The road to profitability

[Penguinfan]

This is mostly geared toward cash LIMIT games, but can take any turn you like and I think this can be a valuable thread.

What would you say are the 2 or 3 most important things you have learned that have helped your game go from sticking a rack every time you sit down to actually making money at the game?

I was gonna do this as a poll, but that would leave out everyone elses thoughts, so have at it, if you could teach a new player one thing right off the bat, what would it be?

For me I think when I finally realized it was OK to muck a big hand when I thought it was beat instead of losing 2 or 3 more bets with it. Sure I throw away a winner from time to time, but I think I save more by losing less if that makes any sense at all. I see people uncapable of throwing away KK with a flop of A-Q-Q against even a capped pot. Sure KK is a fantastic starting hand, but it is just that, a starting hand and is probably beat against that board. Time and time again I see people put 8 or more bets into a pot with that exact circumstance and flash their KK just to show what they lost with.

The value of starting hands has to rank right up there as well.

Not playing Axs from anything but the button or blinds has saved me alot.

The value of positon as it relates to your hand.

And even more recently the stakes of the game as it relates to my bankroll is coming into the mix, much better to sit just below your bankroll's level than above it even if you are skilled enough simply because of the inevitable bad session will put more of a hurt in you than you think.

Surely everyone can add something to this list, feel free to talk tournaments as well if you like, but what is something that has you going in the right direction that you picked up along the way?

Penguinfan