It is a must for poker players to stay at ease in the game. They should make good decisions in order to win and if they want to lose a bad decision is not hard to make.
For a decision that a poker player makes there is a long term expected value or EV. EV is the average win or lose of a decision is long terms. Such as you play a game in a limit Hold Em poker where $10/$20 are the limit. Then every time you bet nuts on the river you got a positive expected value of $20. But if you fold your Big blind then expect to have a negative expected value of $10 each hand.
But its not the end of it because this values is not simple. Take for example the -$10 big blind mentioned above. If you usually loses $3 in the big blind then every time you fold a hand you’re losing -$7, that’s your EV. And if you lose $12 a hand in big blind then you’re EV of folding each hand is +$2!
How come there are a lot of players who make poor decisions? This is due to the fact that there are many players who only plays for the sake of winning in the short term. They don’t focus in winning on the long run. They assume that luck has everything to do with their winning streak. They don’t even think that EV plays a vital role in order to become a better long term poker player.
No one is invulnerable from mistakes. Even the best in poker also have their own game holes. Their mistakes are not that visible to us, but its their. Some of them are too confident that they let their blinds unsupported, others always play with the same strategy over and over again never realizing that it already became their own weakness.
In poker winning is the byproduct of good and well thought judgment. Not the other way around.
Some poker players cannot understand this idea. When someone wins the pot, he or she may think that he made a right decision. But the thing is, only a long term +EV will make a person a good decision maker.
Brilliant poker players have trained themselves to ignore the distraction made by short term luck in poker. They focus themselves into making the right decisions in order to attain a positive EV. One goal is clear for a poker player and that is playing their money on a hand where they have a big chance of winning.
Don’t solely look on the games results, focus on how to make a better result. Don’t be a results oriented player who believe that the end justifies the means because it does not hold true with poker. But also remember that these kind of players made the world of poker possible.
Another thing not to forget is that your opponents faults will give you more money. Much greater than what you make by using excellent strategies.
This concept is very significant in this game. It is very valuable that you understand this. Your opponent’s failure will bring more money to your pocket because poker is a game of mistakes. The least mistakes you make, the greater the chance that you will get the pot and more mistakes you make will make you a losing partner in the game. So look out for players who are worse than you in order to win the game.
This concept is applicable to all types of poker whoever play in it.