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Home > Training > Keeping Records

Poker Training - Keeping Records

Poker is an easy game to learn, but much harder to master. Its been estimated that with all of the people in the world that play poker seriously only one out of twenty actually win repeatedly for the long run. Which means that nineteen out of twenty players lose more than they win at the poker table. Its not that nineteen out of twenty are stupid and can't learn the game, or don't read poker books to learn to play better. Most poker players actually have great intellect, and do read poker books and magazines to improve their playing skills. The problem has more to do with poker itself. See poker, while being deceptively easy to deal, is actually very hard to play correctly all of the time.

Poker is certainly a game of skills. In fact, there are easily over a hundred different skills you must master to become an expert poker player. With every skill that you master you will positively impact your game in these two ways:

1. When you have a particular skill you've mastered and can use against your opponents, assuming your opponents do not have that same skill, you will win money from them (in the long run) in those situations.

2. When you possess that skill and your opponent also does, you still will not lose any money to him (in the long run) when that particular situation comes up.

What did I say...?? Having certain skills will make you money when the other person does not have those skills and it will also keep you from losing money when they do have those skills? Yes, because they will not be able to use those skills to an advantage over you.
Have you ever heard the expression of a certain player having a "leak" in his or her game? They mean that player lacks a certain skill and is losing money because of it.

The one thing that has stood out to me over the years about players that win consistently -the one out of twenty players- is that they all kept records of their poker playing from the beginning.

You must understand that learning any game or art, and then practicing it until you master it is very hard. It doesn't matter if it's golf, tennis, chess, bridge, music, theater, or poker. Becoming masterful requires self-analysis, self-criticism, introspection, attention to detail, deep concentration, and I would go as far as to say, the ability to be brutally honest with yourself and examine tolerance toward others who tell you unpleasant facts about yourself.

Keeping records of you poker sessions, even the bad ones, is a way of being honest with yourself and keeping those feelings in check. Players who are willing to do this are the ones who have what it takes to become texas hold'em winners.poker training

If you want to be a hold'em winner click here to continue on to the tutorial.