Just a few weeks ago, we published a post on precautions to take when considering playing in a live poker venue. Wow, that seems so long ago. Today most of us face life-altering restrictions on our choices, albeit in the service of the critical cause of keeping the most vulnerable among us safe. The team at Advanced Poker Training wants to extend our hope that you and your families are well. We want to thank everyone for their sacrifices and encourage all to continue to make good decisions.

While there are many ways to productively spend our extended time at home (e.g., playing board games with family members, picking up long-forgotten projects, learning to cook new meals), poker as a pastime does not need to go away. Sadly, only a few states offer legal online access to poker for real money. If that is not an option for you, how can you enjoy and work on your game from home?

Read that Poker Book on the Shelf

How many poker books have you bought over the years but never cracked open? If you’re like me, several. I also have a number of books that I read years ago before I played enough to appreciate many of the finer points. This is the perfect opportunity to learn how to improve your game from experts. Although gaining access to new books may prove a challenge right now, we do have some suggestions on some valuable recent publications from 2017 and 2018. Or maybe you want to read some of the best poker volumes of all-time.

Up Your Poker Game

AdvancedPokerTraining.com has a wealth of resources to allow targeted practice with high volume repetition. You can start by playing hundreds, if not thousands, of hands in cash or tournament style in just a few hours. APT will produce a report that highlights your areas of strength and weakness. From there, you can engage in structured exercises offered with the training plan. You can also access Beat the Pro and Combat Trainer tools to practice addressing tricky hand types (e.g., A-Q, suited connectors), skills (e.g. 3-betting in position), or situations (e.g., dealing with aggressive tournament players).

Working on specific aspects of your poker game often takes a backseat to life’s other demands, as well as the desire to spend precious poker hours playing rather than training. Just as you can use this time doing some at-home physical training (see below), you can focus on aspects of your game that have long needed improvements.

Stay Poker Sharp

Among the wealth of challenges right now is staying physically active, sleeping, and eating well. Even if you had a good, healthy regimen previously, you may have seen that disrupted. If your local gym has closed and access to healthy food options become more difficult, the pounds can pile on. Boredom can also beget overeating or indulging in alcohol or other substances to pass the time. While this may not seem immediately relevant to poker, it’s hard to be sharp at the tables unless you are in good physical condition.

Connect with Others Online

Sheltering in place can be a lonely experience (unless you are sheltered in with your spouse and three kids under the age of ten. In which case, good luck to you). Even if you do not have legal online poker in your state, you do have access to live free games with other players. Companies like PokerStars offer free games, and even free home games so that you can arrange to play (free) poker with your favorite group of poker friends.

Advanced Poker Training also offers live cash games, Sit N Go’s, and tournaments daily. Join a welcoming community of students of the game while honing your skills. Nothing chases away the trapped in the house blues like a friendly game and active chatbox.

Learn a New Poker Variant

Looking to beat the “nothing ever changes” blues? Learn a new poker game. Advanced Poker Training has recently launched a sister site, Omaha Poker Training (www.OmahaPokerTraining.com). If you’re looking for a new challenge, OPT has all of the resources, videos, and articles you need to get up to speed with Pot Limit Omaha. Based on the same learning principles of learning through deep practice as APT, OPT offers 6 max, 9 max and Multi-Table Tournaments. Expert Advisors help you identify optimal play for any in-game situation. Finally, OPT offers live daily tournaments with other students as well. So you can learn and engage with your poker community at the same time.

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