The first stage of poker is characterized by playing for the love of the game. After reading information on websites and reading a couple of books, the player will have his basic strategy. Getting the basic strategy down may take a few thousand hands to get comfortable. Once he sees a few thousand hands, he will have experienced winning as well as losing. At this stage, players often believe they have the game figured out. When a bad beat occurs, the player will often complain and get frustrated with the game of poker. The player will believe that he plays perfectly but bad beats are killing his long-term profits. The player may have some success with poker but the bad beats will always bring him back down to earth.
In the second stage of poker, the player stops complaining about bad beats. He has seen so many bad beats occur, that it simply rolls off his back. He has won and lost so many hands that he loses emotional detachment to money. Winning is a long-term goal and the player understands that short-term losses will happen. The player has times when tilt takes over and he makes very bad decisions. Often times the player will make many bad decisions and blame it on his opponent. He will blame his opponents for making terrible calls and horrible raises. The player is letting his opponents get inside his head and he lets out verbal frustration.
In the third stage of poker, the player stops complaining about bad beats and his opponents. In the last stage of poker, the player realizes that all success lies within his grasp. He understands that he will make mistakes and his opponents will outplay him sometimes. He understands that poker takes a great deal of skill and he has a lot to learn. The poker player moves beyond the basic poker strategy and thinks about the game on his own. He realizes that poker is a very complex game of psychology. The basic starting hand requirements and pot odds mean very little at this stage of poker. The player is playing his opponent and develops his powers of observation. The player is well on his way to becoming a great poker player if he can remain humble. Every poker player has gone through these stages of poker at one time in his life. Hopefully, you will reach the final stage and take your game to a new level.
Napoleon Will is a self-published author and semi-professional poker player. He updates the poker review and strategy site http://www.mypokerstart.com
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