In a recent article, Juicy Stakes Poker spoke about characteristics of poor poker players in an attempt to help players change their less than productive ways and become good players. Here we will talk directly about the characteristics of good poker players that stand out in an attempt to show players what they should strive to be like.
These qualities have no specific hierarchy. There is a long road to go from being a good player to being a very good player an excellent player and, finally, a great player.
Even great players make mistakes so we are not going to say that good players make no mistakes. Good players make fewer mistakes.
Good Players Always Keep Their Emotions in Check
In sports in general, keeping your emotions in check is conducive to success. A basketball player shooting a free throw at the end of a close game has to have her or his emotions under control. Baseball players always have to keep their emotions under control.
The only sport where intense emotionality is considered a positive is in American football and this applies mainly to the offensive and defensive lines.
Poker is very much different than, say, slots play. In slots, you can let your emotions go. It is even seen as a good way to enjoy slots. Poker is different.
Poker is a Quietly Emotional Game
In poker, keeping your emotions in check is important for several reasons. First, especially at a land-based poker game, excessive emotionality can also be a tell. When we watch great players on YouTube, they show the same reaction when they miss the flop as when they hit the flop big time.
Poker also has the inevitable bad beat. An opponent with a very small chance to win will sometimes win. When you are the “victim’ of a bad beat, you need to let it go. The next hand is coming quickly and you have to be back on your game to decide how to play the next hand.
Poker also has the inevitable unexpected win. Here too, you have to get right back “in the saddle” to concentrate on the next deal of the cards.
Good Poker Players Have Superior Powers of Concentration
Everyone is born with some ability to concentrate. Even small children will demonstrate high levels of concentration as they try to color entirely within the lines.
Drivers have to concentrate even when they have done a route hundreds of times; especially when they have done a route hundreds of times. People out walking as exercise have to concentrate so as not to fall victim to an uneven sidewalk or the remnants of a dog’s last meal.
So, concentration is vital and the level of concentration a good poker player shows is a learned skill. Concentration in poker means being aware at all times of everything that is going on around the table. Most poker players, when they start out playing “professionally”, concentrate on their own hands so much that they lose sight of what the other players have done or are doing.
There are many ways to improve your power of concentration. One way is to look at a scene outdoors or at a picture and then list everything you remember about the scene or the picture.
Good Players Bluff….Sometimes
Like so many other aspects of good poker, bluffing is a learned art. A good player develops a sense of when a bluff is justified. The parameters that will determine the validity or foolishness of a bluff include the betting and calling nature of an opponent, how much money we have left, what the hand range of the opponent is, and many others.
A really good player just knows when he or she can win a bluff. Even the best players are often tricked by a good and timely bluff.
However, bluffing too often will win some pots but the overall cost of winning those pots will put an excessive bluffer in the red.
Good Players Have a Lot of Patience
If you fold before the flop on 70% or more of hands, you will need a world of patience to maintain your concentration, poise, and emotional stability as you wait for a hand you can play. Patience also involves checking into a player you think has an inferior hand hoping that he or she will bet, thus increasing a pot you expect to win.
Patience is a close relative of discipline. This also refers to taking care of your body and mind so that you will be physically and mentally at your best for poker.
Patience also involves good money management. Very few poker players can bet as wildly as they like and not feel the pinch when they lose. Everyone, from the small-stakes beginner to the high-stakes pro, has to manage their money well. You might want to call an all-in bet but if you have a stack that would leave you empty or close to empty if you lose, you might justifiably refrain from calling and patiently wait for a better hand.
Good Poker Players Study Their Previous Games
This is how players learn from their mistakes. You don’t have to go over every hand in a long poker session. But you should remember hands that you thought would go your way and didn’t. you should go over hands that you won unexpectedly. In short, it is very important to learn from your successes and from your mistakes.
Good Players are Intensely Competitive
This means that a good player will be aggressive when she or he enters the fray. Competitive does not mean combative. It means doing everything you can to get as much value from a hand that you think is a winner. Sometimes a player has to bet big on the turn so opponents will fold rather than give them the chance to hit a winning card on the river.
A cousin to competitiveness is adaptability. Your competitive nature might send you to stay in a hand that you really should get out of. Here is where your ability to adapt comes into play. When the information you are getting from an opponent indicates that they have a better hand than you or may very well have a better hand, an adaptable player will simply leave the hand.
Finally, a Good Player Uses Poker Math
Yes, we know that the whole idea of poker math makes a lot of players’ eyes glaze over. We will dedicate a future article to poker math. In the meantime, have a great time playing poker here at Juicy Stakes Poker.
