Roy Cooke

What does it take to reach a top level, to be one of the few who has what it takes to succeed where others fail? It takes five major components in poker: Knowledge of strategy is perhaps the simplest of the five requisite skills. You attain this two ways. The most effective way is through experience. When playing, observe what better players do. Ask yourself why they do what they do? Spend the time between hands designing counterplays which take advantage of your opponents' tendencies.

How good of a poker player do you want to be? Many want to be great, but are unwilling to undertake the huge amount of hard effort and commitment it requires. But you don't have to be great to be a winning player — you just have to be better than your competition. Poker is a very complicated game, and it requires a high level of knowledge to play great.

Getting the best value from your hands means optimizing your bet sizing. Having an accurate sense of which hands and which size wager your opponent will call with helps greatly in calculating your highest EV. One important concept to consider is elasticity. Most bet-sizing equations can be compartmentalized into "elastic" or "inelastic" calling ranges. Elastic calling ranges are opponent's ranges in which the amount bet will dictate what quality of hand your opponent will call with.