Every poker player reaches a point in their development several times where they want or need to improve their game. This usually happens when you play higher limit cash games or want to take part in tournaments with higher buy-ins. But of course there are many other reasons. Especially after periods of missing, it makes a lot of sense to work on your game.
There are a number of tools that can help you improve your poker game and strategy skills, and we would like to explain them here.
Check your game
The most important method is to study your hands. If you play online, you can easily download your hand history after a session and closely review and analyze all the hands you have played. You can also review hands live by taking notes as you play. It is important to pay attention to all the important factors, such as your position, your opponents’ positions, stacks, blind levels, pre- and post-flop actions, etc.
It is important to find out where you regularly make mistakes that can be exploited by your opponents. Have you raised too much before the flop? Called raises with weak hands too often? Not defending the blinds often enough? Not playing aggressively enough? All of these and many other questions can be answered by looking at your hand history. It is often also helpful to discuss your hands with another poker player. In any case, these evaluations go a long way in improving your own poker game.
Poker books
This is one of the most popular methods. There are hundreds of books on poker, and now the authors deal with very specific topics. This allows the poker player to choose very specific books that deal with a particular problem area. But be careful: poker strategy is a very “moving” topic; therefore, you should stick to the most current stocks so as not to miss the latest developments (eg Light 3 bets or ICM).
Poker forums
These are great for posting your hands for other players to discuss and evaluate. You can quickly see different approaches, find alternative ways to play, and learn moves that you can incorporate into your game to improve it.
YouTube videos
An amazing number of players post replays of their sessions online with audio commentary as YouTube videos. When they have interesting hands, they explain why they played this or that hand in that way. This is very interesting for all poker players because, especially with excellent players, you can see how many levels they think. Not only can you learn a lot, but you can also get to know the player if you ever play against him.
Webinars
This has become a very popular format recently. A professional player gives a lecture on a specific topic and the audience can ask questions in the chat. This interactive form of training is extremely effective. There is no cheaper way to benefit from the knowledge of a professional.