How to find your 'Squad' of poker friends

Find some enthusiastic poker friends and you will improve very quickly, says Dara O'Kearney.

When I see an up-and-coming player, the biggest green flag I see that suggests they might be a future star is who they socialise with and the questions that they ask.

All the best players have a peer group of similar players. I have seen it a lot in the UK and Ireland, groups with good players in them lift each other up.

Poker may be a zero-sum game at the tables, but away from them, a rising tide lifts all ships.

So I urge all of you to find your 'crew' of like-minded players to discuss strategy with.

Find players at your level

It might be tempting to find a group of crushers and parachute yourself into that group, but what tends to happen in those scenarios is that the weaker player frustrates the better players. There is too big a gulf between them, and strategy discussions become annoying.

Much better to find a group of similar-level players. The questions you ask won't irritate the top players and you will also be positioned to help the players underneath you.

The biggest benefit of finding a group of your own is that none of us know what we do not know. A crew of similar players will identify things you were not aware of in the game and show you viewpoints you have not considered.

Even more than ability, I would look for enthusiasm to learn when finding a peer group. That affords you all much more room to grow than pure talent.

You can get Dara's free book on effective poker study by joining his mailing list.