The Six Ps....

Someone once told me the 6 Ps of management, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Well I've been thinking and there 6 Ps of poker success as well. All this has been said many times but by putting it in Ps maybe it's easier to remember.

Proper bankroll management, the most important aspect of your poker career. Without it you will always be broke. There a several good web sources for this P so I won't go into it here but here are some links: http://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-strategy-articles/bankroll-management and my favorite: http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/jennifear/ and the ultimate Jesus rules: http://pokerbankrollblog.com/chris-ferguson-challenge.htm

Patience, next to bankroll management patience is the next important thing you have to master to succeed in poker. You may sit through who knows how many hands before you get anything playable. Your stack may start diminishing right before your eyes while you wait but if you are patient and wait for the right spot you will win more than you lose. Playing online helps because you can play several tables at once so you will usually have something going on on one or more tables. One thing I see so many people do is get really impatient when they lose a big hand and big chunk of their stack and just shove on the next hand. This is usually a mistake, wait for a few hands or a good spot and then get it in. If you push trash the next hand after a big loss you're going to get called a lot lighter because everyone will assume it's a tilt shove.

Perseverance, the old adage "if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again" is never anymore true than in poker. "Poker's a day to learn and a lifetime to master." ~Robert Williamson III, this is so true. Don't expect to read a few books and/or watch a few strategy videos and go online or to the casino and win a fortune. You might get really lucky and win a big tournament but it's luck not skill in most cases and you can't win consistently on luck alone. Keep trying and keep studying, reviewing and learning and most importantly playing and playing some more. If you're following the first P you won't go broke while you're learning.

Planning, when you get dealt a hand plan out what you will do with it. If you raise with it think about the "what ifs". Don't just look at your hand and think oh great I have pocket jacks and I'm going to win a big pot. Pay attention to the action before you and then decide what to do with your hand. If you're in early position and the first to act make a raise but don't be set on playing them a certain way. There are only two hands I never fold pre-flop and that's AA and KK assuming I'm not on some exact satellite bubble with a few short stacks. Don't get married to your hand before you see what others are going to do. Think about how you will proceed on different flops, turns and rivers. Plan, don't be impulsive.

Pause, before every action pause and think your moves through. Never make rash actions. Think about what will happen next if you make this call on the flop etc. If you've ever watched Chris "Jesus" Ferguson you will notice that before every action he pauses for the exact same amount of time. This always gives him a minute to think before making a play and by pausing the same amount of time he doesn't give away tells.

Premonition, no I don't mean E.S.P. what I do mean is our sub-conscience mind sees and stores things that our conscience mind doesn't even notice. When we're involved in a hand our sub-conscience may be screaming fold you fool or call he's bluffing. Listen to this and you will see more times than not your hunch is correct because it's not a hunch. Your mind recognizes something in your opponents actions that don't make sense based on things you've observed in the past. Never be stubborn enough not to listen.

Well for those who've been playing awhile none of this is anything new but for any newer player may you find it helpful.