Monitoring the development of your skills as a poker player.

For a poker player to have long-term success they are going to have to follow down a natural road of progression. Each time they sit at the table, no matter the setting, their poker skills are going to be developed. Regardless of their math skills, game selection, reading ability, aggression, heart, and guts a player will have to think about poker a certain way to be successful. As time marches on and experience is gained, the way a poker player thinks about their game, and more importantly their opponents game will evolve. During each hand, a player is going to ask themselves three questions and the better they are at answering those questions, the better poker they will play.

1. What hand do I have? Many beginners feel this is the most important aspect of the hand that they are playing and the more people in the hand the more important this question becomes. Many pro’s focus on this very slightly since the majority of their struggles lie in the next two questions.
2. What hand does my opponent have? If you can answer this question accurately and consistently then you are sure to have a bright future in poker. Many things will help a player develop this skill. Experience and re-analysis of past hands are the skills that many “hand-readers” cite as to their success in this area of this game.
3. What hand does my opponent think I have? When you can answer this question, along with the first two you will be a player that is feared at the poker table. The number of players who can answer these questions successfully is a short list indeed and many of them are seen winning millions of dollars on a regular basis.

No one is going to be able to answer all these questions correctly all the time or for that matter even most of the time. You just have to be better at then your opponents, and in the long run that will be enough.

By Jon Marier