Discipline

• Good poker players demand an advantage. What separates a winning poker player from a fish is that a fish does not expect to win, while a poker player does. A fish is happy playing craps, roulette, the slots; he just hopes to get lucky. A poker player does not hope to get lucky; he just hopes others don't get lucky.
  
• Good poker players understand that a different game requires a different discipline. A disciplined no-limit player can be a foolish limit player and vice versa. A disciplined limit player has solid pre-flop skills. When there is not much action pre-flop, he or she only plays the better hands. When a lot of people are limping in, he or she will make a loose call with a suited connector or other speculative hand.
  
• However, a disciplined no-limit player is very different. This player is not so concerned with paying too many blinds; instead, he or she does not want to get trapped. The main difference between disciplined limit players and disciplined no-limit players is that the limit player avoids piddling away his stack bit by bit while a disciplined no-limit player avoids losing his whole stack in one hand. Hence, a disciplined no-limit player can play a lot of hands. Pre-flop, he or she can be extremely loose and limp in with hands as odd as 5♠  3♦. However, a good no-limit player knows when to toss hands that will get him or her in trouble.
  
• A disciplined player knows when to play and when to quit. He recognizes when he is on tilt and is aware when a game is too juicy to just quit while ahead.
  
• A disciplined player knows that he is not perfect. When a disciplined player makes a mistake, he learns. He does not blame others. He does not cry. He learns from the mistake and moves on.

Math skills

• They know that you have about 1 in 8.5 chance of hitting a set when holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of completing a flopped flush draw by the river.
  
• They know the importance of 'outs.' Outs are simply the number of cards that will improve your hand. Count your outs, multiply them by two, and add one, and that's roughly the percentage shot you have at hitting.
  
• They can figure out the 'pot odds.' Knowing outs is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting. Knowing you have a 20% chance of hitting, what do you do then? Well, simply once you figure out your chance of hitting/winning, you divide the size of the pot at the river (i.e. the current pot plus the amount of money that you think will be added through future bets) by the amount you have to put in. If you have a 20% chance of hitting and the bet to you is $50, then call when the pot at the river will be greater than $250. If not, fold.
  
• Math skills are the most basic knowledge; it's day one reading. Anyone who doesn't understand these concepts should not play in a game until they do.

Psychological Skills

• A good player is not a self-centred player. He may be the biggest SOB you know. He may not care about anyone but himself, and he may enjoy stealing food from the poor. When a poker pro walks into a poker room, he always empathizes with his opponents. He tries to think what they think and understand the decisions they make and why they make them. The poker pro always tries to have an answer to these questions:
  What does my foe have?
  What does my foe think I have?
  What does my foe think I think he has?
  
• Knowing the answer to these questions is the first step. Manipulating the answers is the second and more important step. If you have a pair of kings and your foe has a pair of aces, and you both know what each of you have and you both know that you each know what the other has, why play a game of poker? A poker pro manipulates the latter two answers by slow playing, fast playing, and bluffing in order to throw his opponent off.
  
• Good poker players know that psychology is much, much, much more important in a no-limit game than in a limit one. Limit games often turn into math battles, while no-limit games carry a strong psychology component. Thus, poker tells are much more important in no-limit games than limit games.

Observation / Taking notes

Notes are often an overlooked, absolutely essential way of improving your online poker game. Some general pointers:

1) Notes have to be dynamic. Jotting down a sentence or two on a player is great, but not so helpful if you don't keep adding to it.

2) Notes have to be scientific. Your notes should begin as a hypothesis - "I think this player will raise big in early position with a draw" - that is observed, tested, and then concluded. Don’t make an assumption about a player based on one play. Also be sure to write the notes in terms that reflect how certain you are of a specific observation - i.e. "they seem to do this..."; "does this every time"; so that later when you revisit them they are as clear and accurate as can be - you won't remember the details 6 months later.

3) Limited notes should be treated as an aid, not a bible. If you have one or two observations about a player that are untested, don't treat them as gospel. That player may have been on tilt when you took those notes, may have been drunk, or may have been someone else using the account, etc.

4) Complete, tested notes should be treated as a bible, not an aid. If you've put good work into your notes, they should be trusted. If, according to your notes, a NL player consistently over-bets draws in late position, you have to be willing to check raise middle pair, etc.

5) Don’t write "idiot" in your notes when someone beats you and leave it at that.

Changing Gears

Changing gears is normally referred to in conjunction with tournament play. It is the ability to change your strategy in relation to the tournament stage and your relevant chip status compared to others and the size of the blinds. When you are playing cash games, and you feel that your opponents have got your game, or it looks like they are seeing your cards, it’s time to change your style of play. That is when you change gears.

Bankroll - How much money should I invest?

This is an important question, with two simple answers.

This is an important question, with two simple answers.

If you are a beginner or just looking to have fun, don't invest any more than is 'fun' to lose. Hence, if you're comfortable blowing $100 put in $100 and see if you can win with it. This is what I did. My original roll was only $100 but I built it up into my current, more powerful bankroll.

Bankroll considerations are different for a seasoned player who has proven himself a winner. These types of players are looking to consistently make money at a given limit. If you are one of these players, you should be able to bank 200 big bets at the limit you play. So, if you play a $2-$4, you should have $4 * 200 = $800 roll. For $5-$10, your target roll should be $2,000. These numbers prevent you from blowing your entire bankroll because of one bad run.

Some may say that 200 big bets are too low for shorthand, but I believe you need to be reasonable about potential losses. You don't want to invest more than 200 big bets unless you've proven that you're successful at that limit.

Also, a very good idea is to keep a daily diary of your sessions. This will help you identify if you are a winning or losing player, and how often you win/lose. It will also prove helpful come tax time, if you live in a country with income tax on gambling winnings (in the UK, there is no tax on gambling winnings).

A Clear Understanding of Risk vs. Reward

• Pot odds and demanding an advantage fall into this category. Poker players are willing to take a long-shot risk if the reward is high enough, but only if the expected return is higher than the risk.
  
• More importantly, they understand the Risk vs. Reward nature of the game outside of the actual poker room. They know how much of their bankroll they need to play, and how much money they need to keep in reserve to cover other expenses in life.

• Good poker players understand that they need to be more risk-averse with their overall bankroll than their stack at the table.
  
• When you play in an individual game, you must value every chip equally at the table. You should only care about making correct plays. If you buy in for $10, you should be okay with taking a 52% chance of doubling up to $20 if it means a 48% chance of losing your $10.
  
• However, you should be risk-averse with your overall bankroll. You need to have enough money so that any day at the tables will not affect your bankroll too much. If you worry too much about losing, then you will make mistakes at the table. You need to leave yourself with the chance to fight another day.

Selecting the table

• Look for weaker players than you
  
• Percentage of players who see the pot in each hand, high percentage shows a loose table.
  
• Average pot size. Look how often players over bet the pot.