Texas Holdem Secrets - How Starcraft Made Me A Poker Champion
Texas Holdem Secrets - How Starcraft Made Me A Poker Champion
Even if you know what Starcraft is or don't, you need to know these Texas Holdem secrets on how it can make you are poker champion in no time.
In this Texas Holdem Secrets article I'm going to explain how a computer game StarCraft made me really good at poker. Even if you don't like computer games you will understand this, so just bear with me.
So Whats StarCraft Anyway?
StarCraft is a computer game. It's a real-time strategy game where you have workers that get money, then you build an army and have to kill your enemy who is trying to kill you. That's it in its most basic form, but there really is a lot more to it.
Why It's Important
StarCraft is important because it trains you in almost every skill required to become a good poker player. Another little secret, ssh, don't tell anyone, is that you can't play Holdem all the time. It just fries your brain. So it's good to 'change gears' to something else for a while. And what better thing to change gears to then something that is secretly training you for Holdem too?
1 - Strategy
StarCraft is all about strategy. You need a strategy, you have to learn all the strategies, and more importantly, once in the game your strategy will chance depending on what happens (and what your enemy does). This is exactly like Holdem it's scary.
2 - Realtime Decisions
StarCraft is freakin' fast man. You have to play at light speed. Poker feels like a snails pace compared to it. This is great because your brain learns to make decisions on the fly really fast and calculate things really fast. Then when you go back to playing Holdem all the decisions and ideas come a lot easier.
3 - Being Flexible
In StarCraft you have to continually change how your playing. For example, if you decide you are going to build a lot of zerglings (a crazy fast alien that eats you) but your enemy builds helions (a tank that shoots a flamethrower) you can't continue that because in the game the zerglings die very easily to the fire. So you have to adapt.
If you were of the mindset 'No, I decided I want to build zerglings so that's what I'm doing' you will just lose. So the requirement of being flexible forces you to learn this skill. Then in Holdem you can more easily switch up play styles and strategies in reference to what your opponent is doing.
4 - Assess Opponents
In Starcraft you have to scout your enemies base - watching them - and see what they are doing. Sometimes you don't get to see everything but you have to work with whatever you got. This is exactly like playing poker it's scary. Just this one skill alone of figuring out someones strategy from small pieces of information will make you a better poker player.
5 - Know The Game
To be successful at StarCraft you have to literally know the game inside and out. You have to know every unit, what beats what, which buildings build what units etc. You can't win without knowing all the different strategies and knowing the tell-tale signs of these strategies.
This is poker in a nutshell. Enough said.
I'm sure that as you are reading this article you are becoming more aware of the finer, more subtle skills that make a great Holdem player just that, great. All the Texas Holdem secrets in the world can't train you in these required skills - you have to get out there and practice yourself. But the real secret is that you don't have to do it playing Holdem specifically. There are other things in your life that you can do so you can "train in the background."
Even if you know what Starcraft is or don't, you need to know these Texas Holdem secrets on how it can make you are poker champion in no time.
In this Texas Holdem Secrets article I'm going to explain how a computer game StarCraft made me really good at poker. Even if you don't like computer games you will understand this, so just bear with me.
So Whats StarCraft Anyway?
StarCraft is a computer game. It's a real-time strategy game where you have workers that get money, then you build an army and have to kill your enemy who is trying to kill you. That's it in its most basic form, but there really is a lot more to it.
Why It's Important
StarCraft is important because it trains you in almost every skill required to become a good poker player. Another little secret, ssh, don't tell anyone, is that you can't play Holdem all the time. It just fries your brain. So it's good to 'change gears' to something else for a while. And what better thing to change gears to then something that is secretly training you for Holdem too?
1 - Strategy
StarCraft is all about strategy. You need a strategy, you have to learn all the strategies, and more importantly, once in the game your strategy will chance depending on what happens (and what your enemy does). This is exactly like Holdem it's scary.
2 - Realtime Decisions
StarCraft is freakin' fast man. You have to play at light speed. Poker feels like a snails pace compared to it. This is great because your brain learns to make decisions on the fly really fast and calculate things really fast. Then when you go back to playing Holdem all the decisions and ideas come a lot easier.
3 - Being Flexible
In StarCraft you have to continually change how your playing. For example, if you decide you are going to build a lot of zerglings (a crazy fast alien that eats you) but your enemy builds helions (a tank that shoots a flamethrower) you can't continue that because in the game the zerglings die very easily to the fire. So you have to adapt.
If you were of the mindset 'No, I decided I want to build zerglings so that's what I'm doing' you will just lose. So the requirement of being flexible forces you to learn this skill. Then in Holdem you can more easily switch up play styles and strategies in reference to what your opponent is doing.
4 - Assess Opponents
In Starcraft you have to scout your enemies base - watching them - and see what they are doing. Sometimes you don't get to see everything but you have to work with whatever you got. This is exactly like playing poker it's scary. Just this one skill alone of figuring out someones strategy from small pieces of information will make you a better poker player.
5 - Know The Game
To be successful at StarCraft you have to literally know the game inside and out. You have to know every unit, what beats what, which buildings build what units etc. You can't win without knowing all the different strategies and knowing the tell-tale signs of these strategies.
This is poker in a nutshell. Enough said.
I'm sure that as you are reading this article you are becoming more aware of the finer, more subtle skills that make a great Holdem player just that, great. All the Texas Holdem secrets in the world can't train you in these required skills - you have to get out there and practice yourself. But the real secret is that you don't have to do it playing Holdem specifically. There are other things in your life that you can do so you can "train in the background."
