When playing live poker, you’re expected to assess opponents, evaluate ranges, avoid your tells, keep track of different stack and bet sizings and much more. No wonder it’s so easy to experience information overload, even when you’re playing online poker. Here are a few poker tips on how to stay calm and make good decisions when you’re playing poker games or even online poker tournaments.

Don’t Try To Do Too Much

Poker is the kind of game that allows any player to potentially turn a poor hand into a winning hand through the use of skill and wits. But many players make the mistake of trying to do too much, including reading their opponents’ body language, assessing poker hand representations and processing other game-relevant information. Doing all of this all the time can become very stressful and often lead to them unconsciously revealing their tells. Next time you’re at the Texas Hold’em table, don’t try to do too much. You may be surprised to discover how lowering stress levels can improve your gameplay. 

Concentrate on One Player at a Time

Casino table games, especially poker, require the clever use of psychology. Focus on one player at a time to help you read your fellow players better, focus on one player at a time. Watch how that person plays. Can you pick up any tells? Is the player passive or defensive? In other words, are they scared of losing and avoiding confrontation, or are they aggressive, embracing risk and with a tendency to raise rather than call?

Focus all your attention on that one player for 10-20 minutes before moving on to the next player. In addition to supplying you with useful information, this strategy will also provide you with the kind of focus that will calm your mind.

Of course, if you’re playing poker with friends, it’s easier to assess each player accurately as you probably know the people and their poker-game styles fairly well. 

Take Up More Space

Have you heard of power poses? It’s a clever psychological trick developed by speaker and psychologist Amy Cudd and designed to make a person feel more powerful and confident. Why does it work? Because body language plays a vital role in shaping our state of mind and overall well-being. 

In stressful situations like large poker tournaments, Cudd advises adopting a “high power” pose to reduce anxiety. The next time you want to play your best game, lift your chin up, push your chest forward and put your hands on your hips. Don’t use “low power” poses – rounded upper back, arms folded, neck flexed forward – which can make you feel anxious and depressed. 

Be Well-Rested

Make sure you’re well-rested before playing poker, whether it’s in-person or online. The game is pretty much the same in both cases and tournaments can last for days. You’ll need at least seven hours of sleep per night to stay focused and perform your best. So make sure you get those hours in and you’ll be ready for many live poker games and still come out on top!

Don’t Tilt

Poker, just like any other sport, demands the correct mental state of mind. When poker players “tilt,” they make bad strategic choices because they are annoyed, angry, anxious or fatigued. If you want to perform your best, it’s crucial to identify the initial warning signs of this mental state of imbalance.

Many poker players start tilting when they lose – especially when playing on public forums, such as live poker tournaments. To enhance your tournament strategy, learn to recognize when you’re in this state and predisposed to making reckless decisions. Then take action to either remove yourself from the game or recenter yourself.

Breathe

During an online poker session, you’re likely to play on average 100 hands per hour, compared to about 30 hands per hour at live casino tables. This means that poker players online play about three times as many hands, which is why you must remember to breathe deeply and correctly, perhaps by using a simple mindfulness technique to alleviate stress and help you remain calm. 

You can also experiment with the box breathing technique, which involves regulated breathing to handle stress. Here’s how it works: breathe in for a count of four, hold your breath for another four counts, then exhale to the same four-count rhythm. Complete the cycle by holding your breath for four counts before repeating the sequence as many times as you need to. You can use this breathing exercise anytime you feel overly distracted.

It’s Not Personal

Don’t take things personally. It’s easy to get fixated on a particular player who may have beaten you a few times. That’s why it’s more useful to view all players as belonging to a larger group. 

Consider how a place like Las Vegas operates. Every year, millions of tourists flock there and some even leave as big winners, but many more go home empty-handed. The casinos understand that in the long run, they’ll always win, even if a few players get lucky.

You Can’t Always Be Nice

Being skilled at deception is essential to being a successful poker player, which is why there’s no reason to feel bad about being deceptive. 

Always remember: it wasn’t you who compelled a losing player to participate in the game and place their money on the table; it wasn’t your responsibility to inform them about the basic strategic principles of the game before they started playing. (You’re certainly not forcing them to make poor decisions by calling your bets with inferior hands, either!)

Simply put, you’re not liable for the other player’s actions in any way. Even if you were responsible for their losses, someone else at the table would have caused them to lose their money. So, it might as well be you.

Think of betting, raising and re-raising as mere game tactics. They’re no different from purchasing a property in Monopoly or adding a house or hotel to your property. Just as you don’t feel guilty about charging rent during a game of Monopoly, you shouldn’t feel guilty about using game tactics at the poker table.

Enjoy the Game

Some people play poker only to win. If this is the case with you, you’re likely to feel increased anxiety when you’re not winning. Try to get some pleasure from folding, not just raising or betting. See the bigger picture. Enjoy all the complexities of the very strategic game of poker. 

Enjoy Thrilling Casino Games at Borgata Online

With these techniques, you can now play your best online poker game at Borgata Online. Register today to play casino games with family and friends. There are many games on offer at Borgata Online, including online slots, poker and blackjack, to name but a few.