Poker Superhero

Are you fed up playing low stakes poker and dream of playing the best players in the game at the biggest tournaments in the world? Well now you can, with our easy-to-follow steps which will turn you from zero to hero in 2007. Whether it’s making regular cash online, playing in the WSOP or simply keeping track of your wins and losses, each of the ideas below will get you thinking about how to improve your game, so by the end of the year you’ll have made the transformation from average joe into a pokerplaying man of steel. Let battle commence…

STEP 1 POCKET MONEY

There are a lot of freeroll merchants out there who refuse to risk even the tiniest amounts of money playing poker. If you’re one of them listen to us now: you’ll never, ever, ever get any good at poker hijacking the play money sites and sailing the safe waters of daily $100 freerolls. The competition is soft and the all-in madness will instill terrible habits in your play. Deposit an amount – no matter how small – into an online site and play for real money. Start with $1 sit-and-gos if you don’t want to break the bank before progressing up through the ranks.

STEP 2 BALANCE THE BOOKS

You might not have done it in the past, but from this day forward write down (or type into an Excel spreadsheet) every type of tournament or cash game you enter with buy-in cost and returns. This way you’ll realise where your strengths and weaknesses lie so you can maximise your winnings or stop the leaks. It’s also a great way of seeing exactly what you’re getting from the game. If you’re just a social player looking for a bit of home game fun or a few turbo sit-and-gos online you shouldn’t see much profit or loss, but if you’re keen to progress and see poker as a way to supplement your salary or even make a living from it at some point, this is as essential as managing your actual bank account (and hopefully without the need for an overdraft).

STEP 3 PLAY POSITION

Put a Post-it note on your monitor to cover up your cards and play poker according to position and betting patterns only. You’ll be amazed how much this focuses your attention on position when all your other senses are taken away. Obviously don’t play at stakes you can’t afford to lose, but you might end up doing better than you think. And it’s a great way of discovering that your cards are possibly the least important weapon compared with position and chip stack size. This simple exercise should get you on the road to playing proper poker.

STEP 4 CASH-IN

Tournaments and cash games are very different beasts. You may think that because it’s still Hold’em, Omaha or Stud it’s the same but it ain’t. Learning how to extract chips from opponents, betting for value, as well as the invaluable experience you get of playing all the streets rather than just sticking your entire stack in pre-flop will help your game immeasurably. Just remember that when there’s no increase in blinds there tends to be less bluffing, so don’t blow your bankroll on a misjudged shove. If nothing else, over several hours play you’ll find it an easier environment to spot tells and pick up reads on people for future reference.

STEP 5 PLAY LIVE

If you want to win BIG money and become a complete player you’ve got to know how to handle yourself in the live environment. Starting with the basics of not exposing cards in a self-dealt game and barking excitedly when you get dealt Aces, it’s essential to get as much live poker experience as you can. Over time you’ll worry less about what you’re doing and be able to turn your attentions to other players at your table. Start by inviting mates round for a few sessions before heading to your local casino or cardroom. And if you’ve got no mates try www.ukpokerbuddies.com to find like-minded souls.

STEP 6 PLAY FOR SOMETHING THAT MATTERS

There’s a fine line to be trod between buying into a tourney at a level where you’ll be frightened of losing the cash and not playing high enough to give the game your utmost attention and effort. So it’s essential you play for something that will have an effect on your life (without ruining it). Why not forgo your regular Friday night pub session to go home and enter a $100 MTT or sit-and-go? You might lose but at least you’ll wake up with a clear head and less weight around your midriff. And if you win, you can use the big payout to buy into a bigger tourney or cash out and enjoy the winnings.

STEP 7 MIX IT UP

H.O.R.S.E. is the game of champions. Playing this limit game of mixed disciplines will expand your poker horizons and get you looking at poker in a whole new way. And besides, with many of these tourneys and the individual games like Razz only just hitting the online lobbies, there are a lot of people giving free money away because they don’t know how to play properly. It’s your chance to mop up.

STEP 8 BEAT THE BULLIES

It may be mouthy Mr Angry at your local card club or a silent but violent Swede online but there’s only one real defence against an aggressive player – attack. Whether it’s irritating table banter or constant raising the result is the same – these players are trying to boss the table. Like a schoolyard bully there are physical and verbal ways of picking on you and both amount to an attempt to dissuade everyone playing from directing any unwanted poker aggression in their direction. But it’s time to stand your ground. Play the bullies at their own game by re-raising them heavily and often. You might run into a hand every now and again, but more often than not you’ll just call their bluff and force them to lay down. And with that brings respect. Suddenly you’ll be the person to be feared. You’ll realise that you can dominate aggressive players, which is one of the major ways in which you can go far in tournaments.

STEP 9 ANALYSE THAT

Doyle Brunson, Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim would sit down and discuss an evening’s play for hours on end to improve their game. Although going through hands with poker-playing friends is still a great way to learn, there are other ways to break down your game and spot the leaks. One of the most popular pieces of software available is Poker Tracker (www.pokertracker.com) – a program that combines information from all your online games and tells you where your hard-earned cash is going.

STEP 10 NO FEAR

All the best poker players have no fear of going broke – of putting their tournament life on the line at a crucial moment. It’s what separates the men from the boys at the poker table. In 2007, embrace that feeling. So what if you’ve got 4-7 off-suit on the button? If the action has been folded to you get into the habit of making automatic raises to steal blinds late in a tournament. Likewise, come massively over the top of habitual blind-stealers. And don’t be afraid to see flops and gamble from time to time. Playing by the book and waiting for big hands will rarely see you go deep in a tourney. If you bust out of a tourney, so what? There are hundreds more starting every minute online. Play the maths, of course, but put people to the test and don’t be afraid to put all your chips on the line if you think you have the best hand. It’ll be the difference between just making the cash and making the final table more often than not.

STEP 11 GO ON A POKER HOLIDAY

You can go on holiday to Corfu, Ibiza or bloody Disneyland and burn through a massive wedge of cash for the ‘privilege’ of being surrounded by sunburnt British yobs, pilled-out Eurotrash and gap-year students dressed as Mickey Mouse. Instead take that cash and aim for a destination that has a notable poker haunt instead. Las Vegas, Dublin and Paris are all good places to go and have more poker action than you can shake a stick at. Eastern Europe is currently witnessing a poker explosion and is fast becoming a Mecca for stag parties as it’s incredibly easy to get over and is cheap as chips. Get a few pals together and go for the weekend or take the family and feign surprise when you note that you just so happened to book a hotel directly opposite the Jolly Flusher card club. It will get you used to playing in a foreign environment and dealing with the post-travel haze that befuddles all players. And if you’re really good and make some money, the holiday will pay for itself.

STEP 12 QUALIFY FOR A MAJOR TOURNAMENT

Pick a tournament that you fancy qualifying for and do everything in your powers to get to the event through a satellite. Put aside an amount of money that you can afford to lose and put yourself down for a few different methods of qualification. The cheap rebuy tournaments can be a good way to get through to the bigger buy-in satellites without breaking your qualification bankroll in one fell swoop. Catch a couple of cards early before the rebuy session is over and you’ll find crazy gamblers that will double you up. Or if you’re a sit-and-go champ, head for the double or triple shootouts. Satellites are the cheapest and easiest way to have a shot at a million-dollar prize (bar our exclusive freerolls). And who knows, you could be the next Chris Moneymaker.