"being a skilled player isn’t the only strength a winning poker player has"

When the poker bug hits, it hits hard. It’s a fantastically easy game to learn, a dual of bluff and deceit, a test of luck and skill - and an opportunity to win money.

Learning the rules is one thing though. Learning the skills to be a winning player is, of course, harder but ultimately rewarding. The shrewdest players will always come out on top over time.

But being a skilled player isn’t the only strength a winning poker player has. They’re also smart, and any poker player, no matter what their skill level, needs to be smart. Not only will it preserve their bankroll, it’ll stop other players’ eyes from lighting up when they sit down.

So how can you be a smart player? A wise guy? A player with an edge? Here’s the Big Slick’s guide to the top 10 tips to playing smart poker.

Top poker tip #1: Play within your means

An obvious one to start but crucial none-the-less - only play with what you can afford to lose. Playing with money you need for the rent / car / holiday can alter the way you play. Maybe you won’t commit to a pot when you should, if you’re down maybe you’ll chase the losses when you shouldn’t. Poker is fun. Keep it that way. Decide what you can afford to play with, start a bankroll and manage it properly.

Top poker tip #2: Know the rules before you sit down

Crazy to think that people don’t but it happens – and we’ve just about all been guilty of it at some point! Offline this happens a lot in tournaments. It’s not unusual to be sitting down at a tournament and for someone to ask if it’s pot limit or no limit! Have they not been watching the game? Didn’t they check before they paid to enter? Welcome players with more money than sense. Don’t be one.

Online it’s easier to slip up. Heck, one of the Big Slick team did it last week!! How? Well there were 9 players seated at a $50 table. Our man rushed to get the last seat. Phew. Registered. But what’s this he thought. Why have I been dealt four cards? Oh, it’s Omaha. Our man didn’t know how to play Omaha. He lost $55. But you know what? He came 4th! Four other people on the table had also sat down mistakenly thinking it was a Hold’em game! Always check, it takes a second and will save you money.

Top poker tip #3: Only play when you’re feeling good

Upset? Feeling tired or under the weather? Something important at work on your mind or your partner giving you grief? Or maybe you just don’t feel Lady Luck is on your side for some reason? Then don’t play. Every hand you play can lose you money. If you’re not concentrating on the game, feeling confident and with a fully focussed mind you’re not going to play as well as if you were. There’ll always be another game to play. Preserve your bankroll for a different game a different time.

Top poker tip #4: Don’t go on tilt

Easy to say but harder to avoid doing without good self-control. So your Pocket Rockets got cracked by 66. Get over it! It’s going happen around one in five times. Sure you’ve been unlucky and yes you’ve lost money. But that’s no reason to lose even more! Don’t lose control and chase the loss by playing every hand with marginal cards. Take a deep breath, even sit out for a few hands – just keep control, stay cool and don’t steam. Luck evens itself out.

Top poker tip #5: Don’t be a calling station

A player that calls all the time will steadily give away their chips. It’s a recipe for disaster – especially in pot limit and no limit games. If you’ve got good cards, or even if you think you’ve got the best of it with weak cards, a bet or a raise is often better than a call. Especially in pot limit or no limit games a good-sized bet or raise can win the pot there and then. If you think the flop has missed everyone it’s worth remembering that the first person into the pot will often win it.

Top poker tip #6: Vary your play

All the best players do this. Ignoring the advice and always making the same moves with the same cards makes a poker player too predictable and gives an edge to opponents. If you always bet big with a big hand it’ll be noticed and you won’t maximise your winnings. Varying your play is especially important if you play with the same people regularly. “Moving up a gear” can also work particularly well in a tournament where players are keen to protect their stacks.

Top poker tip #7: Play in a game you think you can beat

Why play in a game where you figure you’ll lose? Even if it’s the only game available it’s crazy to sit down with players you consider better than you. Sure, you may get lucky in the short-term, but over time they will happily help themselves to your chips. Smart players watch a game before sitting down. They categorise opponents, keep notes about particularly good and bad players and use these to their advantage.

Top poker tip #8: Don’t abuse other players

What’s the point? Apart from being plain bad manners offline you may get banned from the card room and online your chat facility will simply be blocked. Much abuse stems from bad beats. Beaten players berate the hand winner, laugh at them and explain in great detail exactly how bad they are. Why? Surely if the player is so bad, especially in a cash game, you want to keep them there! They got lucky once. But they can’t every time. So why not just congratulate them and use their weakness to your advantage! If you’re the better player then over time you will take their chips. So why on earth make them feel uncomfortable and scare them off?! Of course, detailing why a play was so bad simply alerts other players to your skill level – making them more wary of you. There’s just no value in aggravating someone.

Top poker tip #9: Run with your profits and cut your losses

A valuable lesson from the world outside of poker. If you’re winning your opponents are wary of you, you feel better and you play better. Having other players fear you is particularly useful in pot limit and no limit games where the size of a raise can help scare them out of the pot. Equally, poker players tend not to play as well when they’re losing as when they’re winning. A strong poker player won’t let losing a big pot put them off their game. But suffer enough bad beats and even the best players will start to wonder if it’s their day. This is when tip 3 saves the day – quit the game!

Top poker tip #10: Choose your playing hands carefully

Selecting strong starting cards is an essential skill – but throwing hands where you are a marginal favourite or big underdog is too. Say you’re holding 55 in a pot limit or not limit Hold’em game. The pot is raised and re-raised and then it’s you to act. The chances are you’re up against a higher pocket pair (meaning you will win the hand about 20% of the time against one player) or AK, (which makes you a marginal favourite against one player). So you’re either a slight favourite or big underdog. Why get involved?

Of course, in tournaments it may well be correct to get involved in this situation depending on the game circumstances. Either a lower pocket pair or AK isn’t a bad hand to make a stand with but remember – it’s always better to be the raiser than the caller.