Steps to becoming an intermediate player
Gary Clarke, 09/04/09 | Print this article
Last month i discussed and suggested a strategy for a beginner in poker. A basic straight-forward strategy that could be adopted to learn the game well from the start. Playing premium hands and playing them very aggressively. When starting off in poker this approach is a great way to get used to and observe the game but it is far from a perfect strategy. This month lets take a look at a strategy for an intermediate player.
So you have settled in at the card room be it in the live world or the virtual one and its time to make the step from a beginner to an intermediate level. This transition is incredibly tough as it opens up a lot of difficult situations. There is no fool-proof strategy for poker and to become a winning player you will need to serve your time. One which most of us are still doing.
When you become more accustomed to the game its now time to lower your pre-flop raise sizes. Instead of trying to bet large and push people out of pots its now time to accumulate chips allowing players into the pot. Playing poker. Pre-flop, bet 3-times the big blind max and lower that the deeper the stacks are. When the blinds become big in relation to your chip amount, small raises are just as effective as big ones. Experiment raising between double and 3 times the blind. Even as simple as switching from 3 times when the stacks are deep, 2.5 when the stacks are semi-deep and just double the deep blind when stacks are shallow.
Drop your flop, turn and river bet sizes. Its okay for beginners to bet full pot all the time but intermediate players will be playing much more hands so betting full pot will leave you easy to outplay against. Again sample between betting between 50-90% of the pot. This is essentially known as giving more of a small-ball approach to your game. If you are comfortable playing hands then its important to play them not as aggressively.
Develop the use of checking into your game. Don’t simply check your weak hands and bet your strong hands, its all about deception. Try checking behind with strong hands too. Eg on the turn AK on an A-J-4-Q could be checked rather than bet on a lot of occasions. The more comfortable you get, the more you will want to keep your pots small. Reducing your pre/post flops betting and the experimentation of checking will achieve this.
Read experienced writers such as Dan Harrington, David Sklansky or Doyle Brunson. Poker books are a great way for intermediate players to learn the game at their own pace. These publications have been out a long time and reading younger authors such as Daniel Negreanu or Gus Hansen is also perfectly fine but a lot of the best material has been discussed long before the last few years.
Never be afraid to ask fellow players for advise too. They may seem like the enemy but the more poker you play the more friends you will naturally develop. If you think you have played a hand poorly ask a fellow player you respect. It is a very human way of improving. You could also post your trouble hands on a theory forum such as boards.ie. However straight-forward you think the hand may appear its never a bad idea to get a second opinion. This is how you become an intermediate player.
Finally the universal advise is to practice and critique. Constantly. The more you practice ie playing poker the more you learn. The more you critique ie questioning the way you have played a hand the more you will sharpen your game.
Finally don’t get upset if you cannot find success. If you want to succeed at poker, you will. The players that put the most effort into sharpening and developing their game will ultimately be the most successful. Play small stakes and move up. Never play in a game where you are scared of losing the amount of money you are risking. Aim to play well rather than win and if you don’t try and learn for the next time. This is essentially what intermediate players do.
Gary Clarke can be contacted at gary.clarke@pokerireland.ie
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