By Mike Caro
For months, I’ve been using AdvancedPokerTraining.com to help hone the skills of my students via Skype. In doing so, I’ve discovered some of the great weaknesses common to players who take poker seriously, but fall a little short. I’ll share one tip in a second.
But long before I discovered APT last year and decades before I began sharing research, teaching poker, and playing it for a living, my understanding of the game was like most players still aspiring to win. At first, there was only one path to profit. Play tight. But I knew that I was leaving a lot more profit on the table. And so began my obsession with analyzing poker via a long, tedious regimen of self-training. I locked myself away and did poker math, guarding my secrets carefully. Finally, the legendary world champion, Doyle Brunson, charmed me into revealing my findings in his poker bible Super System.
After that, I started sharing everything I had discovered while training to master poker. Back then, there were no reliable statistics governing tactics and no software tools. So, I had to create my own.
BEST TOOL: If you’re thinking, “Wow, what a sad life!” then you’re right. But the reason I’m telling you this is that you can do everything I’ve done without devoting your life to it. There’s a whole universe of reliable information and discussion on the web. The best tool I’ve found is AdvancedPokerTraining.com.
My students share their screens and I follow along as they play. Since the software allows you to compete against artificially intelligent opponents (bots), students don’t need to fear slowing the game as we discuss decisions. Moreover, they don’t even need me present to play independently, saving key hands for later examination.
On APT, every hand you play is saved to your online database. And with the recent addition of their new reports and training plan features, the same, lightning-fast APT online software tracks your trends, color codes them, explains what you may be doing wrong and suggests what you should practice.
KEY MISTAKE: Most students call too often in no-limit hold ’em with hands such as ace-jack when the first raise came from early position. The solution is simple: Put yourself in the mind of that early raiser and ask yourself what hand you would need to make that play. Then be honest about whether your hand is competitive. Often, it isn’t, so fold.
On APT, mistakes like these will show up in your training plan, which is updated weekly and you can work on it immediately by clicking the “Practice Now” button.
ATP is the No. 1 training site. So, you’re lucky you don’t have to walk the same path I did. But don’t feel sorry for me. I enjoyed the journey.
— Mike Caro, the Mad Genius of Poker, is the author of seven books, including Caro’s Book of Tells. He’s available for private coaching on advancedpokertraining.com.
