Every beginner or every novice that starts out at the game wants to be one of the top ranked pro poker players out there. They are inspired by the names of Alan Betson, Chip Reese, Chris Grigorian, Chris Moneymaker and many others. But since they are just starting out, they seldom have any solid idea about what really constitutes all these master players.
In the game of poker, there are actually four types of players: loose and passive, loose and aggressive, tight and passive, tight and aggressive. They call the tight and aggressive one the poker shark. It doesn’t play often, but when it plays, it plays to win.
And some of the characteristics that are found in such players are:
- Mathematics: Poker players need to be very strong at statistics and probability. They have to constantly calculate the chances, the scopes of winning and the direction of the game. They should understand the tactics of outs that simply signifies the winning hand with the winning cards and their chance of hitting. He should also have a fair idea of betting and forecasting as well. Mathematical skills are the basic things that one should acquire before trying their hand at a real time money game.
- Discipline: This is one thing that separates a shark from any other fish. They don’t try their hand at everything and hope to get lucky, but they have a strong sense of self-control and only play tight games. He knows that every game calls for a different skill. He knows his strengths and weaknesses. He knows when to call, raise a bet or fold his hand. He also has the discipline of analyzing his games and learning from them.
- Psychology: They rightly say that poker is more of a game of psychology. You need to know what your opponent has, what your opponent thinks about you, what your opponent feels that you are thinking about him. Reading your opponents is one of the most important things of poker. The second most important thing is to be able to manipulate the thinking of your opponents and thus take the game to your direction. He also knows that while math battles are the key in limit game, psychology holds the key in the no-limit ones.
- Calculated risk taking ability: Most of the master players understand where to draw the limits. They have a strong sense of risk vs. reward chance of the game. They know how much need to risk, how much they should keep in the bankroll, how much will allow him for a next day’s play.
- Flexibility: Last but not the least, poker is still quite a game of luck, so being able to shift gears from time to time according to the game is one of the most important assets of a poker player.