Hands down, a regular warm-up routine is the single best thing you can do to ensure you play close to your best every time. If you’re like most of us, then you’ve probably had days where playing poker felt like a slog. Although, there are ways to combat this mental burnout. The easiest way to get started on this path is with a solid warm-up routine.
A routine or “poker warm-up” should accomplish a couple of important goals:
Eliminate distractions from the money-earning app from outside as well as inside your head, helping you reflect on what you’ve learned recently, and steadying your mental state. When done properly, a pre-game routine will have players ready for anything from a free online game to games on your favourite money earning app!
Here’s how you come up with a solid one to boost your performance.
Do Away with Distractions
To maximize your win rate, you need to be able to focus on the game. There is a reason you wear noise cancellation headphones for your Call of Duty mobile game. The immersive experience zones you in. Here are some ways to make sure you can do just that when you play Poker:
- Make sure you don’t have to pause mid-session to use the restroom. This will likely throw you off your game, and you’ll lose focus.
- Put your phone away. Just turn it off or lock it in a drawer so that you can pay attention to the people right in front of you.
- Make sure you’re not hungry before you start playing. You won’t think as clearly if you’re hungry.
- Give your partner/family/housemates a heads-up about the possible amount of noise you’ll be making tonight so that they won’t be surprised or disturbed.
- Be sure to have water on hand when studying. Drinking water throughout your study session boosts concentration and keeps your brain sharp.
- If you work or live in a noisy place, consider closing your windows, listening to music, or finding some other way to shut out the noise that could distract you.
Recollecting Learnings
To be successful at poker, it is important to study. Experts recommend dedicating one hour to study for every two hours spent on the felt. However, studying is pointless if you fail to apply in a free online game what you’ve learned. Therefore, you should try to keep your thoughts fresh in your mind by spending a few minutes reflecting on them before playing.
The easiest way to learn the specifics of a certain situation is to study its ingredients via the actual hands you’ve played. For example, let’s say you’ve been struggling with post-flop play after defending the big blind with a weak hand. Recently, you read an article that helped clarify many aspects of this topic, so now you want to study some more during your next session.
It’s important to reflect on your recent live poker game, especially on the hands you may have folded or called incorrectly in the big blind. Think carefully about your thought processes and how you might improve those decisions. Perhaps, you need only to make a small adjustment, like betting and raising less with weaker hands. Or perhaps, you need to make a bigger change in your game when playing on the money-earning app, such as betting and raising much less with stronger hands.
Staying Composed
- Before you play poker, take a few minutes to assess how you’re feeling. If you’re tired, take a nap. If you’re feeling unusually stressed or irritable, take a walk or see a friend and talk it out. If you’re taking it hard when your opponent beats your favourite hand on the river, remember that poker isn’t life-or-death. Emotional baggage isn’t welcome at the poker table.
- Even when you’re feeling good, it can be hard to zone out. To get into a relaxed mindset, try doing something calming before you play. Listen to music, meditate, etc.
- It’s easy to get mad after being busted in a tournament. Or losing some buy-ins. Or encountering a bad beat. You’re human, and it hurts. However, you can’t allow short-term results to dictate your play for the rest of the session. Be positive and remember: variance is inevitable.
Poker warm-up is a routine that serious players follow to get ready for the game and to perform at their best. The main goal of poker warm-up is to prime yourself and to play your best. One of the reasons why people practice before they start a campaign in Call of Duty mobile is to get acquainted with the landscape. When you think of professional athletes, they warm up before the big game or stunt. They warm up before a full session with their friends. Poker warm-up does the same for your brain. It prepares you to throw and play a good game.
Join PokerBaazi Today to Earn From What You Just Learnt
PokerBaazi is one of the earliest platforms that facilitated the boom of online Poker in the country. Operated by a team of poker enthusiasts and techies, it hosts free-to-play matches where you can practice in a free online game with others vis freerolls. If you want to play for stakes in the money-earning app, you can do so in the cash games section and play to win real money.
Pick your favourite variant of poker and join the tables any time wherever and earn some in free hours or at least keep those neurons busy. A nice feature of the platform is its RNG certification technology which helps negate any bias and ensure that all outcomes are fair.
To apply what you learnt best, check out their daily and weekly tournaments to compete for bigger prize pools and make decent earnings. Tournaments are the main jam where you are tested in real time amidst the pros. Find and nurture your calling today on India’s biggest poker platform and win big!