and hope to get lucky. Occasionally, you will win a few bucks this way, but the key to consistently winning is practice and preparation. As with most things in life, in poker, those who prepare to win will do better than those who don't. You can start by playing online for free while you're still getting your bearings. With the availability of online poker and the computer simulation programs, books, and educational videos on the market today, you have more opportunities than ever to learn how to become a winning player. One of the most useful tools in improving your game is watching how top players play their hands. Many players watch the WPT DVDs over and over to analyze a player's strategy. Also, WPT's Web site (www.worldpokertour.com) offers tools to help gain insight into players' strategies. Champion golfer Gary Player once said, "You know, the more I practice, the luckier I get." So true! Like everything in life, the more you work to improve your skills, the better you get at anything you do. Certainly in poker, the better you get at it, the more money you'll win. And that's a good-enough reason for any serious player to want to become a winning player. Play Just A Little Better Than Your Opponents You don't have to become the greatest poker player in the world to be a winning player -- all you have to do is play a little bit better than a couple of the people you're playing against. You might be only the fourth- or fifth-best player at the table, but you're still a favorite to beat the game because you're better than at least three other people at the table. And that's the key to winning at poker. Here's a classic poker story that poker legend Doyle Brunson first told years ago that illustrates this point. A reporter had just finished wrapping up an interview with Eric Drache, a tournament director, and moved along to interview Doyle. "Doyle, I've just finished talking with Eric," the reporter said, "and I understand that he's quite a good seven-card stud player." "Yeah, he's a great stud player," Doyle answered. "In fact he might be the seventh-best stud player in the world." "Really? Wow, I didn't realize he was that good!" "He is good, but Eric has one problem." "What's that?" the reporter wondered. "He plays with the top-six stud players every day!" If you want to become a winner at poker, play at a table where you are a better player than several of your opponents. Game selection -- picking the right game to play in -- is very important if you want to be successful at poker. You don't have to beat all the players all the time; you just have to beat a few of the players most of the time. Usually, the higher the limits you play, the better the competition -- make no mistake about it. If you are struggling or just breaking even at a limit, try dropping down a notch and playing at a lower limit for a while. One of the most surefire ways to deplete your bankroll is ego. Don't let it hinder you on your way to the winner's circle. Poker is About Making Correct Decisions Back in the mid-1980s at the Bicycle Casino in Southern California, I attended what I believe was the first-ever poker seminar. The instructor was "Crazy Mike" Caro, who later became known as "the Mad Genius of Poker." The first words out of his mouth were "What is the object of poker?" "Making money," the first person answered, which certainly sounded correct to me. "Not a bad answer," Caro said, "but wrong!" (No wonder they call him "Crazy Mike," I thought to myself.) "Winning the most pots," the next person said. "No!" Caro answered emphatically. "If winning the most pots is your goal, you should play every pot and raise every time it's your turn. You will likely win the most pots, but you probably won't beat the game." World Poker Tour(TM): Shuffle Up and Deal . Copyright © by Mike Sexton. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Shuffle up and Deal: The Ultimate No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Guide by Mike Sexton All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
