If you have just started playing in a home poker game it is going to take some time to learn and develop the skills you need to be a winner. Here are 10 tips to shorten the learning curve.

1. Read. One of the things that surprises me is how few players actually read any books or articles about poker. I am not sure what their reasons are for neglecting this, but it is an important method of improving your play. As a beginner you should focus first on general poker information like the rules of play, hand ranking, probabilities, pot odds. Next should come learning about tactics and strategies and when and how to apply them. Finally, you can focus on specific poker game variations at a more advanced level. Yes, it will cost you money to buy some books, but playing losing poker will cost you money, too.

2. Observe. If you play in a home game you will usually be playing with the same players over and over again. Observe them and learn from them. You should observe all the players in your game, not just the good ones. The best players will teach you what to do right. The bad players will teach you what not to do.

3. Learn the tendencies of the others. When you play with the same group of players it is very important to learn their tendencies. One important example is to learn what each player will consider a playable hand in each of the games you play. That will give you an idea of what kind of hand you will need to beat them. If Joe will only show down a 7-low or better you now know not to play an 8-low against him.

4. Develop your own standards. The first decision you make in any poker game is deciding if your starting hand should be played or folded. You should not be making this decision on whims and hunches. You should be doing this based on objective criteria that you have set for each game. For the mainstream games like hold’em and stud you will find criteria for starting hands in books and articles. For the odd poker variations you may encounter in home games you will have to develop your own standards based on your observations and analysis of each game. As much as possible try to select starting hands that give yourself multiple ways to win, especially in high-low split games. Use the technique described in the section on practice to help you.

5. Think. Think about the games you play for a few minutes prior to each session. Don’t obsess over it, but do give it a little thought, perhaps during the drive. Create scenarios in your mind and then consider the different things you might do if this situation arose. This is sort of like creating contingency plans. It will be a lot easier to make the right decision during the game if you’ve thought about it beforehand.

6-10. Read the remaining tips at HomePokerEdge.com Ideas and information on organizing and playing home poker games and tournaments, descriptions of dozens of dealer's choice poker games, poker articles and more.

About the Author

HomePokerEdge.com