One of the first things that many people learn about poker is that it involves a lot of variance. You’re dealing with uncertain outcomes in poker, and no matter how good you are, nothing is a given when it comes to the short-term.
This being said, many beginning players wonder when is a good time to assess their play since it’s hard to determine short-term success. Going further, they want to know how much of a sample size is needed before trying to identify problems and fix leaks. And the answer is that you can start assessing your play after the very first session played.
Now this doesn’t mean you’ll have a good indication of success after your first session, but you can at least start to improve in terms of poker strategy. For example, if you struggle with handling 3-bets from aggressive players, this is something that you should review immediately after a session. That way, you can better identify what range of hands aggressive opponents could be holding when they’re 3-betting.
Of course, it’s important to note that you won’t be able to fix bigger leaks just by reviewing a session or two because they take time to identify. In addition to this, you won’t be able to truly measure how profitable your play is until you’ve played thousands of poker hands. Interestingly enough, it could take a 100,000 hands or more before you have a truly accurate assessment of your profitability.
But until you reach that number, just keep reviewing your play every session (if possible), or once every few sessions. Also don’t forget to check out poker strategy frequently in order to pick up tips that’ll improve your play.
