As with any competitive game or sport, the players or participants all need a certain degree of skill and knowledge about what they are doing in order to be both productive and efficient. When it comes to poker, there are many things that a player must know in so they can win. In regards to professional poker players, they did not achieve this status because they were lucky, but because they worked hard at improving their skill, knowledge, and overall playing style. In the past, players did not have many resources when it came to learning how to play poker; instead, they had to gain this through hard work and experience. In the present, there are so many ways for a person to learn and improve their poker skills, which is why there are so many good players out there presently. Deciding how and where to learn is important, and the player must always remember that not one method is the best.
Poker Training History
There is not much history behind poker training. In the past, players did not have teachers or mentors when it came to learning how to play poker, nor any resources available. Instead, they had to learn through experience. As the times changed, and poker branched out into different styles, everything changed. Before the internet, people that wanted to improve at poker would often search for a professional poker player and pay them to teach them. This was obviously reserved for those that actually had the means to pay. When the internet, and especially online gambling, emerged it became much easier for players to learn and improve. There are an insurmountable amount of methods for improvement which include poker software, online training courses, and even How To’s spread all over the internet.
Methods for Poker Training
There are two basic methods a person can use to get poker training and improve; there is the offline option and the online option.
Offline; Pros vs. Cons of Poker Training
The offline option is anything to do with the physical and in-person type of training. There are methods such as one-on-one training, books, and real-life experience.
The one-on-one training is when a player seeks help from an experienced poker player and that person teaches them from their own experience. This method is very efficient, it gives the player a real-life poker experience with a person they are guiding and teaching them on what to do and what not to do. The downsides to this method is the high cost of hiring the actual teacher, as well as the player may not learn different playing styles other than that of the teacher.
Many professional poker players have written books about their experiences, as well as tips and knowledge they have picked up along their career. Players can get an insight into how the great poker players think and act while playing. This is a low cost method, but it lacks realism. The player learning from these books may not be faced with similar situations where these methods would work, but taking the general message is still valuable information.
Real life experience is one of the most used methods by poker players today. When it refers to the offline option though, it means that these players need to play poker with friends or in land-based casinos. This is a sure way to gain the experience and knowledge necessary to become a great poker player. The downsides are the long time commitment, where a lot of time will be spent playing poker. If the player plays for real money, then there would also be a financial burden. Professional poker players usually say that to become a pro one needs to dedicate a lot of time to the game.
Online; Pros vs. Cons for Poker Training
With the easy access through the internet, online workshops and training sessions are easily available, as well as How To’s and videos. Most of these services are free through some online casinos and poker rooms or specific training sites too. The problem with online training is the fact that one cannot see the opponent, so a different set of skills needs to be acquired. Some of these skills can be translated over into face to face games, but others cannot; players need to have experience in both settings.
The online workshops are where a group of people meet in an online poker room; from there the more experienced player will teach the other players how to play. This is a very fast and efficient method that allows players to gain experience through playing but in a controlled setting. This is similar to the training sessions, which are more personalized. The problem with this is that some skills cannot be translated through the internet.
With any kind of poker training, it is important that each player develops their own playing style, which in the end could get them the win.
