You are a poker player. You have read excellent poker books from winning poker pros and noted poker authors. You believe you can beat the best. But, man, do you get your butt kicked in the back. Every time you lay a hand down, you swear to yourself that you will never play poker again. You just get irritated at yourself. If only there were a way to change your mindset, then you could get your rear in the sand.
There is always a way to improve your game. No, not surgery, but a way to focus on what’s going on in the game and to work smarter than your opponents. There is only one way to succeed at poker – make more money than your opponents. But, if you make money at poker, then why do you play? Most players play for the money. They play it so loosely that they can’t execute on their own strong plays. They force play on hands that are statistically terrible. But, they win! How can that be? Imagine if you could focus on the present, as in now, and fix your own flaws. Would you be a better player? Can you think of a long list of mistakes that you have made in the past and never paid for it? If you can answer yes to any of those questions, then you are ready to begin my series on poker mindset.
My first topic will be discuss tight play. Tight play has 4 distinct category of rules:
- Loose Play
- Tight Play
- normal Play
- Aggressive Play
But, I found that most players fall into one of the third type, tight play. They are very tight when they have a good hand, but once you gain the loose skill you will see that their weak hand is beginning to show profit. In order to play poker loose, you must first learn to be tight. A tight player is a player who bets only on good hands. Usually considered the best of the tight players because they play aggressively when they have a good hand. When playing tight, you should be very patient. You can’t afford to give away free cards. Also as a tight player, you don’t play with many hands. You are not looking for free cards. When playing tight, you are hoping to hit the flop and increase your chances of winning. It seems like a strategy that you can’t and shouldn’t change. But, what about playing as an aggressive tight player?
Playing aggressively tight also requires a lot of patience. You can’t afford to reveal your hand to others. Since you don’t want your opponents to know the cards you are holding, you should fold unless you have a very strong hand. Putting your opponents on a small pair seems like a strong hand. But, really, it isn’t. You want to maintain your surprise factor. Players who know the game are slowly slipping into a pattern. They see what the pro does and anticipate doing it. They are depending on their hunches instead of carefully planning out their moves. Playing tight is an effective strategy, when it is applied intelligently. However, nature is not allowing you to hold back now. You have to reveal your secrets to the other players. It doesn’t matter if everyone knows your strategy. The one choice is yours, and you alone decide when you should use it. Practice your tight game against your friends and family. Rely on your friends’ testimonials. Play in your friends’ home games. And, eventually, against the relatives.
Playing as a tight aggressive, MPO777 strategy, will allow you to have a steady poker playing income for many years.