I’ve played poker in hundreds of places around the world, with tens of thousands of people.  I’ve noticed a trait common to nearly all of them.  They don’t really want to get better.That may sound incredible.  But having watched them play, and after speaking with many of them, I’m sure that it’s true.

So you think you’re different?  You want to get better?  Sure, you want to do better at the poker table.  You’d like to win more money more of the time.  You’d like your top pair to always hold up and never get out drawn.  And you’d like to hit your draws more of the time.  Who wouldn’t?

You’d surely like to be thought of as a better player.  It’s a great ego stroke.  Everyone I know wants the cachet of being thought an excellent poker player.  It’s a nice feeling.  Who doesn’t like that.

But that’s not what I’m asking about.   I’d like to know if you’d like to actually play poker better than you do now?  Playing better actually involves work.  Who really wants to do the work it takes to become a better poker player?

Think of love making.  Ah, a nice distraction.  Who doesn’t want to be thought of as a great lover? And if we could all become better lovers by drinking a magic potion, who would deny ourselves or our partners the pleasure of being masters of this sensual art?.

But how many of us actually take the time to learn about being better lovers?  How many of us actually read or watch videos or even discuss our love making with our partners?  Ah, now that’s a totally different matter, isn’t it?  That involves work, and a kind of self-awareness in the bedroom that many of us really aren’t willing to go through to become better.  It even makes you a little uncomfortable to read about it, no?

So let’s get back to poker.  If you really want to get better and are willing to do a little work, I have five action plans that you can follow to improve your game.  Though these are meant to apply specifically to no limit Texas Hold Em, they can surely be adapted to fit just about any game.  They are geared toward the serious non-expert player who is either trying to get better in his/her home game or trying to become a consistent poker room winner.

Lesson One: Play fewer starting hands more thoughtfully

Yes, it’s true that there are some players somewhere who play too conservatively pre-flop.  But, for the most part, players play too many starting hands – and they play many of them thoughtlessly.  There are books that list the types of hands that you should be playing in different positions and against different types of players.  I’m not going to replicate all of the good work done by many other authors in this brief column.  Nor do I expect you to memorize some table of starting hands.  This lesson requires that you become more selective by thinking more seriously about which hands you really want to be playing and how you will play them.

This lesson comes down to asking and answering one two-part question thoughtfully before each decision to play.  That question is, “Do I really want to play this hand?  And if so, what is the best way to play it?”  That’s all.  Start to do that mechanically at first and it will become second nature to you.  As you’ll see, other lessons flow from this one.

Lesson Two: Play More Aggressively Pre-Flop

Many beginning and intermediate players play too passively – by calling when they should raise.  And they raise by too little – raising just the amount of the big blind when they should be raising by three or four times the big blind.

This lesson also begins with a question, “Might I want to raise instead of call with this hand in this position?”  Make sure that if you decide to play that you consider the possibility that a raise might be better than a call.  Consider the reason for a raise.  Do you want to drive other players out?  Do you want to get them to call, but for more money than they would otherwise put in if you just called?  And then make the raise necessary to achieve your purpose. Don’t be afraid to be bold.

 Lesson Three: Remember the Action of Your Remaining Opponent(s)

There are not a lot of clues to the holding of your opponent(s) in hold em.  Unlike stud, your opponent(s) do not have exposed cards in front of them to help you deduce their likely holding.  Nor are there folded cards to remember that might help you figure out the cards that remain in the deck.  But you do have the betting action of your opponent(s) to consider.  They can tell you a lot about what they are likely to have and what they are unlikely to have.  But you must remember their action.

Say, for example, that you are in late position and called an early position raiser who raised the $10 Big Blind to $40 pre-flop.  The Big Blind also called.  Everyone else folded.  The flop comes Jd Th 6h.  The player in front of you checks.  You check and the Big Blind bets $100.  The pre-flop raiser folds and the action comes to you.  You need to consider not just the fact that your opponent is betting $100 but also the fact that he just called before the flop.  Work on this skill and you will get better.

Lesson Four: Cast Opponents into Broad Categories

Most players, especially most players in the relatively low stakes version of no limit hold em that you’re likely to be in, will fit into very few broad categories.  These categories will be invaluable when it comes to figuring out what their likely holdings are.  Use four basic categories into which you place each opponent.  And then remember into which category you’ve placed them.

I’ll give you the four very basic categories and a brief description of each.  Feel free to tailor and expand this list as you develop experience categorizing your opponents.  But start with these.

Clueless: really a rank beginner who doesn’t understand the nature of no limit.  Their moves are likely to mean anything at all.  They don’t understand pot odds, bluffing, or any sort of basic strategy.  They don’t really understand the relative value of starting hands.  They are often transparent, though the fact that they are honestly happy about their hand doesn’t necessary mean that there hand is really very strong

Timid: those who understand the basics but are so afraid of losing that they will frequently fold to any pressure.  They are disinclined to be aggressive.  So if they bet strongly then they probably have a very strong hand – or are making some last ditch desperation bluff.  They don’t mix up their play and rarely fold, though they may overplay their hand in desperation, especially if they have already put a lot of money into the pot.

Wild: someone who plays aggressively with a wide variety of hands.  These players may go all in with any two cards.  Their raises don’t necessarily indicate strength, though they’re unlikely to call large raises without strong hands.

Solid: a player who sticks pretty close to conventional play, playing strong hands strongly, calling with hands when they are being offered proper pot odds to do so, and occasionally, though not indiscriminately, throwing in a bluff – especially if the betting action of his opponent indicates weakness.

For this lesson, don’t think about how to exploit these players; just concentrate on typing them and then remembering their type for future reference.  You can work on this during the frequent times when you are not in the hand.  Remember, roughly, if they tend to fold a lot.  Observe the hands they show down and try to recreate in your mind their betting decisions.  If they raised with junk then they are probably a wild player.  If they fold repeatedly after calling the pre-flop bets then they are probably timid.  If they really don’t seem to know what they are doing then they are clueless.  And if they seem to be selectively aggressive then they are solid.  Of course, this system is very basic and could be improved with many different sub-categories.  But for now, keep it simple and learn to put people into these basic categories.

Lesson Five: Put Your Opponent on a Hand

Use what you have learned from Lesson #4 and #5 and from what appears on the Board to figure out what other players are likely to hold.  This is generally known as “putting someone on a hand”.  It can be done when you’re not in a hand.  Don’t worry about accuracy at first.  Just go through the thought process of putting players on a hand as best you can at first.

At first, this will be like guessing.  But do guess.  Start with one player pre-flop.  He raises?  Think to yourself about what range of hands he is likely to have.  Was it an early position raise from a tight player?  Think “probably a big pair – Queens or higher”.  Then continue with your assessment as the hand continues.  Again, don’t worry about being accurate.  Just do it.  Does he check on the flop of medium and low cards?  Reassess and think “hmm, maybe just Ace King”.  Does his check turn into a check raise after a player after him bet?  Reassess again.  “Maybe trips” you might ponder.

What’s important here is not that you are accurate but that you are forcing yourself to start thinking about what your opponent’s likely hand is.  Stick to one player in a hand.  Learn to focus your thoughts – as most of the time, when you’re in a hand and a critical decision needs to be made, you’ll be up against one opponent

You will surely not get this right – especially not at first. But the process of thinking through what other players are likely to have by remembering both the type of player they are and their prior betting action will help you get better in the long run.

One final note.  Much as you would do in school, it will be helpful for you to keep track of how you’re doing.  The best method I have found is taking notes during and after each playing session.  Dedicate a notebook for this chore – dating it for each session and noting how you did on each lesson.  Try them out one at a time – dedicating a few sessions to each lesson in turn.  Consider how you did on each specific lesson rather than how you did in general.  See if your ability to type your opponents, remember their action, be selective aggressive, and put them on a hand is improving.  And don’t worry, grading is easy.  Just keep a running total of how much you are winning or losing on average each hour.

This article originally appeared in Woman Poker Player Magazine print publication 2007.