Have you studied the concept of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Boxed) goals? Ever tried to use this concept to plan your poker game? Have you ever thought that you can achieve success in the game of poker with proper planning? Yes; but do you know what are your good goals and bad goals? All the SMART goals are not always good as there are some which fall under the bad category. Here is a brief study on how planning can help you set and reach your poker goals.
GOOD Poker Milestones
Knowledge is Investment
To get better at poker you need to read right study materials to train yourself in the game. Most of the players wholly consider the poker videos as the fastest way to learn poker but that doesn’t mean other study material available online or in the market is useless. Other knowledge sources are also equally important. Further, you should set aside certain hours daily for poker study as this will help you earn profit in the long run. After all, learning is a continuous process.
Practice Poker
This goal provides you flexibility. You can pledge that everyday you will dedicate atleast two hours for playing poker. So, you need to make time for poker as you make it for your family and household tasks. Further, you can increase the number of ‘poker playing’ hours, if your other tasks have been timely managed. And, it’s always better to pre-schedule your poker playing sessions and follow it religiously.
Control Tilt
When playing poker, you should also set a tilt level you can control in a single session. In other words, you should set the amount of loss you can incur due to tilt in a single game session as this will help you control tilt better and also effectively manage your bankroll. Suppose you have reached the daily limit of losses you can incur, you can stop playing to avoid losing more money. You can increase the loss percentage once you get better at controlling tilt.
BAD Poker Milestones
Profit Making
Profit making is a goal that tops the list of every poker player. This goal has been placed under bad category because it lacks specificity and poker players, at times, practice unfair activities like collusion to make extra money. Thus, the better alternative is to earn profit step by step. You should start earning profit from small games, i.e, achieve small profitable amounts playing low stake games and then shift to medium and higher stakes. And, in the long run, these small goals will add up to your bigger stacks.
Increase Win Rate
Winning is commonly seen as a best goal but variance factor in poker has both positive and negative effects on the win rate. Moreover, like profit making win rate reap fruits in the long run as variance can create havoc on any win rate measured in the short-term. So, you should analyze your moves and make strategic decisions while playing hands to manage your win rate in each gaming session.
Play More Hands per Hour
If you are a loose aggressive player, then this goal perfectly suits you. But always playing more hands per hour is not always profitable. You can open up your bet range in certain hands but not in each hand. Furthermore, you also need to concentrate on game situations and other players on the table apart from just increasing playing frequency of hands. Hence, keep your table information in check to find loopholes where extra hands can be limped and raised pre-flop.
