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Heatman's The Skills of Poker
Heatman won our first Poker Thoughts Contest with his entry below.
Just a little over 1900 words. Started writing this as a list of things to
tell my brother he should work on. He's learning how to play hold'em.
Thought it might make an okay entry. I included a Word file so you can use
the formatting if you want. Heatman
I've played poker in family and social games for almost 35 years, and I
considered myself to be a "good" poker player. Whether it was trying to
beat my cousin's out of their Christmas money, or playing socially with a
bunch of neighbors, I relied more on luck than skill, and without records I
can claim that I won more than I lost. But I really doubt it.
Six month's ago, after taking a beating playing hold 'em at a family get
together, I set my sites on becoming a consistent winner, and eventually an
expert level poker player. I'm still a ways from expert status, but I am
now winning consistently and improving all the time. When I started down
this path, I didn't even know what being an expert meant. Over the past six
month's I've read, studied and played tens of
thousands of hands, and I think I've at least identified the things that
separate the serious player from others. I've mastered a few of these
skills, and have quite a ways to go with others.
I'm sharing this list in the interest of helping others who may be
struggling with how they can get better, and to get feedback on other things
to consider so that I can learn from others. I've broken these skills into
three areas, technical skills, "soft skills" and intangibles, and limited my
discussion to what I think are the top three items in each area:
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Technical skills
These basic technical skills provide a framework for decision making under
pressure. Novice family game players and many new tournament players lack
this framework and "go with their gut" on every play. Lacking a basic
understanding of poker theory, these players rely almost completely on luck.
These skills are foundational. Basic blocking and tackling and for serious
players they should be second nature.
Starting Hand Selection
I'm not talking about starting hand charts here, although those are useful
in getting started. This is more about knowing when 89s is a playable hand,
and when it isn't. Its knowing which hands play better with just a few
callers, and which ones only work in a multi-player pot.
Great starting hand selection is adjustable for the situation. Playing 18%
of your hands may be appropriate, or way too loose, in an aggressive game.
35% might be too tight if the game is passive. Skill in selecting starting
hands relies on knowledge of when, why and how to get started.
Probability and Odds
Basic statistics play a role in almost every decision, so a little knowledge
of statistical analysis and probability is important. Calculating
probability based on outs is a start. Knowing the odds of hitting on the
flop is also important (but difficult to do in your head). Either one of
these can be memorized for the mathematically challenged.
The ability to calculate expected value, however, is complex enough that a
good understanding of what expected value is, when it applies and how to
calculate it is valuable. Sorry, I know of no easy way to get around the
math on this one.
Reading Hands
This is the ability to quickly recognize the likely hands that an opponent
may hold. At its most basic level it requires knowledge of what is
possible. New hold 'em players often bet two pair or three of a kind
against a board that suggests a flush or straight, for no reason other than
forgetting to think about it.
At a deeper level, the ability to accurately recall the order of play: who
bet, who raised, who re-raised - not just on this betting round, but during
the entire hand, provides additional information in determining what is
possible. This is almost always just partial information, and depends on
several factors like the quality of the competition and how extreme the
action has been. A good player is unlikely to hold a full house when the
flop comes 447, unless they were given a free pass in the blind, but a newer
player might. If there was heavy raising before this flop, you should be
pretty sure that nobody has a full house.
Technical skills can be learned through self-study, reading and practice.
Anyone with an average aptitude for math and card playing experience can
master them with a little effort. Most above average players have a full
understanding of the technical aspects of the game.
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Soft Skills
Gauging the Player
The ability to quickly and accurately determine how much poker a person has
played, how good he is, and what his playing style is. Then, the ability to
validate or adjust these assumptions based on further actions by this
player. For me this is an evolving situation in which I make some initial
assumptions, and then gain confidence in them as I continue to learn about
the player. As my confidence in what I think I know grows, so does my
ability to take actions based on it.
Things to think about. Aggressive or passive? Loose or tight? Tries to
steal too many pots? Traps or slowplays? Makes loose calls? Always plays
(bets) draws? Bet size vs strength of hand? Varies play, i.e. plays tight
when the table is aggressive, but loosens up when appropriate?
Getting a quick read on a player adds a dimension to reading hands that can
be used to take actions that may otherwise be questionable, even if it's a
rough read. The size of the risk taken should be appropriate for the
confidence you have in the read. For example, you might make a 2BB call
with a rough read, but decline to make a 10BB call until you are more
confident in what you know about that player.
Reading the Player
The ability read a player's actions, based on the kind of player that you
think he is, and factor that into your play. This means having a feel for
what a certain action means for a specific player. For example, an all-in
bet from some players is a blatant attempt to bull their opponent out of the
pot. When these players want to build the pot because they have a strong
hand, they don't force others out by going all-in. For other players, an
all-in bet may mean that they have a strong hand, and have put their
opponent on a good second best hand, and they want the call.
Alternatively, a soft bet on the flop may be a trap, or a weak attempt to
steal when no one is likely to have hit. Most average players are
relatively consistent in how they play their cards, and once you have gauged
their play it can be a strong factor in how you react to their actions.
Even above-average players can be predictable to a degree.
Playing the Player
This takes reading the player to the next level. It is the ability to use
your knowledge to get a specific action from a certain player that you are
familiar with.
For example, some players hate to be re-raised and have to dominate the
hand. Got a strong hand and want to isolate him? Re-raise him pre-flop and
often he'll go over the top, maybe all-in. Afraid he'll learn what you are
doing? Next time he bets, put out a small raise with anything, and then
fold to his re-raise.
Got a pot stealer and a strong hand? Check the flop and weak bet on the
turn to induce a steal/bluff. Call his raise, then bet big or go all-in on
the next card. Pot stealers hate to think that anyone else would use this
tactic against them, and they'll call to the finish or come back even
stronger.
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Intangible Skills
Discipline
The ability to play only good starting hands, make tough laydowns and play
as correctly as possible under any circumstance. Never saying, "I know this
is wrong, but." (I'm due, just this once, no guts no glory). Resistance to
loosening up because of dryspells, bad beats or just because "you've got a
feel". Recognizing tilt and dealing with it (get better or get out.)
Things to think about:
To really master discipline, a lot of the skills above have to be mastered.
Its hard to make yourself do the right thing, if you don't know what that
is.
Being disciplined doesn't always mean playing straight up and by the book.
Off color plays are important too, but you need to have the discipline to
know why you are doing what you are doing, rather than just acting on a
whim.
Discipline and experience go hand in hand. It took a lot of hands for me to
really believe that Axo is rarely playable, but now I don't give them a
second thought. I also used to check my "flop %" and see 42% and say, "How
can that be? I'm barely playing any hands at all." Now I check and see 22%
and say, "Wow, felt like I was getting a little loose."
Emotional Response
The ability to take a bad beat, toss what would have been the winner, or
listen to a wise cracker and just cruise smoothly along. I'm not talking
about banging chairs or cussing after an especially frustrating experience,
but the ability to do that if required and get back down to business. Or,
if need be, to sit out, grab a beer and just take some time to let it go.
Especially in no limit, this is a necessity. It takes too long to build
that big stack to lose it in a fit of irrationality. You may have just lost
half of it because bozo over there just caught his gutshot draw on the
river, but it won't do any good to lose the rest going all-in with 78s.
A first step is being able to recognize your emotional state and act on it.
The next step is being to control it, to be able to smile, shake your head,
and say "nice hand", then get past it. Shows poise, experience and keeps
you in the game.
Ability to Think Under Pressure
All of the knowledge and experience in the world does you no good at all if
you stop thinking when you see a big hand, a giant pot, or a challenge from
the gorilla to your right. What can beat me? What could he have? How can
I improve and what are the odds?
Easy to say, hard to do, especially with adrenalin pumping, everybody
waiting and your inner voice screaming, "Call, raise, fold, all-in." This
takes experience, and eventually becomes less about original thinking and
more about recognizing situations you've been in before.
A final thought:
Balance
Of course, the reason poker is such a fascinating game is that all of these
things, the technical analysis, the soft skills and the intangible factors
have to be balanced in an endless number of situations. If there was a
formula for success, or a checklist that you could use to cover all of the
bases, then any robotron could master it. The reason that so many of the
world class players have variant styles, is that there are just as many ways
to balance these things as there are players.
I'm still working at it, and I'm sure there are a bunch of things to learn
that I haven't even recognized yet. Part of being good anything is knowing
what you don't know, and I'm much further along than I was a five months
ago. If you have mastered all of the above, and think you're a great poker
player, you probably are. But if you're like me and you want to always get
a little better, let me know what you are working on. I'd like to factor it
into my plan so I can bust you when we get heads up :wink:
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