by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Apr 19, 2019 | Updated on Apr 19, 2019
There are thousands of amateur poker players from around the world who are very keen on becoming pro and making a full time career out of playing poker. Many of them don’t realize how difficult their full time poker journey could turn out to be.
Mastering the game requires years of hard work, tremendous amount of study and constant practice. And even if you feel you’re finally mastering the game and doing well, you can’t stay complacent. You need to continue learning, if you want to be consistent at winning.
Playing lower stakes poker is a great stepping stone in honing your skills. Some of the world’s most successful poker players began with grinding low stakes before they were able to move up the ladder and make big money.
Preparation – A Master Key
Whether you’ve been playing small stakes for quite some time now or you are preparing to embark on a poker career, there are some key factors that you need to keep in mind. If you prepare really well before you embark on your journey, you will find things a lot easier.
There are tons of resources you can access on the web or via books from which you can gain useful knowledge. There are many top poker pros who have been generous enough to put out free resources and some paid resources to help young poker players. One of them is World Poker Tour winner Jonathan Little.
Little believes most low-stakes players have a particular mindset flaw that blocks them from progressing in their game. Most of the time, they are afraid of losing money in common, routine spots. They are always apprehensive when they lose any pot bigger than 10 big blinds.
Little believes you can conquer your fear of losing money by avoiding the dollar mindset and instead think in terms of equity. If you know the equity advantage is on you, losing money is the last thing you’ll think about. Strive to make good decisions instead of dwelling on the losses.
Swings Are Part of the Game
His other key tip is that poker players need to understand that swings are inevitable in poker. Like any other game, you win some and you lose some. Sometimes, you need to take risks and get a bit out of the line. Don’t spend ample time waiting for things to go in your favor before you act. You will only end up slowly blinding off and losing the rake.
When it’s obvious your opponent loves his holding, you can make big folds and steal some small pots. This is an effective way to crush small stakes cash games.
The American poker pro is currently working on his new book ‘Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games’. If you would like to learn more and begin your poker journey, this book should be of help when it hits the shelves.
