I used to roll my eyes a bit when people banged on about the boring fundamentals, but yeah... turns out the simple stuff actually does the heavy lifting. Gave it a proper go the last couple of weeks instead of just playing on feel and punting around, and my results have been way less chaotic.
The biggest one for me was just folding more pre-flop. Sounds dead simple, I know, but I was getting sticky with rubbish hands way too often, especially if I was a bit bored or trying to force action. Tightened that up and suddenly I wasn’t ending up in gross spots every second hand.
Position made a bigger difference than I expected too. Playing more hands late and easing off when I’m first to act has saved me a heap. Funny how obvious it sounds when you type it out, but at the table it’s easy to forget and just click buttons like a drongo.
Another thing — I chilled out with the hero bluffs. I used to have this idea that if I wasn’t making big moves I was playing scared. Nah. Half the time I was just lighting chips on fire. Betting when the story actually makes sense works a lot better than trying to be some galaxy-brain maniac every orbit.
Bankroll side of it matters more than I wanted to admit as well. If I’m sitting in games a bit too juicy for what I’ve got, I start playing weird. Too cautious in some spots, too spewy in others. Keeping it sensible has made the whole thing feel less cooked.
Anyway that’s my little review after stripping things back. Nothing revolutionary, just the stuff everyone says for a reason. Keen to hear what basic adjustment helped you lot the most, or what common advice you reckon is actually overrated?