In poker you have to make decisions repeatedly. To be successful you have to make the correct decisions a high percentage of the time. Here are what I believe to be the 3 most important poker decisions.

1. Deciding who to play against. This may seem odd at first, but it really isn’t. Poker is a game of skill. If you consistently play against players who are better than you it will be difficult to win. Ideally, you want to try to play against players who are no better than you and, preferably, worse. If you are playing in home games that draw from a relatively large player pool you can accomplish this by trying to avoid games where most of the players have superior skills compared to you and accept the invitations to play in games where most of the players are less skilled.

You can also do this to a degree when playing on-line or in a casino. As you would expect, in general, the higher the stakes, the higher the skill levels of the players. You therefore try to find the stakes level where you are better than the average player. You can also change tables if you feel uncomfortable with the other players.

2. Deciding to enter each hand. The first decision you make at the start of every hand is whether you will fold it or play it. Thus, your starting hand selection is very important. Obviously, there are many things to consider in making this decision and it can be very complicated. Your objective at the start of every hand is to determine if you are likely to have either the best hand right then, or have a reasonable draw to a hand that, if you make it, is likely to win.

3. Deciding to fold. Folding your hand can be a very difficult decision and it is one that players are often reluctant to make. It is much easier to continue playing. After all, that’s what you joined the game to do. But, consider the mathematics. If you are playing in an 8 player game you should expect, on average and over the long term, to win 1 hand out of every 8 played. In order to be a winner you must win more money in the hands you win than you lose in the hands you don’t win, right? No, don’t think of it in terms of winning more. Rather, think of it in terms of losing less in the hands you don’t win. After all, you are not going to win 7 times out of 8, so the folding decisions will come up much more frequently. You lose less by folding when you are likely to be beaten instead of chasing and losing more money.