Hey everyone! 👋
I recently started taking poker more seriously and I’m trying to improve both my strategy and discipline. I’m mainly playing online NLHE at the micro and low stakes, and I’m focusing on building a solid, long-term winning approach.
I’d love some advice from experienced players here:
- What were your biggest leaks when you were starting out?
- How did you plug them?
- Any specific study routines or tools you recommend?
- And if you're grinding online, how do you stay mentally sharp during long sessions?
I’ve been reading different posts on CardsChat and I really enjoy how helpful the community is. Hoping to learn, contribute, and grow here with you all. 😊
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Those are great questions. The biggest rookie move we make when starting out in poker is having that illusion that we already know a thing or two. We have to accept as soon as possible that we know very little. This primary mistake leads to an even bigger one: at the start, we want to play more than we study, when the ideal is actually the opposite—to study more and play less.
When you're just starting, the sweet spot is to play a maximum of 1 hour per day and study for at least two hours, reviewing
hands, doing exercises, and really understanding why you made the moves you did during your session.
You have to realize that when you're new, you aren't emotionally or psychologically prepared to handle the swings of the game. So, the recommendation is to play just one single table (for cash games) and avoid Zoom tables altogether—one Zoom or Fast-Fold table is like playing three regular tables at once.
How do you get past these mistakes? First, you have to figure out your reason for playing poker. Do you just want to play for fun, like it's a video game? In that case, you don't need to worry too much about studying, just about your personal finances, so you don't spend more than you can afford on this risky form of entertainment. It involves adrenaline, frustration, and can cause some serious psychological damage in the short and long term.
Do you play because you intend to make a profit? Every poker player has that goal, but we should never be thinking about it when we're still playing micro-stakes. The profit you make at micro-stakes is irrelevant; you should just consider that you're playing poker to learn, regardless of whether the results are positive or negative.
Do you play poker because you want to be a solid regular or a professional and move up? What I said before still applies—prepare a study routine where you play little and study a lot, and never, ever, under any circumstances, play on impulse. Playing is a pre-calculated act where you sit down at the table completely focused on what you're doing, like it's a university lecture, an entrance exam, or even a job. You leave your emotions at the door and don't think about anything other than your objective.
And what is the objective of poker? You could say the final goal is to make a profit, but that's too obvious. The real, final goal of poker is to make the best decision in every situation, considering the scenario, stack sizes, the types of players you're up against, what position you were in when you acted... in short, the goal of poker is to take the best possible actions at the table, regardless of the outcome. We will often make the correct play and still lose, and that's where the frustration begins, because we don't want to accept the internal logic of the game, which involves randomness and luck.
Don't play long sessions at micro-stakes; forget this whole "grinding" thing. Grinding only makes sense when you're playing at a mid-stake level where you can actually think about having a monthly profit based on your win rate. Micro-stakes are just one step on a much larger ladder that will lead you to levels where you can plan long sessions with the goal of grinding, but don't waste your time playing long sessions now.
Figure out what you need to learn. Do you need to learn about ranges? About positions? About table types? About
bankroll management? About emotional and psychological control? Spend most of your time studying.
Grinding at the tables is for solid players who have been studying the game for a while and are playing limits where long sessions are worth it. For players who are just starting out, it's often just tilt—your ego screaming in your head that you're something you're not. I'm sorry for the bluntness, and I'm not saying this to be disrespectful; I don't know you or your skill level. I'm just basing this on reading and analyzing your post. You mentioned you only recently started taking poker more seriously, so because of that, I'm assuming you're a beginner.
Accept that you're a beginner. That's a wonderful and productive thing. Accept that you have a lot to learn and don't create the illusion of being something you're not. It can be painful to accept the truth, but only the truth can free us from the prison of our own ego. And once we're free from the ego, we can grow—both in life and in poker.
