Hand rankings. Expected value. Low stakes. High stakes. These are all terms that you’ll hear in the world of poker. For the old pro, this is child’s play, Poker 101 for lack of a better term. However, the newcomer is suddenly in a state of shock and confusion. Can they really get through this new world without getting eaten alive by the sharks? Sure they can. It just takes a good poker reference, determination and yes, a bit of luck too.
There’s nothing wrong with being a newbie in the poker world. Even if some people talk endlessly about fish, the reality is that they were once newcomers as well. They didn’t have all of the answers, because nobody has all of the answers within the world of poker at the very beginning. Even the legendary players that do high stakes poker on the TV don’t have all of the answers. They had to learn along the way and make plenty of mistakes. There isn’t a single poker player that hasn’t lost money. If they tell you that they have a perfect record, it’s time to run in the other direction. There’s no way on earth that they have a perfect record, because everyone has a bad beat from time to time.
By the way, a bad beat is just one term that you’ll find in a poker reference. If you want to get the inside angle on poker, you need to have a reference guide that shows you not only the vocabulary, but it also shows you basic strategy that you can alter to meet your needs. That part is actually very important. You don’t just want to rush in with a strategy that isn’t customized to what’s going on at the actual table. That’s going to hurt you more than anything else. However, if you step back and look at the action on the table you’ll have a better idea of how to proceed. If someone has a bigger stack than you and they’re acting aggressive, shoving back might not be the wisest move to make. Even when you feel like you have the right cards, it’s all about how you time your actions.
A good poker reference is just the beginning, however. The right community will extend what you’re learning from the poker reference and then some. Make sure that you keep playing practice games to get more comfortable. Theory is one thing, but things change when you have to go head to head against live players!