The 7 Habits Of Highly Successful Poker Players

Get a Free Training Package at PokerHeadRush.com Success in poker goes beyond the cards. It’s built on habits that champion strategy, discipline, and psychological insight. This article explores the seven essential practices that define the most accomplished players, offering a blueprint for elevating your own game.

1. They Control Their Ego

Your ego is a dial you should turn up and down.

Off the table? Turn it down. Learn as much as you can about the game. Talk to anyone about the game. If they’re successful in any sense, it’s possible they know some tactics you don’t know. If they’re a recreational player, you can learn more about how they think based on talking to them.

On the table? Turn your ego up. Do your bets calmly and comfortably. Look adjusted to the game. Look unperturbed by anyone at the table. This will help you versus opponents who want to stay away from pros.

2. They’re Willing To Play Lower Stakes

Most successful pros know how to turn their ego down when it comes to making money.

They will have multiple options when they go out to play. They can play a smaller game they always beat, or they can take a shot at a large game. If they’re unsure of how soft the larger game will be, they will often opt for the smaller game they always beat.

Sure, they want to move up and chase poker glory just like everyone else, but they are waiting for the right moment.

3. They’re Always Learning

When the larger game finally does look soft, they will pounce. Once they are in the game, they will be learning from the first moment. They will watch their opponents and see what they like to do post-flop. Do they fold their high cards, call with their pairs and draws, and raise two pair or better? The successful poker player will bank that information and use it in later hands. Do they deviate from that formula in specific instances? They’ll bank that information.

They will watch every showdown to reverse engineer the hand. They’ll pay attention to how comfortable their opponents are with bluffs and solid hands. Do they get excited with big hands and that looks like nervousness? Are they bored and waiting to collect a payday with huge hands? Is that a different demeanor from when they’re bluffing? They will use this information later.

They will go home and work on their game as well. They will use the poker tools to challenge themselves on any situation they feel weak on. They’ll practice. They’ll talk to good players to get their perspective.

4. They Manage Their Bankroll

Successful poker players know they are printers, and their bankroll is their printing press. If they want to continue printing, they can’t lose their printing press.

Successful poker players also know that busting their bankroll is a humongous waste of time. It can take so long to recover a poker bankroll. This is why a large poker bankroll needs to be protected more than a small one. You can recover a small poker bankroll again quickly. Large poker bankrolls can take years to build again.

Successful poker players want to chase glory just like everyone else, but they know they won’t play well if they’re stressed out. When they seek to move up in stakes, they give themselves a set budget for trying to conquer the new game. They might set aside 10 buy-ins, and they’ll make themselves move down if they lose them. They’ll grind up another ten buy-ins and take another shot with all their new notes from their last attempt.

5. They Ask Themselves The Right Questions

There are guys in Las Vegas who make a good income with a basic game. Why do they succeed? They ask themselves the right questions in every situation. They don’t play on autopilot ever. They focus on each hand individually and go through a system.

When they are facing an all-in, they work through the hand and see if they can put their opponent on any weaker hands being value bet or draws being bluffed.

When they are bluff betting, they pause for a second to ask themselves what hands they expect to fold out. If they find they’re not folding enough hands out they will back off from the bluff. They won’t let their emotions take over.

When they are on the river with a halfway decent hand, they always ask themselves if they can get another bet out of their opponent. They work through the hands in their head and see what weaker holdings will call them.

6. They’re Tough

Successful poker players play hard and play often.

Playing tough doesn’t necessarily mean you’re always the most aggressive player at the table. If the table is donating their money through loose play, you might want to wait for a good hand and play it for a big pot.

Playing tough can mean showing up to the cardroom focused. Playing tough can mean sleeping well, keeping your nose clean, and grabbing a strong cup of coffee. Playing tough can mean putting your headphones in to not let a table talker work on you.

Playing tough can also mean not giving up after losing a couple of buy-ins. Successful poker players enter games they’re rolled for, and they are prepared for swings. If they lose initially, they will refocus. If they shave all of their losing days down, they know that will add up to tens of thousands of dollars at the end of the year. For this reason, they never give up unless they’re completely tilted.

7. They Have A Life Away From Poker

It is difficult to play your best game when you are stuck indoors all day every day. Eventually, the fatigue from playing constantly without a break will make you sluggish at the table. You won’t be able to see all the angles when you’re pushing yourself into endless hours.

Highly-successful poker players usually have some hobby away from the table. Golf, travel, hiking, and other hobbies help them get outside and away from the game. The hours away from the game are well invested, because their focus increases dramatically when they return to the table. ♠

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Alexander Fitzgerald is a professional poker player and bestselling author who currently lives in Denver, Colorado. He is a WPT and EPT final tablist, and has WCOOP and SCOOP wins online. His most recent win was the $250,000 Guaranteed on ACR Poker. He currently enjoys blasting bums away in Ignition tournaments while he listens to death metal. Free training packages of his are provided to new newsletter subscribers who sign up at PokerHeadRush.com