Poker is pretty popular in Ely and the surrounding area. Alas, since this is England’s second smallest city, there aren’t too many places where you’ll find a regular poker game, though there is one at The King’s Arms. You’ll also find plenty of places to play in the area surrounding Ely, too, including The Brook in Cambridge and The White Horse in Oakington.
In fact, the sheer number of places you can play in and around Ely is a reflection of just how popular the game is in this part of the UK. Standards tend to be pretty high, which makes for a great game, but can make the scene pretty unforgiving for newcomers.
Improving your poker performance is key for being competitive at the table, whether that be online, at The King’s Arms, or at home with friends. Follow our tips below, and you’ll find that you significantly improve the quality of your play.
Commit To Studying
You can learn a lot by playing, but you can’t learn everything. Turbocharge your progress by committing to studying the game, the most effective strategies, errors that everyone makes, essentially anything that’ll give you a competitive edge. The best players spend 50% of their time studying, 50% playing — but the key part of that sentence is ‘the best players.’ Most poker players don’t study at all, so if you do even a little bit, you’ll be giving yourself an edge.
Improve Your Opposition Analysis
It’s not just your own performance that you should focus on. It can also be useful dedicating some time to understanding your opponents’ play, too. You’d be amazed at the clues that other players accidentally give away. While you won’t become a top player just by understanding the opposition — you also need to play well — you can most definitely give yourself an edge. Learn to read people, and you’ll have a useful tool in your repertoire of poker skills.
Play In Tournaments
Most poker players stick to cash games, either in person or online. However, it can be worthwhile dipping your toes into the poker tournament waters every now and again. Tournaments draw upon a different skill set to cash games, helping you to become a better all-around player. Players who compete in tournaments typically find that their patience, focus, decision-making, and general understanding of the game improve, all of which can be highly beneficial when you return to playing a cash game at The King’s Arms. The most difficult part is usually getting a place in a poker tournament, though things like the PokerStars Power Path can offer a viable path. Once you’ve qualified, work on boosting the mental side of your game; it’ll help during the tournament, as well as in your everyday play. And talking of which…
Increase Focus, Concentration, and Other Mental Faculties
Ask the best poker players what they attribute their success to, and they’ll typically tell you that their game significantly improved when they worked on their focus and concentration. It’s one thing to play poker well during a single round; it’s another thing entirely to play poker well for hours on end. It’s easy to get distracted when playing poker, especially when playing with friends. Training your brain to block out unwanted noise and distractions can make all the difference when it comes to making decisions.
Rolling With the Punches
And on a related note, it can also be useful to work on managing the emotional side of the game. No one wants to experience a painful defeat, but dwelling on it won’t help to make the next hand any better. In fact, it’ll have the opposite effect. While you’re not expected to be a robot, understanding your emotions and how to control them really can help to make you a better poker player. Meditation, exercise, and avoiding stress when playing (say, drinking too much caffeine) can all help to put you in a more relaxed state.
