After listening to Ed Miller speak at last year’s ITH convention, I made up my mind that I wanted to learn how to play no-limit cash games. Given their popularity at the moment it seemed silly not to have this game in my arsenal. Six months later I am now reasonably confident playing the game and have some nice positive numbers over a decent-sized sample. I still consider myself a relative newbie at the game. Don’t worry, I’m certainly not going to sit here and try to tell no-limit players how to improve their game. However, what I would like to do is provide some tips for limit players who are thinking about learning no-limit cash games.

On the 5th of May 2006 I left my cosy office job for the last time, in order to throw my hat into the ring as a professional poker player. Long-time members of the ITH forums may remember my plea for last minute advice before I finally took the plunge. No matter how prepared I thought I was, giving up a guaranteed income to try and make my way as a professional gambler was a huge step and one which I don’t think you can ever be completely ready for. I was extremely grateful for all the advice I received.

About 6 months prior to this I had written an article called One Week as a Pro (note to editor, please hyperlink), in which I described taking a week off work to see what life would be like as a poker pro. I thought I would write a follow up to this article, chronicling my experiences as a full time pro and answering some of the questions that I am frequently asked. In the last year I have received several inquiries as to my progress and experiences now I have taken the plunge for real. It has been an exciting year, with plenty of ups and downs, but ultimately it has been a rewarding experience, both financially and in other ways as well.

We begin the journey the first time we play poker. When we sit down in a casino, online or (more often than not) in a home game. We start as complete beginners, but from there we develop as players, improving our play, discipline and attitude. Hopefully our play will continue to improve and we will eventually become winning players and then move on to beat bigger and bigger games.

Of course, it doesn’t quite work like that most of the time. Not every player is destined to become a feared high limit player. Not every player is destined to become a winning player at all. In fact the majority won’t, they will be losing players indefinitely or until they eventually give up playing. Nothing is destined in poker. You will improve as a player as long as you put in the work and have the ability to grasp the concepts involved. Simply playing poker for a long time does not make you a good player. Likewise, being a relative beginner does not necessarily make you a bad player.

The days of smoke-filled rooms, whiskey, cheeseburgers, and late nights are gone. I think the new-school poker players — the ones who are dominating the games today — are players who look very different. They’re younger, leaner, and more focused on improving their physical and mental health — and they’re crushing the games.
— Daniel Negreanu

For the newly released poker book Peak Performance Poker: Revolutionizing the Way You View the Game, author Travis Steffen interviewed a lot of top pros, and the preceding quote from Daniel Negreanu basically sums up in a couple of sentences what the book is all about. As someone who has always struggled with my weight and energy levels, I was quite excited when Travis approached me about the concept for this book. This was exactly the type of poker book that I had been wanting to read, and now I was in a position to have my company publish it.

Peak Performance Poker is about preparing your mind and your body to play the best poker that you can possibly play, and to play that way at all times.

Improving your game
People write to me all the time, telling me their poker history, which inevitably ends up with the same question: “What can I do to improve my game?” Many people use the new year as a time to assess where they are and where they want to go — whether it’s in life or as a poker player. Each person is different and learns in different ways, but here is a list of things that I like to recommend to players to help them improve their game.

Keys to success in today’s poker world
Today’s poker environment is much tougher than it used to be. A few years ago, anyone with half a brain and a little dedication could make money playing poker. All you had to do was play smart and you could make good money. But that has all changed. To be a successful poker player in today’s world requires that you not only play smart, but be smart in every single aspect of the game.

Many of the players who came into the game a few years ago have lost their money and gone on to other pursuits or hobbies. There has been a tremendous influx of educational material that has pushed the level of play higher and higher.

Preparing Darus Suharto
I had the pleasure of hosting an event to help Darus Suharto prepare for the World Series of Poker main event. Darus finished in sixth place and took home more than $2.4 million. The main event has come a long way the last few years, as Darus took home close to the same amount that Chris Moneymaker won in his classic 2003 victory.

Eric "Rizen" Lynch was coaching Darus to help him prepare for the main event. Eric and I had talked earlier in the summer about various ways that one might prepare given the four-month layoff. Once Eric started actually coaching Darus, he called me about one of the ideas we had.

Play different-structured tournaments
Last fall I wrote a column titled "Improving Your Game." That column discussed how long-term players sometimes reach a point where they become less keen on learning and improving their game. Ian Taylor described in The Poker Mindset (which I co-authored) some of the reasons why our desire to learn might start to wane. These include:

 Complacency
 Illusions of Mastery
 Loss of Enthusiasm
 Stagnation

Resources aplenty
Do you remember when you started playing poker and read your first poker book? You probably were very motivated and worked extremely hard on improving your game. At this point in your poker career, learning was essential, as the alternative was mostly likely going broke.

Focus on your poker instincts
Beginning players are afraid to make mistakes because they don't want to look like a beginner. Experienced players are afraid to make mistakes because they also don't want to look like a beginner. It isn't a big leap to say that most players have this fear of making mistakes for one reason or another.