POKER GUIDE - Getting Started in Holdem

This article is called "Getting Started in Holdem "(but you knew that - the clue was in the title). However it isn't going to teach you the rules or how to play. If you need to know the basics stick “‘no limit holdem rules” into a search engine - you'll soon find all the information you need. Instead my goal is to point you on the road to greatness. I can't teach you how to be a good player in one article but I can give you some tips to start you off in the right way. So here are some of the things I wish someone had told me before I sat down to play for the first time.

Winning involves losing

Poker is the perfect mixture of luck and skill. There is enough luck so that on a given night a beginner can beat a more skilful player. However in the long run the more skilful player will make better decisions and end up with the chips. If you set out on your poker journey determined to be a winning player you must understand that you will lose a lot of the time. To give you some idea the best cash players in the world will lose over 40% of the times the play.

Handling losing can be difficult and poker can be an incredibly frustrating game when you do everything right but the cards don't fall your way. If you understand that in the long run making the right decisions will make you a winning player over time when you start out you'll find this bothers you much less

Be rational not emotional

Poker is an exciting adrenaline filled ride. Almost nothing compares to making a big bluff and winning a monster pot. Of course you should enjoy it but if you want to be a winning player you need to approach the game in a rational way.

Understand that every poker hand comprises 52 randomised cards and the combination they appear on the table cannot be influenced. The cards don't know if you have a lucky rabbit foot with you, they don't know if you're upset from losing the last hand, they don't know if you're on a losing run and “deserve” for it to turn round. Top poker players understand that they can't control the cards and that all they can do is keep making good poker decisions which will pay off in the end - commit to being one of them from the outset.

Aggression is all

Every good poker player is aggressive in their play. The reason goes to the heart of the game. There are two ways to win in poker which makes the game unique. You can have the best hand (score if you like) or you can convince everyone else you have the best hand and make them throw their hands away. This is like losing 3-0 in a football match and convincing the other team you scored 4 when they weren't looking.

When most players learn and begin to play they are passive - don't be one of them. Don't call much; bet and raise and be the aggressor putting the pressure on your opponents.

Take responsibility

To be a good poker player you need to be completely honest with yourself. Sometimes you will play well and lose - sometimes you will play badly and win. After you play you can tell other players, your friends or your mum any story you want but you need to know the truth.

It is counter to everything else in our society but you must try and ignore your results in poker. Results can give you a false picture good and bad - you need to commit to analysing your decisions not the outcome of them.

Don't fall into the traps of other players - your results are not because you're unlucky, they're not because the dealer (human or digital) hates you, they're not because the stars are misaligned - in the long run they're down to your decisions.

Beware false prophets

Ask anyone that plays poker (especially any bloke) and they'll tell you they're a good player. The poker world is full of people who talk a good game but don't really know the game as well as they'd like (some of them even have their names on poker books).

Make sure you're getting your advice from the best. It's not hard to find the good books, DVDs and tutorial sites so seek them out. Better yet find some players in your local poker room or online that are definitely winning players and bug them to help you.

Always have an edge

Poker is a relative game. There was an often quoted remark about a famous player called Eric Drache, it said ‘he is the 6th best seven card stud player in the world - unfortunately for him he usually plays against the best 5'.

In poker you do not have to be a world beater to make money and win. You don't even have to be very good - you just have to be better than the other players in your game. Another famous poker saying is ‘if you're in a poker game and you can't spot the sucker at the table; it's you.' Never forget this and always make sure you're better than the other players in the game.

Have the right mindset

Poker demands clear thinking and all of your decision making powers. If you are tired, upset, drunk or not centred it's very hard to play winning poker. When you play you should be focused, ready and determined to win.

If not and you just want some fun play at very low stakes or for play chips - or do something else entirely

Poker rewards effort

One of the reasons people sink into poker and lose their lives in a lifetime of playing is that it truly is the game that takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. It is an unsolvable game.

The great upside of the game is that the more you play, study and learn the better you'll become. There is nothing more rewarding than learning a new move and successfully pulling it off at the table and even that pales into comparison to using your new skills to win your first tournament or build a huge bankroll from scratch.

Enjoy it

Poker is a game and it should be fun whenever you play, however seriously and at whatever stakes. It can also take a long time and if you're going to spend hours of your life on something you should be enjoying it.

This article has given you some pointers to being a winning player but there's no compulsion for you to take poker seriously. You may end up being the poker god of your weekly home game with your mates or you may end up as the world champ with millions of dollars online; whichever it is have fun playing the greatest game in the world.

Nick Wealthall