Don’t put in money on hands you feel «lukewarm» about. The real hand -the one you feel good about pushing a lot of chips in on - may be right around the corner. It may occur on the very next hand, and you want to have plenty of chips in front of you when it arrives. Think of the chips you’re using to «chase» with on borderline hands as money you’ll wish you had later to use - when that better hand comes along.
Those who worship by folding two hands Or by raising one hand Or only by nodding their head And those who give offerings to images of Buddha, Even with only a flower, Will eventually realize an infinity of Buddhas. They will reach the highest realm. - The Lotus Sutra

Maybe you got yourself «trapped» a few times on fairly good hands and found yourself staying longer than you wanted, but soon after that you came to your senses and folded. A less experienced player, however, got trapped on some similar hands and stayed until the very end with them. The money difference in these two cases is often. The difference at the end of the game-the profit the better player goes home with.
Profit at lower levels of poker is often nothing more than a matter of getting «paid off» by bad players when the good players have a good hand. (And limiting your own mistakes so you don’t give the money back.)

This is a rule for less experienced players, but even long-time players are guilty of this at times. And make no mistake, this is where the money goes. It’s where the actual leakage takes place. In fact, it’s a money «leak» of such proportions that it can bring down the entire rest of our game - a major avenue of seepage. If this were a house and we were looking for thermal-heating leaks, it would be the equivalent of having the front door open.
A good deal of the money lost in poker games is lost when players continue past the point in a hand when they should be out. Yet they are still in, still hoping for a miracle, still «donating». Not only is this «where the money goes», it is also where the winners get most of their money «from». The money that «fuels» most low-level poker games comes from this source.

If you do make a mistake, correct yourself at the next available opportunity in the hand. Don’t just keep throwing in good money after bad. There’s no reason you have lo follow your original mistake with additional bets. Some players feel, having made the original bad call, that they are now obligated to stay until (he end in order «to be consistent*, so they continue to put in more and more money behind it. Get out.

Notice how many times you think your hand is not good enough, and how many times it turns out that you were right. Your hand wasn’t good enough - and it lost. It’s a pretty high percentage. The suspicion that your hand may not be good enough can often reliably be taken as proof that it isn’t. Listen to your gut.

When you get them, bet them. If the hand starts to deteriorate, get away from the hand. This is only common sense, but it is surprising how easy it is to drift away from this basic concept. Have brakes and an accelerator. Use both.

This is one of the basic rules of poker, but one that is - for some reason easily overlooked or forgotten. If you’re beat, fold. And listen to that little voice telling you that you are beat. (We often hear players at the table tell us, «I know I’m beat» - as they continue to toss in the chips.)
Hanging on (and on, and on) in a hand is where a lot of the money goes.
“You always told me this was … rule number one: Throw away your cards the minute you know you can’t win. «Fold the f–hand…» - Kevin Canty, Rounders
Also, forget the idea that they’re bluffing or trying to «run you out.» You’re almost always better off folding. Most of the time they do have something. (Or at least this is true enough of the time to justify folding on your part.) Generally speaking, when things start to go wrong in your hand, you’re better off exiting the hand. Don’t hang around hoping and wishing («I’II see one more card … and one more … and one more …»). Meanwhile, other players are betting and raising with a «made hand». Unless you are up against players who deliberately make moves of this kind (to try to force you out), it is never a bad idea in poker, at the first sign of trouble, to get away from the hand.

If we had to pick a number one rule in poker, this might be a good candidate. It might not be the most important rule in poker, but it is a good first one. Try not to get way down, money-wise, right from the outset of the game. It is a lot less fun if you have to spend several hours digging yourself out of a hole you got yourself into in the early rounds of play. Start slow. Observe for awhile. Give yourself time to watch the texture of the game unfold and see how players are playing in order to get yourself into the feel of it and the rhythm of it.
The notion of avoiding doing anything flashy until you get into the flow of things is not limited to poker; it’s an idea we see in all sports. There is a cautious feeling-out process that takes place in the early going. Play conservatively until a rhythm develops that you can recognize and exploit, and then join in. Ease into the game. Don’t get yourself stuck early.
«It is important in poker that when you catch a $2,000 rush, you are not stuck $3,000 at the start of it». - Roy Cooke

Poker is a somewhat difficult subject to write about. As you learn certain truths and write them down, these truths can change for you later. What seemed quite profound to you at one time might seem a year later to be «obvious» - and no longer worthy of being mentioned. What has happened is that you have moved beyond this particular truth to a newer truth. In such a fashion, the player keeps moving beyond his own knowledge, out-dating it.

At the same time, to someone new to the game, these are still new truths, capable of changing one’s thinking and approach, so in that sense, one is wrong not to include them. The bottom line is of a constantly changing and evolving experience. Aside from the very newest beginners, and the most experienced players, almost everyone in the game is at a different level of knowledge.

This weblog is designed for average players in low- or medium-limit games - a series of ideas aimed at shedding light on the nature of the game and moving these players in the direction of this «Way» - the underlying truth of the game. It is my hope that some things contained in these pages will also be of interest to higher limit players.

Many poker writers have written that poker is a metaphor for life. In fact, it’s an apt metaphor, for it contains many of the same elements that occur in life.

“Consider for a moment: We are occasionally aggressive, taking the initiative; at other times we are more prudent and withdraw. We do some rational things, and some that are not so rational. Every day is a new struggle - one that starts up all over again; our fortunes go up and down, we find ourselves involved in complex, even tense situations with both good friends and adversaries; and at the end of it all, we get up and say, «Gee, where did all the time go?» Much like life, indeed.” - Larry W. Phiffips