Poker mentality - Learning

OK, I've taken a big break from this blog, and have a lot to share. But this post is probably the most important tip for a player trying to work their way from the bottom up, as it gives a solid overview of what makes a good player.

First of all it's best to think about poker as being a sum of every decision you make. Every fold/call/raise you make will effect your long term earnings. There is always an optimal decision and bet size for every decision you make, which is based on many factors. That optimal decision is known to have the most expected value, which means over the long term if you make that decision you'll be set.

So there are two very important things you can do to make the most of your time in poker. Firstly, spend a lot of time learning, and improving your knowledge of poker concepts. The best players don't become the best by luck or pure skill, they work hard at improving their game, and could tell you the +ev move to make in most situations. Secondly, play in a way that maximises your potential to learn.

Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Have a balance between playing and learning. Don't spend every free time playing poker. Read forums, watch videos, talking to better players, learn what you are doing on the tables.
2. Focus on the process, not the result. Most people aim to be up at the end of a session. Instead aim to make every right decision while you are playing. Focus on the players tendancies and table conditions more, take time to think a decision through given all the factors you can think of.
3. Spend time analysing your own game. If you have a hand history, review it after every session, focusing on the bigger pots, especially the biggest losing pots. Be honest and self assess some calls/raises/folds as terrible and learn. Look for small leaks too, try to find patterns in your smaller losing hands. If you are unsure, post a hand to the forums.
4. Learn self control. Don't play when overly tired, distracted, drunk, tilted, sick etc. You'll do much better emotionally and financially to just watch some TV or do something else. You will lose money in these states and regret it later. Also learn to control your decisions. Aggressive players and marginal hands can lure you into thinking you are ahead when it's obvious you are rarely ahead given the board and the betting. Folding what's most likely not the best hand anymore can make you a lot of money.
5. Respect your opponents. They aren't here to pay you, they are here to win money. Rather than reasoning that you are just better than everyone at this level, work out what mistakes other players are making that will allow you to make money off of them. Also if you are noticably getting outplayed, or the table isn't working for you, quit the table and start another. You should be assessing your table conditions very often and should try to learn when you need to move to a better table.
6. Understand mistakes are a necessary evil. It's hard to swallow, but you will make a horrible mistake time to time, and in poker that could easily be the difference between having a good winning night and a poor losing night. Face your mistakes, work out what went into you making that huge call, and learn from it if it's trully a mistake. Again ask forum members if you are unsure if it was a mistake or not.

It's a lot to take in, I'll probably go through each one in future blogs in greater detail. The important message is the game is in the details, every extra positive factor increases your long term winrate, no matter how small it seems at the time.

I will go through these points in more details, as I do think it's that important to being a winning poker player.