Pushing Poker Chips,
Chasing the Game and Discipline

POKER TIP OF THE DAY:
Why it pays to be a disciplined poker player
...if you want to be a consistent winner!

Most people who take up popker for the first time enjoy the rush of playing for money and want to get into the action as much as possible. Understandable as that is, it often leads to impatience over-riding good poker discipline. It's quite boring folding one hand after another and if there's one thing a human being hates more than most, it's boredom.

New players who know perfectly well that their hole cards are not up to scratch often push poker chips into the pot just to be part of the action. This regularly leads to things not going well and the same impatience rolls onto the even deadlier ground of "chasing the game". Chasing is when a loser panics and begins to chase what's been lost by reacting in an even more irrational manner. This is reckless risk taking because it can become habitual and the one thing worse than boredom is losing!

If the hand isn't there in the hole cards and you're a new player, fold them. When the right hole cards come along, you'll enjoy the action all the more if the odds are in your favour and you raid the pot. Discipline may sometimes be boring but it tends to lead to winning ... which isn't!

Finally, never play on recklessly to impress friends with your macho attitude to losing. If you have that tendency