A generation ago, if you chose to spend your leisure time playing poker, it wasn’t something you talked about in front of the neighbors. Over the past 25 years or so, all that has changed. In 1996, Toronto-born Daniel Negreanu moved to the US at the age of 22 to take up residence in Las Vegas and seek his fortune as a pro poker player. Kid Poker, as he was known by the established players, had a few bumps along the way, but by 2020, he had accumulated winnings of more than $40 million.
Negreanu has become a poster child for poker and is living evidence of what is possible in the game. However, the fact that he has inspired so many to follow in his footsteps means that while those wanting to play poker for fun will never have a problem finding a game, things get incredibly competitive for anyone hoping to play for profit.
The good news is that winning more than you lose is at least something that you can control, at least to a certain extent. It’s not like playing baccarat or roulette in a casino, where you rely on luck and know that the house edge is always against you. Poker is a game in which a superior strategy and the benefit of experience will give you an advantage over other players.
There is also an ever-growing battery of tools and gadgets for poker players. Some are a triumph of style over substance, but others can genuinely help players to hone that strategy and make the right calls more often.
The original poker tracking software, which is appropriately called Poker Tracker, first came out in 2009 and is one of the standard tools that almost every serious player uses. It has been through various updates over the years, including a merger with its main rival, Holdem Tracker. There are other poker tracking software options out there too, and most offer a free trial, so it’s worth trying out the different options to see what suits you. The beauty of this tool becomes apparent over time. The more you play, the more data it has to draw on, and it is great for identifying both strengths and weaknesses in your game that would otherwise go unnoticed. Even better, it can perform the same strategic analysis on your competitors!
Reading your opponent is about more than analyzing every scratch of the nose in a search for tells. There is far more information to be gained through more prosaic strategies, the most obvious of which is how he or she bets. This will give you an indication of the kind of hand your opponent holds, and this can be expressed using a poker range chart. It won’t give you a magical insight into every other poker player’s hole cards, but both amateur and pro players on the US poker scene can tighten up their game and feel in better control with a poker range chart as part of their armory.
Sometimes, players get so caught up in side issues such as mind games with the other players and trying to pull off the perfect bluff that they lose sight of the most important aspect of poker – playing the cards they are dealt. Analyzing your hole cards and then the community cards as they are dealt and understanding their strength is essential and needs to come naturally to you before you start worrying about what other players might or might not be holding. There’s no need to work out the probabilities yourself. A poker odds calculator can simulate different scenarios and is handy for practice sessions. You can also use it in combination with your tracking software to examine how things might have gone differently.
Doyle Brunson, the grandfather of poker, said he regretted writing his 1979 poker strategy book as sharing his strategy secrets cost him more than he earned in book sales. But experts in any field feel a compulsion to pass their wisdom to others. Doyle’s book, Super System is still worth a read. But today, you can supplement it with online courses and poker schools, many of which are free to attend, at least in part. You can find them at all the usual big name poker websites.
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