People play Poker for pennies or millions. It is played by amateurs or pros. Ironically, poker against pros can be easier than poker against rank amateurs. Here is an article about how to win more at low stakes poker.
Forget about the Rake
A lot of new poker players and even some experienced ones still think that using the rake calculator is a form of poker math! It is not! Forget about the rake! First, there is a limit to the amount of rake Juicy Stakes Poker will take on any individual hand. Second, the rake is actually quite small.
In a sense, the rake is like the mark up on items sold in any store. If the mark up is too high, competition will arise and the store with the high mark up will start to lose money and customers.
The rake at Juicy Stakes and at most other online poker rooms is quite small per pot so forget about it and spend your time thinking about playing the hand!
Take Advantage of Players with Undeveloped or Poor Skills
Some people might object to the use of the term “take advantage”. Poker is a competitive game! If you want a fully friendly game, you can usually find one with friends on a weekend. In real world poker, someone will always be taking advantage of another player. This is how people can actually win money playing poker!
If you are a player with undeveloped or underdeveloped poker skills, people will take advantage of you. In that case, you should either find super friendly online poker games or get your friends together as often as you want to play. If you want to win at poker online or on land or even if you just want to break even over time, you need to learn the lessons in this article and to continue to study the game beyond the scope of the areas we will cover here.
Play Many Variations of Poker
The idea here is that, although Texas Hold’em is now by far the most popular poker variation played all over the world, there are still players who prefer Omaha or some other poker variation.
How will you know what your favorite poker game is unless you play then all? It could be that you will enjoy one type of poker but you’ll never get really good at it because it doesn’t rock for you! Once you find your favorite poker game, you will inevitably want to know more about that variation. The more you know the more you’ll win!
Study Poker
You knew this was coming! It is true in poker as it is in almost every line of work or play that the more you know the better you become. Even in the area of military confrontation, soldiers from rank privates to highly decorated generals play war games! The more you simulate a war, the better you can become in winning the next war.
It is also true that, in military affairs, the more you study the old way of doing things the more likely it will be that a new way of doing things comes along. The French Maginot Line was supposed to keep Germany out of France and it did until the Germans realized that they could simply go around the line.
That involved invading three other countries in order to get to France but the Germans did eventually get to France and occupied it for many years.
The real back story involved in study is that learning how to play poker better requires more than just learning about poker!
Learn the Power of Concentration
Here is an area that many people neglect in favor of memorizing situations whether it’s in poker or blackjack or any other interesting pursuit. Concentration is not something that comes naturally to a lot of people but it is a skill that most people can develop. So the inevitable question is how can I develop my powers of concentration?
Practice Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is very common in the practice of yoga but people in the West seem to think that shallow breathing is just as good. If you go on a regimen of deep breathing practice, you might find to your delight that it is better than shallow breathing and does improve your ability to concentrate.
Deep breathing done properly requires a good deal of concentration!
Eat Well and for Health and Stamina
The value of good eating habits lies in two areas. First, you have to think about what you will eat. This alone increases one’s concentration. Second, you will have to pay attention to how you eat. You will sit and dine rather than grab a few bites to eat on the run.
Sitting to eat focuses your concentration on the food on your plate. Playing poker well focuses your concentration on the cards in your hand and on the table!
Exercise
Chess players have to be in great shape. The top pianists also have to be in great shape. In just about every line of work or play, it is a lot better to be in great shape. In poker, you will sit for long periods of time. Even if you stretch often, you will be sitting most of the time. Finding good exercises that you do every day will make the sitting stretches in poker easier to handle.
Sleep Enough
Some people advise others to sleep well. This is very good advice but sleeping well also involves sleeping enough. It helps a lot of people to set a time for going to bed. Even if you can’t do that, you might try to increase your sleep to at least seven hours a night.
Have Outside Interests
The list of hobbies and pastimes is long indeed. Even if poker is the game that you like the most, your concentration will improve if you take an outside activity and run with it. An outside interest could be entirely indoors such as playing a musical instrument or it can entirely outdoors such as bird watching or hiking.
A lot of people find it helps to balance the indoor activities with outdoor activities.
Spend Time with Kids
M. Scott Peck wrote about this in his magnum opus The Road Less Travelled. He said that talking to little kids requires tremendous concentration since kids don’t have the vocabulary adults have, they don’t have the erudition, and they don’t always know what they are talking about! If you spend time with kids and really pay attention to them, you might find that the attention you need to have in poker comes more easily!
The Lessons Contained Herein
Obviously, the advice we have given here should help poker players at all stakes levels. However, since most new poker players start at low stakes and feel that low stakes are so low that they aren’t a great learning field, we stated that this article would help new players win more at low stakes poker.
As you have seen, a lot of winning at poker has nothing directly to do with poker! At Juicy Stakes Poker, we try to help all poker players to get better and to have more fun playing poker. Online poker is the most flexible way to play by far!
So, join Juicy Stakes Poker NOW and get in on the ground floor of the vast world of poker!
