This checklist won’t make you win all the time…but it will help

We all envy the pros – they have an easy lifestyle just playing poker every day, right? Well, not really. The game is their job and they plough through some serious overtime between tournaments. Here’s how one PKR Pro stays on top of his work: Simon Hemsworth revealed this list at the beginning of May. Now, he would be the first to admit there is no true ‘recipe’ for poker success – but that doesn’t mean his advice won’t save you from a few sticky situations down the line.

1. Basics

With discipline on your side, cash games are no longer intimidating poker arenas – especially online. Hemsworth says it’s all about nailing the fundamentals first…and he’s right. Adjusting your hand range depending on position is a tricky skill to master but there is no better training facility than an online poker site. Hemsworth refers to cash as a ‘solved game’ – implying there are certain lucrative moves almost set in stone. If you wander off the well-trodden track of cash game tactics (i.e. limping into a lively pot with an unsuited K9), you’ll get ambushed for sure.

2. No Hollywood

Everybody loves to see a great bluff on TV, when you can feel the culprit’s heart thumping through your speakers – it’s why we love poker. Still, Hemsworth argues that you’d be wrong to be mega-bluffing all the time. You need the balls to make massive leaps in poker, now and then. Basing your whole play style on such leaps is futile. Hemsworth understands this is largely common knowledge and is simply placing a healthy reminder in the minds of his readership – excitement ought to be controlled at the felt or online.

3. No Tilt

You may win a poker tournament in a single move, and you can definitely lose one. Tilting is the worst disease to catch in any poker environment; it corrodes your strategy, chips away at your cool and can strip your table image in a second. No matter what happens in the game, stay calm and you always have a better chance of recovery. If you go out, then go out with dignity and learn from the bad stuff.

4. Athletic Approach

You wouldn’t enter a 100m sprint after a night out. If you’re feeling ropey, avoid the game (or at least the big tourneys). Always give yourself the very best chance of winning – what’s the point in giving your opponents an edge by entering a MTT when you’re tired? Hemsworth also recommends comfortable multi-tabling over excessive sessions online. If you’re playing too many tables at once, you’ll be out of synch with your opponents and miss out on pivotal moments in the game that do not involve you directly. Hemsworth plays on PKR.com under the name ‘Rhymenoceros’. He won’t be cleaning up all the time but you’ll never see him tilt. Between games, he’s studying poker and sharing his knowledge – which is the closest recipe to guaranteed poker success you can get.

This PokerFaceNews article was sponsored by PKR, which offers one of the best loyalty programs around.