Do You Have Good Poker Patience?

This lesson is going to be directed to patience in poker. Patience is said to be a virtue. Well in poker, patience is especially important. Patience is the key to good tournament play. Profiting is our main objective, so tournament poker becomes a game of survival. Cashing in is what's important, because when you cash in, you don't lose money and your able to put yourself in a position to win the entire tournament.

Many people believe that poker is about playing your hands and letting the cards come as they are. Sometimes that will definitely work, but in the long haul, many more philosophies should be seen. The fact is that no matter how good your hand is, if it is not winning or going to win then its not what you wanna play. This is when patience comes into play. One needs the patience to know they can fold and live to see another hand. Its not the end of the world to make a call that ends up being a losing call, but you should know that folding is always an option. There is nothing wrong with saving what chips you do have for another and better position. Again, our objective is to survive, not have the most chips. Someone with the most chips can be easily defeated when it comes down to the nitty gritty. There are countless examples of that in World Series Of Poker history. Many have came back heads up or just at the final table being the overwhelming underdog in chip count. Waiting for that chance to survive can really be the difference in making the bubble (last person to leave before payouts) and taking down first prize.

Bluffing or waiting to bluff for the right time can absolutely make or break your game. Timing your aggression properly is a key part to taking momentum in any form of poker. This is patience at its best when we speak of efficient poker play. When one waits to make moves and makes them in right time, they may make the perfect set up for a future hand that gives that player all of another's chips. Timing becomes very important, and without patience, timing is next to impossible.

Patience can also allow you to make much better reads. When one allows time to learn their opponents moves, he or she can then take advantage of the weaknesses they have witnessed. There are weaknesses in every player and exposing them is the very best way to gain that opponents chips. Ability to read is one of the major components to a players game that seperates the good from the great.

With patience, anyone can become a profiting poker player. There are many other things to learn to incorporate to a patient game, but these are skills typically acquired through experience and understanding. Patience is something even the most inexperienced player CAN have. So in poker patience is more than just a virtue, it's a key to success.