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Lv.9
Steal the blinds
Stealing the BlindsBlind stealing is definitely one of the key factors behind my tournament success.Assume it’s the mid-to-late stage and I have an average stack or better. My goal is to steal blinds 1.3 times per orbit (or, put another way, three steals every four orbits).Look at the example below:The current blinds are 500/1000 with a 200 ante. In two hours they will rise to 600/1200 with a 200 ante. I have 40,000 chips, i.e., 40 big blinds.There are nine players at the table. We play about four orbits per hour, or 36 hands.In this spot, before anyone acts, the pot already contains 3,300 chips from blinds and antes. Over one orbit of nine hands, I’ll pay nine antes, one small blind, and one big blind — totaling 3,300 chips.If things were “evenly distributed” — everyone wins once per orbit — I would break even. But my goal isn’t to break even; it’s to grow my stack. If I win 1.3 pots per orbit, my stack increases by 1,100 chips per orbit.Over eight orbits at this blind level, this stealing approach earns me 8,800 chips. When the level ends and blinds go up to 600/1200, I now have 48,800 chips — still a bit over 40 big blinds. As blinds rise, other players get eliminated, but I’m still alive — and even have a shot at the final table.Note: if the tournament has a fast structure (blinds doubling each level) or short levels (only one hour per level), I’ll steal more frequently to survive.The table below shows the relationship between blind-level increases and how often you need to steal:If blinds increase by 30% every 60 minutes, then to maintain my stack-to-blind ratio, I need to steal 1.9 times per orbit.Strict, disciplined blind stealing will eventually take me to the final table. If I never see the river — or even the flop — I’ll never suffer a bad beat, never watch ugly runouts, and never face tough decisions.“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”— The Art of WarWhen Blind Steals FailIn the real world, stealing blinds is much harder than it sounds. In many tournaments I’ve played, sometimes the moment I try to steal, someone re-raises and I’m forced to fold my hand.If you find yourself in a game or tournament like that, you need a different strategy. The best approach is “fight fire with fire.” If I can’t steal, I’ll open-raise from the blinds or late position and look to re-steal from players who raise in front of me.This is a great way to preserve chips and reach the final table. I’ve found that doing this once every 1.5 orbits is enough to offset the blind increases.Suppose the initial raiser makes it 3x the big blind. Then you should know that a successful re-raise wins 4.5 big blinds plus the antes (often about one big blind), for a total of roughly 5.5 big blinds in profit.After three orbits, including blinds and antes, I’ll have paid 7.5 big blinds — but two successful re-steals win me 11 big blinds. That’s a net profit of 3.5 big blinds.As with blind stealing, if I choose my re-steal spots carefully, I won’t give bad beats a chance — I can win the pot preflop.I’ve found the easiest targets for re-steals are players who play lots of hands. The ideal re-steal spot is when a loose player opens from middle/late position against tight, weak blinds.I use the table below to calculate the relationship between re-steal frequency and blind increases:For example, if blinds will rise 30% in 60 minutes, I need one re-steal per orbit to keep pace with the increase.For online tournaments, I multiply the re-steal numbers in the table by 3, because the hand volume online is about three times live play.Steal or Re-Steal?So which strategy is better — stealing or re-stealing?At a generally tight table, stealing is best.At a generally loose table, re-stealing is best.
Lv.8
AQ
AQ is another critical but more difficult hand in Texas Hold’em. While AK causes hesitation, AQ creates traps. Core Concept: AQ Positioning AQ is a medium-strength value hand, not a premium monster. Preflop: It is dominated by AK, AA, KK. Postflop: Top pair often leads to kicker trouble. Golden rule: Play AQ more cautiously than AK. Preflop: Open raise in any position. Facing 3-bet → Decision depends on stack depth and opponent. Postflop: Top pair → Small to medium value bets. Missed flop → Usually give up. Final Advice: Fold AQ more often preflop than you think. Avoid big pots first, then learn thin value extraction.
Lv.6
Improve a Little Every Day
The most important thing for beginners learning poker isn’t mastering every advanced strategy right away, but building a basic framework that helps you “not lose too fast”: play tighter preflop, especially avoid marginal hands in early position; when you have a strong hand, value bet confidently and don’t rush into learning complicated bluffs; in every hand, first be clear about the purpose of your bet (are you trying to get worse hands to call, or better hands to fold?); at the same time, set a simple stop-loss rule for yourself—when you lose to a certain point, stop and take a break, so tilt doesn’t turn a small loss into a big disaster; finally, don’t try to do too much at once—focus on improving one thing at a time, for example, this week only practice “calling less and winning pots more often with aggressive betting,” and you’ll find your progress is much faster than you expected.
Lv.6
Why Most Poker Mistakes Happen When You Actually Know the Right Answer
Why Most Poker Players Become More Unstable the Harder They Try In the poker world, there is a common phenomenon: Many players, after increasing their study volume, opening more tables, and extending their online time, end up feeling that— Their performance becomes more volatile Their emotions are harder to control “It feels like I’m playing more, but showing up less” This is not an illusion, nor does it mean that your “mental game got worse.” It is a systemic problem. Poker Is Not a Game of Linear Effort Most players implicitly assume: More time invested ↑ → Better skills ↑ → Higher win rate ↑ But real poker performance looks more like this curve: Early stage: Effort produces clear returns Middle stage: Diminishing returns Late stage: Effort itself begins to damage performance The problem is not that you’re not working hard enough, but that your effort is being applied in the wrong place. You Are Not “Improving” — You Are Increasing Load When players say they’ve been “grinding hard lately,” it usually means: More tables Longer sessions More intensive studying Less real recovery From a psychological perspective, this is not a growth phase — it is a load accumulation phase. And for any high-load system without proper recovery mechanisms, there is only one outcome: Amplified variance. The Three Real Sources of Unstable Performance 1️⃣ Hidden Decline in Decision Quality You are still making the “right type” of decisions, but: Edge cases are handled worse Bet sizing precision declines Your ability to catch opponent deviations weakens This is not skill decay — it is insufficient attentional resources. 2️⃣ Slower Emotional Recovery The real danger is not tilt, but this: You need more time to return to a “normal state” One bad beat affects an entire table One mistake triggers a chain reaction This is a signal that your emotional recovery system is failing. 3️⃣ Erosion of Self-Trust You begin to hear this internal dialogue more often: “Am I overthinking this?” “Is this really how the solver plays?” “Maybe I shouldn’t be so confident.” This is not humility — it is a decline in self-efficacy. Poker Performance Is Fundamentally a State Management Problem The biggest difference between elite players and solid regulars rarely lies in: Knowing a fancy line Understanding solver theory one layer deeper It lies more in: Their ability to reliably enter a playable state You are not battling your opponents — you are battling your own performance volatility. Why “Play More, Practice More” Fails Here Because poker doesn’t drain muscles — it drains: Inhibitory control Emotional regulation Working memory Risk evaluation capacity The shared characteristic of these capacities is: They cannot be restored by brute force. When you try to “play just a little longer,” you are usually already overdrafting. The Three Things Professional Players Actually Need to Train ① State Entry Ability Do you have a fixed, repeatable pre-session routine that reliably brings you into a clear, focused, and stable state? If not, you are starting sessions on luck. ② State Maintenance Ability How often do you check for fatigue signals? Do you have explicit stop-loss / stop-fatigue rules? Or do you only stop when things are already bad? ③ State Recovery Ability This is the most overlooked — yet most critical — component. If after logging off you: Replay bad beats repeatedly Carry emotions into sleep Push hard again the next day Then real recovery has not occurred. Treat Performance as a System, Not a Personality Many players attribute their struggles to: “I’m bad under pressure” “I’m too emotional” “I’m not built for grinding” This is often misattribution. Under high load, anyone without a system will break. Your Next Evolution Point Is Not at the Table If you already have solid technical fundamentals, your biggest ROI gains usually come from: More stable states More controllable load Higher-quality recovery This is not “soft skill.” It is a core competitive advantage in modern poker. A Simple but Important Question Before your next series begins, ask yourself: If I increase my table count by 20% right now, can my system handle it? If the answer is uncertain, then the right move is not to add volume, but to rebuild the system.
Lv.9
Common Mistakes in Poker
Common Mistakes in Poker“Everyone makes mistakes. Low-level players make the same mistakes over and over again, and those who can take advantage of these mistakes will succeed. Below are some common mistakes and how I use them:♦ Players don’t bluff enough. When these players bet or raise, I usually believe they have a strong hand. When they check, I will usually bet and try to win the pot immediately.♦ Players overvalue top pair. In Texas Hold’em, the average hand strength that wins a pot is two pair, yet many players are still willing to take the risk with top pair. If my hand can beat their top pair, I will make a big bet to诱使 them into making a mistake. Against these players, I especially like playing small pocket pairs, because once I flop a set, I’m very likely to win a huge payoff.♦ Players bet too small. Making a big bet to punish players who like to chase draws is very important, especially in no-limit hold’em. If my opponent makes a small bet and I have a draw, I will take advantage of their mistake by calling. If I complete my draw, I will raise.♦ Players call too much. I rarely bluff “calling stations” (players who love to call and dislike raising or folding). Instead, I will value bet more in line with the strength of my hand.♦ Players become cautious under pressure. Many low-level players become cautious in the middle stages of tournaments or when they get into trouble, hoping to pick up a premium hand. Against these players, I will play looser and steal their blinds and antes.♦ Players have obvious tells (habitual actions that reveal an opponent’s tendencies or hole cards). I will keep observing these players constantly, whether or not I’m in the pot.