If it’s warm where you live and you’re actually indoors playing poker, don’t worry — you’re actually in good company. If it’s warm where you are and you find that you’ve been stung hard at the poker tables, don’t worry — you’re also in good company when it comes to these circumstances as well. It’s not like we’re trying to openly make fun of you, but it does stand to reason that if you really want to break out of your cycle you will need to think about how to fight back.

When we say “stung” we mean bullied or otherwise parted with your precious poker chips. If your money is going down instead of up, it’s time to fight back. If you find that you’re tired of playing on emotion and losing big pots that you felt should have been yours, you’re going to need to think about how to fight back — and win.

We would be more than happy to help. You see, when it comes to poker it’s really all about being selective. If you look back at your poker games and find that the common denominator across table sis the fact that you play so many hands preflop, then you will want to make sure that you stop doing that and start looking at actual values. Sometimes that low 3-3 pocket pair really isn’t worth it — are you doing your card odds properly?

Poker is such a fun game because it demands that you use a lot of different skills in order to come out on top of other poker players. You have to master the psychological game without getting upset or losing your cool, and then you also have to master a few statistics principles win order to make sure that you really come out on top more times than you fail. Math will take you there — emotion will often not.

Learning to read players is really what’s going to end up making all of the difference between success and failure in the world of poker. You don’t want to end up giving up in frustration when the answer that you needed all along is right there in front of your face. You will need to study the hands that you’ve played as well. We know that we say it a lot but people really do end up not looking back at past history to even figure out when they’re taking what actions. You don’t want to just rush through things and not see the details for what they are.

It can take some time before you can really fight back, but you don’t want to let emotion overrule good sense. You don’t want to stop and think that there’s no way that you can get better in the world of poker when there is always a way to move up. Don’t be afraid to talk with someone else that can help you tighten up your poker game as well. Even though everyone is competing against everyone, there’s really no reason why you can’t make the most of it anyway, right?

Right.

So, if you’ve been slapped around a bit at the poker tables, it’s definitely time to fight back — use these tips to guide you!

By Maya