Four Key Poker Skills

Poker sharks are commonly described as tight and aggressive: "These poker pros do not play many hands, but when they play them, they play them like they have the nuts."

In my own opinion, I consider that to be a great general description, but to me, a solid poker player is one who has mastered the four key skills of poker.


Skill #1 Mathematics

a) A solid poker player knows the general probabilities of the game. For example, they know that you have about 1 in 8.5 chance of hitting a set when holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of completing a flopped flush draw by the river.

b) Good players understand the importance of outs. Outs are simply the number of cards that will improve your hand. Count your outs, multiply them by four before the turn or by two before the river, and that's roughly the percentage shot you have at hitting.

c) Good players can figure out the pot odds. Knowing outs is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting. To understand more about the real Pot Odds please look for a poker odds calculator online, there's a bunch :)


Skill #2 Discipline

a) Good poker players demand an advantage. What separates a winning poker player from a fish is that a fish does not expect to win, while a poker player does. A fish is happy playing craps, roulette, or the slots; he just hopes to get lucky. A poker player does not hope to get lucky. He just hopes others don't get lucky.

b) Good poker players understand that a different game requires a different discipline. Not all poker variants should be played the same way.

c) A disciplined player knows when to play and when to quit. He recognizes when he is on tilt and is aware when a game is too juicy to just quit while ahead.

d) A disciplined player knows that he is not perfect. When he makes a mistake, he learns. He does not blame others. He does not cry. He learns from the mistake and moves on. No chat insults, no bad beat complaints, nothing!!!


Skill #3 Psychology

A good player may in fact be the biggest SOB you know. He may not care about anyone but himself. However, when a good player poker walks into a poker room, he always empathizes with his opponents. He tries to think what they think and understand the decisions they make and why they make them. The poker pro always tries to have an answer to these questions:

1. What does my opponent have?
2. What does my opponent think I have?
3. What does my opponent think I think he has?

b) Knowing the answer to these questions is the first step. Suppose that you have a pair of kings and your opponent has a pair of aces. If you both know what the other has, and you both know that you know what the other has, then why play a game of poker? A poker pro manipulates the answers to questions #2 and #3 by slowplaying, fastplaying, and bluffing in order to throw his opponent off.

c) Good poker players know that psychology is much more important in a no-limit game than in a limit game. Limit games often turn into math battles, while no-limit games carry a strong psychology component. This is why "poker tells" are much more important in no-limit games.


Skill #4 Understanding Risk vs. Reward

a) Poker players are willing to take a long-shot risk if the reward is high enough, but only if the expected return is higher than the risk.

b) More importantly, they know how much bank they need to play, and how much money they need in reserve to cover other expenses in life.

c) Good poker players understand they need to be more risk-careful with their overall bankroll than their stack at the table.


Hope this helps a lot of you gusy, enjoy the tables!

USC :)