When I first started learning poker, everything was different. We didn’t have solvers or a lot of quality training materials, and most books out there are garbage. But times have changed and there are plenty of resources to help you up your game. ์นด์ง๋ ธ์ฌ์ดํธ
However, it can still be overwhelming when you’re just starting out. That’s why I’m here to tell you six important things I wish I’d learned sooner when I started playing poker years ago. Whether you’re new to the game or looking to improve your skills, these tips will help you lay a solid foundation. And if you’re an experienced player, stay because you too can learn something.
Poker Fold Frequencies
Ok, let’s get to the first thing I wish I knew when I first started playing poker: fold frequencies. The concept is to understand how different hands or ranges hit or miss different flops and, more importantly, how often they fold when you’re bluffing.
Why is it so important?
First of all, it helps you gauge the success of your bluffs. If you know your opponent’s range will often miss the flop, this is a great place to apply pressure and expect them to fold. But it’s not just about bluffing: understanding your folding frequency also helps you to objectively assess your hands after the flop. Most starting hands lose on the flop, meaning you will be bluffing most of the time. But if you fold or check-fold too many times, you will lose this game.
Using Flopzilla Pro to Understand Frequency
So What Can You Do? There are several tools you can use to examine how often you’re sending between sessions, but my personal favorite is Flopzilla Pro. Get a hand like Ace King, which is the strongest unpaired starting hand you can get. Even with this hand, you’ll only hit the flop with top pair 29% of the time. ์จ๋ผ์ธ์นด์ง๋ ธ์ฌ์ดํธ
And if you include the intestinal injections in the technical results, you still only get a 44% success rate. The other 56% of the time you get weaker and weaker until you become an ace. Or consider a pair of Kings, which is the second strongest starting hand you can get.
This hand will also have a pair below top pair about 21% of the time when an ace hits the flop. Most people don’t know this and get frustrated when they think their pocket kings should always win.
Poker Math Is Easier Than You Think
The second thing I wish I knew when I was learning about poker is that the basic math of poker is a lot simpler than I first thought. I wasn’t very good at math when I started. It took me a while to grasp concepts like statistics and I wasn’t very enthusiastic.
But when I started playing poker and seeing all the stats, pot odds, break percentages and EV calculations, I felt overwhelmed. But I realized that all these things need to be understood. If I put the time and effort into it, I could learn it even if I don’t have a natural inclination for math.
GTO Poker is the Foundation
The third thing I wish I knew when I first started playing poker is that GTO (Game Theory Optimal) is the foundation and exploitation-based play is the ultimate goal. When I started playing poker, GTO didn’t exist because there weren’t any GTO solvers or software.
In theory, we knew what the GTO bluff was, but we didn’t have the tools to deal with it. Nowadays, learning how to play poker is easier with readily available GTO solvers. Note, however, that the GTO is just the baseline. If two players play perfectly against each other, GTO is accepted. However, since we are playing against the people, deviations from the GTO create opportunities for exploitation.
Controlling Your Actions and Reactions
The fourth thing I wish I knew when I first started playing poker is that you only control two things in life: your actions and your reactions. Learning so early was extremely helpful to me because, believe it or not, I was a bit of a slouchy monkey. I’ve broken countless keyboards and mice, thrown a computer out of a window, slammed my face into a wall โ I’ve done some really stupid things in the past.
Mental Discipline in Poker and Avoiding Tilts
But then I came across a video by Jared Tendler that showed a very simple pattern: You can only control your actions and reactions. You cannot control what others do, what cards come on the turn, or anything else. The only things you can control are your actions and reactions. And once I really started taking this advice, I stopped taking bad jokes and bad train tickets personally.
Instead, I focused on what I could control: my actions and reactions. I put more energy into studying and working on my mental game because I knew it was something I could control that would ultimately help me win more. ๋ฐ์นด๋ผ์ฌ์ดํธ
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