One of the quickest and easiest ways to become a better poker player and compete confidently against the best is to model your poker play style on the professionals.
In other words, watch professional poker players as often as possible on YouTube or late-night television, listen to what they have to say in any podcasts they appear on, and read their best-selling books.
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at how you can improve your poker game and start winning more hands like the pros.
How can I model my poker play style like that of professionals?
If you enjoy playing poker and want to up your game, you must be willing to learn and determined to succeed. If you already play poker and don’t seem to be getting any better, don’t panic because it happens to most poker players at some point.
If you want to finetune your playstyle, the best thing to do would be to fire up your Wi-Fi/internet-connected smart TV, smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, go to YouTube and watch as many seasons of High Stakes Poker as you can consume.
Some of the top professional poker players you can learn from to become a much better player are the following:
- Daniel Negreanu
- Gabe Kaplan
- Tom Dwan
- Doyle Brunson
- Sam Farha
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Phil Ivey
- Barry Greenstein
- Jennifer Harman
- Phil Hellmuth
Some of the other pro poker players that also feature in this hit series are Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Johnny Chan, Vanessa Selbst, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Laak, to name a few. You can learn so much from these players, who all have their own unique way of playing the world’s most popular card game.
You can see first-hand how they bluff in certain situations and how they play specific hands. In other words, watching just a few episodes of this and understanding how important the role of psychology is in their playstyle can rapidly bring you up to speed and advance your game in no time.
How to start playing like a poker pro
The most important thing you can do to become a better poker player is to never stop practising. Play your favourite poker as often as possible, whether that means playing live dealer poker at the best online casino South Africa has to offer or playing against others down at your nearest land-based casino.
If you never practice, you can’t expect to get any good. It doesn’t mean spending all day playing, but try to dedicate at least two to three hours per day to playing various formats, such as Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and Texas Hold ’em.
Other popular online casino variants you might like to try in your spare time are made by Evolution Gaming and BetGames. Hit titles include Live Caribbean Stud Poker, Live Texas Hold ’em Bonus Poker, Live Three Card Poker, and Live Video Poker (all brought to you by Evolution Gaming).
You also have Bet on Poker and 6+ Poker, both of which are brought to you by BetGames. These games are only available to play in the real money mode, and you must be at least 18 years old to play.
Each highly sophisticated online casino game has high or above-average RTP% payout rates, loads fast in most web browsers, and is presented to you in real-time, 24 hours per day, by friendly and professionally trained live dealers.
Tips for improving your game and playing like a pro
If you want to improve your game and start playing like a poker pro today, besides practising as often as possible and getting a firm understanding of the basics, you also need to start treating your poker play as a business, not just something you do for fun in your spare time.
In other words, when you make up in the morning, have some breakfast, get showered and dressed for the day as if you were going to work, and head to your favourite poker site from your preferred device to start earning money from your favourite game. Doing all of the above will put you in the right mindset and help you perform better at the tables, just like the professionals.
You also need to use as much technology as possible to help you win, master the art of bluffing and semi-bluffing, and get a read on other people’s ‘tells’.
A tell is a subtle change in your opponent’s demeanour and body language. Understanding basic human psychology and reading this information correctly can reveal what kind of hand they might have and what your next move should be.
Final thoughts
Becoming a professional poker player isn’t something that will happen overnight or even after a few weeks or months. It can take years, but when you finally reach the top, nothing will stop you from staying there for years, like many of the poker professionals already mentioned on this page.
The only thing that can stop you from reaching your true potential is yourself. You have to work on having a positive mindset each time you play, controlling your emotions, freeing your mind of negative emotions like anger and frustration, and never giving any information your opponents can use against you.
Finally, avoid playing poker while tired or intoxicated, and try to manage your bankroll sensibly to give you longer sessions playing your favourite game.
You never know; you could end up playing against one or more of the true icons of the game, such as Daniel Negreanu or Phil Ivey, so you will need to learn all these important lessons by watching these pros in action.
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