4 Keys to Always Playing Your Best Poker

Poker features a great deal of skill. And if you're not on top of your game, then you won’t play your best and maximize your potential winnings.

This is why playing your A-game is so important. After all, making a few mistakes here or there takes a chunk out of your bankroll.

But how do you bring your A-game to the table every time? Let's find out by discussing 4 keys that will help you play your best in each session.

1. Only Play when You're Mentally Focused

One of the biggest problems that I had when starting out in poker was playing any time I was in the mood. It didn't matter if I was happy, sad, distracted, or angry about something because I'd sit down to the table regardless.

This is fine if you're playing 1/2NL and don't care about losing a few dollars. But serious poker players need to make sure that they’re in the right state of mind before sitting down to felt.
You need as close to 100% concentration as possible when you're playing. This helps you avoid leaks and better analyze opponents.

Of course, you're not always going to feel perfectly prepared before every session. This is when it helps to have a routine that relaxes you and gets you ready to play. Here are some different things that you can do to get yourself in the right mindset:

• Light exercise.


• Meditate for 5-10 minutes.


• Study strategy for half an hour.

2. Get Sleep and Eat Right

The mental side can only do so much to help you reach your potential. The other big part of this is making sure that you lead a healthy lifestyle, which involves getting enough sleep and eating right.

This sounds cliché because you'll perform better in anything when you have the right nutrition and sleep. However, many players ignore these concepts because poker isn’t a physical sport. But try playing your best poker when you’ve had 10 beers the night before, gotten 4 hours of sleep, and eaten McDonald's for breakfast and lunch.

Essentially, you should treat yourself like a pro athlete in how you approach your physical lifestyle. Obviously nobody expects a poker player to have the fitness of an elite football or basketball player. But it's always nice to overshoot your goal.

Long story short, you should be eating a well-balanced diet that’s void of processed sugars and trans-fats. You also want to get as close to eight hours of sleep per night as you can.

3. Don't Focus on Results – Focus on Your Play

Everybody suffers downswings in poker no matter how good they are. This is why it's a bad idea to judge success by how you do money-wise in a single session.

The better idea is to focus on how well you're playing. Are you properly reading opponents? Are your bet sizes correct? Do you fold at the right times?

These are just a few questions that you want to ask yourself during and after a session. You can't always control the short-term results. But what you can control is how well you play and if you're mentally in the game.

You also want to be mindful of any strategies that you’re sketchy on during a session. If you run into tough spots, then do some research/analysis afterward to find out how you could've played the hand better.

4. Remain Confident at All Times

As long as you follow that first three points in this post, you should feel better about your play. But it also helps to carry high confidence at all times because poker can be a rough game.
Everybody’s confidence will be shaken at times, especially when they're suffering a downswing that's lasted several thousand hands. But when you put the work into the game beforehand, you're more likely to have high confidence and feel that you’re superior to opponents.

The goal is to become a good enough player to where you always feel like you're the best at the table. And while this may not always be true, you should attempt to make it so by studying strategy and properly preparing.

Conclusion on Playing Your Best Poker

The best place to begin with poker success is by getting the mental and physical side down. This is especially true when considering that the majority of poker players don't care much about their diet, sleeping patterns, or preparation.

I'm not saying that you can’t still be a good player if you lack sleep. But why make the game tougher on yourself?

You'll also do well to focus on how you play each session, rather than worrying about short-term results. Make it a priority to be on your A-game every time you come to the table. Do this and you'll quickly improve in poker and win more money.