You have by now familiarized yourself with the game, more or less memorized the basics (though they still sometimes do not quite work), read a few hundred online essays on general and specific poker topics. But though you seem to know your way around, you still don't feel as if you can play. If you have any ambition, after having glimpsed the enormous complexity of poker, you will not be satisfied with the basics. But how should you proceed?
Obviously, you will continue to play, to read and to gain more perceptive skills about your opponents. All of this is good, but not enough. There are lots of players with much experience at the table and enough book knowledge to challenge any encyclopedia, but they still aren't very good poker players.
What is missing in the above description is the concept of intuition. Learning from the best is always a good idea, but in this case, it is not enough. You much reach higher and extend yourself to the fullest. The true players are those that have figured out for themselves which part of the science of poker to ignore and have the independence to allow their intuition to flow.
Scholars of any subject depend on the thoughts of great scholars of the past. Creative people prefer to form their own thoughts. The truly ambitious poker player enjoys acquiring knowledge independently and discovers learning from his own observations rather than depending on those of others. He takes his own observations and turns them into a unique method. Players of talent will use their imagination and creativity to conceive their own style of poker to put themselves way beyond the reach of not only amateurs but also the most competent of experts.
This is the reason why memorizing rules and playing many hands is simply not enough to make a true player, and why this ilk will forever remain shrouded in mystery. The true player's strategy is impossible to uncover at its core because he or she formulated it alone. Even the most diligent of amateurs will never solve the puzzle.
There is only one solution to this problem and one which talented players independently intuit: one has to commit not merely to intense mechanical practice but to intense re-imagining of mechanically acquired knowledge. One must develop not only observational but also imaginative skill in order to prevent amateurs from predicting your decisions. Independence and intuition, in fact, imply a certain degree of ignorance. There is, however, a crucial difference between common ignorance and imaginative independence: common ignorance is complacent and not meant as a means of self improvement; but when you rely on your personal intuition, you know precisely what you ignore and why and you are always working to improve in a specific known direction.
The intuitive player does not depend on reading opponent's insights and methods exclusively. He will make his own selections in any given circumstance. This is not the wannabe expert poring over volumes of literature authored by the best poker players in the business. This is the intuitive player who, while giving the poker intellectuals their due, will be at the table cleaning their clocks.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Betfair Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Ultimate Bet.
categories: poker,card games,games,gambling,fun,entertainment,recreation,sports,leasure,intuition