What's one poker habit you stopped doing that actually made you a better player?

nitesss · Jul 14, 2026

I've been thinking about how improving at poker isn't always about learning something new. Sometimes, stopping a bad habit can make an even bigger difference.
Was there one habit you stopped that made you a better player? It could be chasing losses, playing too many hands, ignoring bankroll management, playing while tired, or anything else.
I'd be interested to hear which change had the biggest impact on your game. Would you recommend that habit to a new player today?

Poker Orifice · Jul 14, 2026

When I feel like playing late at night but I'm tired, drop down to low stakes and keep it fun.

Mag_P1e · Jul 14, 2026

The worst habit you can have in freeroll poker and microstakes is the habit of thinking. This quality is completely pointless here; it only brings losses and nothing else. Thinking at microstakes is literally harmful – you're playing solitaire, and you're the best in the world. If you have a hand, you bet; if you don't, you fold. No bluffs, no inventing bluffs for your opponents, no "conversions" – pure solitaire. The only thing you still need to think about is preflop ranges, but even they are meaningless at micro limits.

Nameless14 · Jul 14, 2026

For me, it was chasing losses. I'd lose a buy-in, tell myself I could win it back quickly, and just end up playing worse. Once I started ending sessions when I felt tilted instead of trying to "get even," my results and mindset both improved. I'd definitely recommend new players learn to quit when they're not playing their A-game.

BrunoFabri01 · Jul 14, 2026

I stopped playing every hand. I used to have that bad habit, but I corrected it. Now I prioritize high-value hands.

moraeskvmi · Jul 14, 2026

play every day, and without a set time to finish tournament entries.

istbno · Jul 14, 2026

The biggest improvement for me came from stopping the habit of chasing losses. I used to feel like I had to recover a bad session immediately, which only led to poorer decisions and even bigger losses. Once I accepted that every session is independent and that variance is part of the game, my results became much more consistent. If I could give one piece of advice to a new player, it would be to learn emotional discipline early. Protecting your mindset is just as important as learning strategy, and it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

nitesss · Jul 15, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
When I feel like playing late at night but I'm tired, drop down to low stakes and keep it fun.

That's a smart approach. Playing tired usually leads to poor decisions, so moving to lower stakes is a good way to stay disciplined and avoid unnecessary losses.

fundiver199 · Jul 15, 2026

If I have to point to a single thing, its probably learning to realise, when I am to tired or tilted to play, and then stop.

fundiver199 · Jul 15, 2026

Mag_P1e said:
The worst habit you can have in freeroll poker and microstakes is the habit of thinking. This quality is completely pointless here; it only brings losses and nothing else. Thinking at microstakes is literally harmful – you're playing solitaire, and you're the best in the world. If you have a hand, you bet; if you don't, you fold. No bluffs, no inventing bluffs for your opponents, no "conversions" – pure solitaire. The only thing you still need to think about is preflop ranges, but even they are meaningless at micro limits.

I can agree with not overthinking situations, since it gives a risk of ending up leveling yourself. But this is to much of a simplification. Even in microstakes games you definitely want to think about postflop situations, and you also want to sometimes take a passive line and call. Even bluffing can be pretty reasonable, if nobody have shown any interest in the hand so far, and you have no chance to win at showdown, if you check.

I checked your sharkscope profiles, and you seem to be playing for an aveage buyin of less than $0.5. And sure the level of play in freerolls and pennygames can be really poor. But the purpose of playing such games should either be to have fun, or to learn strategy, so that you can eventually move up even to something like $2-5 tournaments.

And therefore you should ignore at least a little bit, how bad the opponents are, and play most hands, like you would against players, who are at least decent. Getting into this thinking of "strategy does not even matter in the micros, because the fish always get lucky", leads nowhere. Strategy does matter, and if you play solid poker, you will be able to beat even penny games. Of course you also need to put in volume, and with 597 games played on 888 Poker and only 58 games on PokerStars, you have not done that yet.

nitesss · Jul 15, 2026

For me, the biggest change was stopping the habit of chasing every hand. I used to get involved too often, but now I fold more and wait for better opportunities. I don't win every session, but I make fewer mistakes and feel much more confident with my decisions

christovam · Jul 15, 2026

I threw a lot of hands, hoping to hit a good one. I realized that I would even hit a good hand, but I would lose several blinds just to get that hand.

christovam · Jul 15, 2026

Mag_P1e said:
O pior hábito que você pode ter no poker freeroll e nos microstakes é o hábito de pensar. Essa qualidade é completamente inútil aqui; só traz perdas e nada mais. Pensar nos microstakes é literalmente prejudicial – você está jogando paciência e é o melhor do mundo. Se você tem uma mão, aposta; se não tem, desiste. Sem blefes, sem inventar blefes para seus oponentes, sem "conversões" – pura paciência. A única coisa em que você ainda precisa pensar são os ranges pré-flop, mas mesmo eles são irrelevantes nos micro limites.

I had never stopped to think about it. In that case, to get better at poker, should we play in tournaments with more expensive entries?

christovam · Jul 15, 2026

moraeskvmi said:
Jogar todos os dias, sem horário definido para concluir as inscrições em torneios.

It's an interesting point. Sometimes I notice that there are certain rates where it is possible to get a better price.

christovam · Jul 15, 2026

Nameless14 said:
Para mim, era uma questão de tentar recuperar as perdas. Eu perdia uma entrada, dizia para mim mesmo que conseguiria recuperá-la rapidamente e acabava jogando pior. Depois que comecei a encerrar as sessões quando me sentia frustrado, em vez de tentar "recuperar o prejuízo", meus resultados e minha mentalidade melhoraram. Definitivamente, recomendo que os novos jogadores aprendam a desistir quando não estiverem jogando no seu melhor nível.

That's a risk in any game that involves money—not just poker. But in truth, the best thing is to play without thinking about recovering the losses. Let's look at this as a “leisure expense”.

christovam · Jul 15, 2026

fundiver199 said:
Concordo que não se deve pensar demais nas situações, pois isso aumenta o risco de se prejudicar. Mas isso é uma simplificação excessiva. Mesmo em jogos de microstakes, é fundamental pensar nas situações pós-flop e, às vezes, adotar uma postura passiva e pagar. Até mesmo blefar pode ser uma opção razoável se ninguém demonstrou interesse na mão até o momento e você não tem chances de ganhar no showdown, caso dê check.

Analisei seus perfis no Sharkscope e parece que você está jogando com um buy-in médio inferior a US$ 0,50. É verdade que o nível de jogo em freerolls e penny games pode ser bem baixo. Mas o objetivo desses jogos deve ser se divertir ou aprender estratégia para que, eventualmente, você possa chegar a torneios de US$ 2 a US$ 5.

Portanto, você deve ignorar, pelo menos em parte, o quão ruins são seus oponentes e jogar a maioria das mãos como jogaria contra jogadores que sejam, no mínimo, decentes. A ideia de que "a estratégia não importa nos micro stakes, porque os jogadores fracos sempre têm sorte" não leva a lugar nenhum. A estratégia importa, sim, e se você jogar um poker sólido, conseguirá vencer até mesmo jogos de centavos. Claro que você também precisa jogar bastante, e com 597 jogos no 888 Poker e apenas 58 no PokerStars, você ainda não fez isso.

You're right. But it's hard to watch so many wackos playing at the same time. They are children's games, but the deck punishes them.

Mag_P1e · Jul 16, 2026

christovam said:
I had never stopped to think about it. In that case, to get better at poker, should we play in tournaments with more expensive entries?

I'm convinced that to learn anything in poker, you need to play tournaments for as much money as possible. It's impossible to learn anything if both you and your opponent aren't risking anything and can just call call call with second pair on a 4 straight/flush board because they feel like it.

Mag_P1e · Jul 16, 2026

fundiver199 said:
I can agree with not overthinking situations, since it gives a risk of ending up leveling yourself. But this is to much of a simplification. Even in microstakes games you definitely want to think about postflop situations, and you also want to sometimes take a passive line and call. Even bluffing can be pretty reasonable, if nobody have shown any interest in the hand so far, and you have no chance to win at showdown, if you check.

I checked your Sharkscope profiles, and you seem to be playing for an aveage buyin of less than $0.5. And sure the level of play in freerolls and pennygames can be really poor. But the purpose of playing such games should either be to have fun, or to learn strategy, so that you can eventually move up even to something like $2-5 tournaments.

And therefore you should ignore at least a little bit, how bad the opponents are, and play most hands, like you would against players, who are at least decent. Getting into this thinking of "strategy does not even matter in the micros, because the fish always get lucky", leads nowhere. Strategy does matter, and if you play solid poker, you will be able to beat even penny games. Of course you also need to put in volume, and with 597 games played on 888 Poker and only 58 games on PokerStars, you have not done that yet.

Thank you so much for such a detailed answer. But my faith in poker is over. I'm not mentally prepared to lose money I don't have anyway—the thought that I had more money when I was doing nothing than after I tried to play and genuinely show my best simply ate me up over and over again. Enduring runner-after-runner knockouts from opponents every day in the hope that it will eventually count for something just wasn't for me. I think I've played about 70-100 expensive tournaments by my standards ($50-$150, all of them tickets from raffles, satellites, etc.) and only won once, barely surviving the first pay jump. I'm just tired of it; poker has had hundreds of opportunities to give me that same brutal re-up, but for some reason it never liked me. I'm far from a good player, but I'm definitely not a terrible one—but every time it's not enough. And I keep seeing posts about winning thousands of dollars from people who can't understand why their 66 pair doesn't play on a 99KK2 board. Now I play no more than two MTTs a week on Fridays – from this community and one of my local Ukrainian ones.

piic · Jul 16, 2026

One of the biggest improvements I made was stopping myself from feeling like I had to play every marginal spot just because I was bored. I used to convince myself that I could outplay people postflop, but in reality I was just putting myself in tough situations with weak ranges. Once I became more disciplined with my preflop decisions and stopped forcing action, my results became much more consistent. It also made reviewing sessions a lot easier because I wasn't constantly trying to justify bad calls or loose opens. Sometimes the biggest edge comes from simply folding more often.

Uncloggie · Jul 16, 2026

slow playing good hands

Mazembe · Jul 16, 2026

Playing while not in the mood, sometimes you wake up and you're just mentally titled and fatigued, it's better to avoid playing on such days, you should know when to play and when not to play

ExMoroccan · Jul 16, 2026

for me, it was stopping the urge to chase losses. trying to win everything back in one session always made me play way too aggressive and loose, which just dug a deeper hole. learning to accept a bad session and just walk away was a total game changer.

christovam · Jul 19, 2026

Mag_P1e said:
I'm convinced that to learn anything in poker, you need to play tournaments for as much money as possible. It's impossible to learn anything if both you and your opponent aren't risking anything and can just call call call with second pair on a 4 straight/flush board because they feel like it.

I agree with you, but not many people can spare the time and money to learn, especially in countries where the dollar is expensive.

What's one poker habit you stopped doing that actually made you a better player?

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