Creating a Poker Plan for Oneself

One of the great undervalued skills in the poker world is developing a plan. The players who have a plan for their action, whether it be for that particular hand, that particular table, or a plan for their overall play will have an advantage over those who don’t. By the nature of preparing a plan, you have thought through the dynamics of your play and your opposition. The act of making a plan forces you to think through important issues necessary to achieving your goals. By developing a plan, I don’t mean “I want to play some poker and win some money.” There are three time frames to consider when developing a plan; your immediate hand, your current session, and your poker career.

Your Immediate Hand

After playing for a while, players will recognize patterns and similarity of action in poker. You can check or bet, raise, call or fold. Instead of deciding your action in the moment, long term winning players have learned from experience that planning out your action based off ranges of hands your opponent can realistically have, what cards come, and how your opponent acts all contribute to how you implement your plan of action.

For instance, common poker wisdom dictates it is better to raise pre-flop to take control and give the impression you have a strong hand. Think about what types of flops you will continuation bet on regardless if you have improved your hand or not? What range of hands are you representing? How do you see your opponent reacting to your various moves. Would you bluff on the turn if a scary overcard comes? If your opponent bets, how do you plan to react? Your plan isn’t rigid, but rather it is a mapping out of strategies that keep in mind the best percentage situations for you to win the hand. Using your prior experience of similar hands and dynamics, your planning out a hand in advance can give you and edge over your opponent and greater confidence and certainty than just reacting in the moment.

Your Current Session

Any time you sit down to play poker, whether you are playing live or online, you can benefit from having a plan for your play. How long do you plan to play for? How many tables will you play? Do you have certain amount you have set to lose before you quit? What if you win big early? What is your goal for the session? Current session goals are often specific to how you are feeling or how you are doing, but having some plan in mind beforehand can prevent major losing sessions or playing when you are drunk and tired.

Planning of your current session is also affected by the specific table dynamics. If you sit at a table with many newer and less skilled players you may play longer to try to extract more money. If you have a very skilled tough player giving you a hard time on your immediate left, you may quit your session sooner. If there is only one big donating poor player, you may change your plans for when they choose to play.

Your Poker Career

The first two mentioned areas of planning are often easier for players to consider and implement, but planning your poker career seems daunting and restrictive. You rarely see newer players think about more than their present session. If they win some money, they may withdraw it immediately or move to a higher level to run with it. They justify all kinds of gambling because they want to have fun and maybe get lucky.

To succeed in real money poker, is to remove the luck element and focus on the skill elements of the game. You can remove luck elements by playing high percentage hands and plays, but more importantly by managing your play for the long term. Bankroll management is one of the most undervalued but important aspects of successful poker. Knowing how much of your bankroll to risk, or when to move up or down in levels is key to maintaining and growing your poker funds. The unthinking player justifies all kinds of gambling because they want to have fun and maybe get lucky.

First Step

Declaring a simple long term goal of never having to deposit again gives a structure to your plan. Stating a win rate goal over a certain number of hands is another way of starting to develop a plan. Determining a certain number of buy-ins to win before you move up to the next higher level is another way of planning. Communicating your goals and then devising a plan to achieve them is the necessary process. Certainly poker should be a fun game, one where you can withdraw and reward yourself when you do well, but not at the expense of undermining your long term plan and your poker bankroll.

Another Step

Another element of your poker plan is to think of your plan in terms of time. Think about planning when you will play. What days of the week? How many hours? How many tables or hands? How much time are you devoting to improving your game away from the playing table? How and when do you review hands, review results and generally study the game to keep improving?

Accountability

One of the best ways to develop accountability to your poker plan is to find and develop poker friends. If you share your poker plan with poker friends who are doing similarly, you are more likely to honor your plan and be held accountable when you falter. Also, there is generally a dynamic where If one player has a particularly good result or bad downswing, they help each other manage their reaction and stay on their plan. The natural and inevitable poker swings you will encounter are notorious for throwing a monkey wrench in your poker plans if you don’t have the support of other players or a firm self-understanding.

Self-Knowledge

Whether you are planning to become a poker professional or just enjoy the game as a hobby, you can benefit from having a plan. Developing a plan forces you to confront your strengths and weaknesses. Setting realistic goals can provide you discipline and a focus to your game. You can leave behind those who play simply your friends play it or you heard you can make money. Developing a plan helps you to take advantage of the edges available in poker; including identifying weakness in opponents or taking advantage of promotions (e.g. chasing bonuses, rakeback, and freerolls). Knowing yourself and reaching the goals you set in your poker play can help you reach your potential in the game and at the very least help make it a more fun and profitable game to play. Only when you take your game seriously can you expect to develop serious results that aren’t the whims of luck.

Creating Your Plan

Creating your personal poker plan forces you to think through all elements of your game. It gives your game guidance and structure. You are looking to implement the best advice you can find from more experienced players so you can avoid the many pitfalls. The act of creating a plan begins the process of actualizing your goals.

Concrete Example

Moving beyond talk of the abstract notion and importance of developing a poker plan, I am sharing two examples to give you an idea of what a plan might look like or what elements it might contain.

Amateur Player Poker Plan – Your general goal is to have fun and make some money

1. Time – A couple nights a week and Sunday afternoons are potential playing times – 8 hours/wk
2. Investment – I can take $200 from my paycheck to start my online bankroll.
3. Game – I enjoy Sit n Go’s best as like outlasting players and can make money usually.
4. Level – I will play $5 Sit n Go’s until I reach $350, at which time I’ll play $10 Sit n Go’s
5. Reward – I will withdraw $50 when I reach $350 to treat my girlfriend to a dinner
6. Profit improvement – I currently play 2 at a time, but will try 3 and compare results as I usually make the money in 1/2.
7. Stop Loss – If I finish out of the money 4 in a row, I take a break or call it quits for the day.
8. Strategy – I read on some respected poker forum that I need to become more aggressive as I approach the money bubble and when I get short-handed. I plan to watch some mid-stakes instructional videos to incorporate their changing gears suggestions into my game.
9. Records – I will track my results to determine my ROI% and compare it to other similar level players on Sharkscope or PTR.
10. Future – I want to befriend another Sit n Go player, find a supportive poker forum or buy a poker book that will help me improve my play.

Semi-Professional Player Poker Plan – Goal is to move up from $1-2 NLHE to $2-4 NLHE or higher this year.

1. Time – Part time job to pay some living expenses (20 hrs/wk) Play poker 30+ hours a week.
2. Investment – Online bankroll currently at $7500. I intend to grow it to $10-12K before withdrawing so I can more comfortably play 4-6 tables and handle swings better. Goal is to reach $16-$18k before moving up to $2-4.
3. Game – Currently 6 max, but want to work some HU into the mix.
4. Level – $1-2 with the occasional shot at $2-4 if the game is juicy. No higher shots until I meet my goal.
5. Reward - Once I reach $12k, I will withdraw $1k a month for living expenses if I keep my bankroll about that mark. Make sure to take $50-100 of that to do something nice for friend or family so they see the fruits of my labor.
6. Profit improvement – I currently 3-4 table. Try to play a minimum of 4 tables with 5-6 more regularly if good tables are running. Consider more play on site with rakeback than the FPP site I often play.
7. Stop Loss – Stop loss is 5 BI if I’m feeling good about my game. Keep to it strictly.
8. Strategy – Spend more time on sweat sessions and check out the strategy forum on the training site I belong to. I noticed 3 and 4-bet aggression increasing in $2-4 games, need to figure out how to combat it better and increase my money won at showdown. Watch some HU videos to start getting a better handle for short handed play and playing HU more.
9. Records – Spend 30-60 minutes weekly reviewing my sessions in Hold’em Manager. Make sure my 3 and 4 bet % and post flop AF are at recommended levels.
10. Future – Set up some coaching with respected HU player at my training site. Would be great if he also plays $2-$4 NLHE 6 max or better to give advice about the move up. If $2-$4 move goes well, consider cutting back on part time job in order to play more.

Any plan you develop will be customized to incorporate your particular needs and goals. After a month or two, feel free to revise your plan with your increased experience. The idea is that the plan forces a positive structure to your play. Those who take the time and thought to plan out their individual hand play, session play and their poker career have a great likelihood of reaching their goals. So get started on your poker plan today.