POKER TIPS

5 Good Poker Goals to Aim For

Setting poker goals seems like an easy matter that can be measured by how much money you earn. But given that poker involves both luck and skill, you can’t just base your entire poker self-worth off dollars won and lost.

Instead, you should measure your poker success in other ways and the money will eventually come. That said, here are 5 different ways to set your poker goals.

1. Play the Perfect Session

One great way to begin your goals is by playing the perfect session. This doesn’t mean the session where you win the most money, but rather one where your mind is clear, you’re rested, and there are no distractions. When you can play in these conditions, you’re likely to play your best poker.

2. Aim for a Certain Number of Hands

Forcing yourself to mindlessly play hands is the opposite of the first goal we discussed. But if you want to become a better player, you need to increase your volume beyond 100-200 hands per day. Setting hand goals for a session, week, or month is a good way to keep yourself on track and playing poker. If you’ve only played 1,000 hands in a week, aim to gradually increase this number and get better.

3. Dedicate 25% of Your Poker Time to Strategy

We all know that poker strategy is important to improving as a player. But exactly how much time should you dedicate towards strategy? A good mix is 75% playing and 25% studying, or about 1 hour of studying for every 3 hours you play. If you have 16 hours to dedicate towards poker, four of these hours would go towards studying.

4. Set Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

As with any pursuit, you should set goals for both short and long-term progress. Your long-term goals may be to play 35 hours a week, study 12 hours a week, become a pro, and make a good living with poker. But how are you going to get there? Short-term goals are important for bridging the gap and keeping you focused while grinding towards distant goals.

5. Beat the Stakes You’re at Before Moving Up

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to win huge profits before you move up. But once you’re on your A-game consistently, have good reads on opponents, and make the right moves yourself, then you can be pretty confident about moving up.