Poker Strategies: Profits, not Win Streaks

If you are going to play winning Poker, you need to be aware of the difference between winning and profiting. Of course you make money by winning games, but trying to maintain a winning run at all costs can have side effects that are detrimental to your bankroll.

What does this mean exactly? Well, your Poker strategy has to always take into account the long run profitability of your game plan. True, the bottom line is that every player wants to win, and come out with a profit in every session. But there will be days when you will not get the cards right, and this is where trying to preserve that winning streak can cause you trouble.

If you have been winning a lot of games, you will definitely want to keep it going. However, what happens when you start to lose? The tendency of most players is to keep on playing just to keep the streak alive. What will happen, of course, is that their Poker strategy will go out of the window; they will play as many hands as possible in an attempt to exit the session a "winner".

Another problem with players obsessing over winning streaks is that they often leave the game too prematurely. Even when they are on a roll, and have been winning a lot of hands, they will often quit early in order to avoid any losses. This severely limits the amount that they can win.

All good Poker players know that once you get on a run, you can rake in a lot of money. This does not just refer to the number of hands you can win, but also the amount of money you can extract from your opponents per hand. If you exit too early, you miss out on a lot of potential earnings.

The right Poker strategy that you need to use is to instead focus on the profits. Instead of trying to focus on how many pots you have been winning, base your play on how capable you still are of competing. As long as you are physically and mentally capable, you should keep playing.

Do not play Poker just for the sake of trying to win as many pots as possible. The end goal here is to make as much money as possible. You could be sitting out on a number of small pots and yet winning the big ones. Always look at the bottom line. In the end, it is the money that you make, not the wins, that matter the most.