Loading...Becoming a Better Player
Published by: Annette Obrestad
Posted In: The Poker Reporter Blog, Industry Insider
There were a few follow-up forum questions from my last post so I've tried to answer some of them below.Bankroll
From the very beginning I have always been good at managing money. I think I can say that I have never risked more than 5% of my bankroll on any tournament except when I started with $9 and had no choice lol and that was when I was taking shots.
I've always stuck to the "100 buy-ins" rule for freezeouts and it's been working really well. I've never been tempted to play high stakes cash and don't think I will for a while.
Variance
As for bad runs, we all know they suck and there are different ways of handling it. Some take breaks, some play through it and some ban themselves for a month to not play lol. I guess I've been more of the play it through type because one of my biggest strengths is that I play my A-game 99% of the time I'm at the tables.
Tilt-proof.
No matter how bad I'm running, I rarely tilt if at all. That's just something you have got to work on I guess. Being hard on yourself and stop crying if you take a beat, well, it won't get you anywhere. If complaining makes you feel better, then by all means ... go ahead.
However, other people won't feel sorry for you. More often than not, you'll just end up feeling even worse if you start whining because you use all your energy on focusing on the bad stuff that you forget about everything good that happens.
You then start going around in circles that you can't get out of until you luckbox your way to a tournament win and get your confidence back.
It takes a lot of stamina and discipline to become a good poker player, but that's something that you can learn if you have the right mind-set to do it :)
Getting Better
I have been my own teacher since I started playing poker. I'm very honest with myself, and I always question the plays I make and try to think of other ways to play hands and so on. I have always felt like the only person that will help you get better is yourself because you know your game best.
You know your strengths and weaknesses that other people won't know. So the only thing I would be discussing with other people is mostly what you can do to get better at certain scenarios and situations in general, not just single hands.
Getting by with a little help from her friends.
Most people have problems doing this by themselves though and feel they learn better by watching other people play or watching videos etc. I obviously do all that stuff as well and always have, but it's more because I want to understand how my opponents think and not how they play, so that I can easily adjust to the same type of players next time I meet them.
Being a Fish
I was splashing around for quite some time. My first year, all I played was 6-max SBG's ranging from $1-20 and some normal ones $20-50. I didn't start getting into tournaments until my bankroll was about $4k.
I only played the really small ones and just ground them out. I have never had a score that has doubled my bankroll except for the WSOPE win, and that should tell you a lot. It's not all about getting that one big score and living off that. There are other way to succeed in this game, and it's been an important part of my learning process no doubt.
Sometimes taking shots works out.
To the people who often ask "When should you move up and take shots?" I think it's a simple answer. When you know that you can beat your current level, and you have confidence that you are good enough to beat the higher ones.
This should reflect in your bankroll, meaning that you can do as you wish and not feel uncomfortable with it. If your bankroll can't afford to take that hit, you are simply wrong and need to keep grinding until you know.
-- Annette
Catch up with Annette at her home site, Betfair Poker, and test your skill against one of the greatest players in online poker in the Annette_15 $20k Guaranteed every Friday.
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