Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.

What really sets apart the winning players in no limit tournament poker?

Here is a list of 20 key skills that sets apart the tournament poker winning players from the rest.

You should review each of these areas, evaluate yourself on a scale from

1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest) and work on improving your tournament poker game for 2009.

1. Entering an event with the right mental approach to tournament poker–playing to win and not just to cash

2. Entering a tournament poker event with a plan–when will you play tight, loose, aggressive, solid, etc

3. Embracing the risk in the game and realizing that you can’t beat the luck inherent in poker

4. Identifying betting patterns of your opponents

5. Identifying tells of your opponents

6. Identifying your own betting patterns

7. Identifying the tells in your own game

8. Your skill at how to play pre-flop based on the strength of your hand

9. Knowing the importance of chips stack sizes on your decisions

10. Knowing how to adjust your game based on your position

11. Knowing how to make plays when you are card dead

12. Realizing the importance of and frequency to bluff successfully

13. Knowing the right time to push all-in

14. Knowing the right time to fold and realizing that sometimes it s right to fold when you are ahead.

15. Accumulating enough chips so you can survive at least one bad beat

16. Knowing how to play at the final table

17. Knowing how to play heads-up poker

18. Knowing the 101 winning moves you can use in tournament poker

19. Not letting your emotions influence your decisions and not going on tilt.

20. Making the best decision for every situation that comes up in tournament poker

• If you scored each area, what is your total score?
• Which areas do you feel you are weak and which ones do you feel you are strong?
• Now take your total score and reduce it by 20%. Why?

You are not as good as you think. Almost every player over rates their own abilities in tournament poker.

In the coming weeks, I will write articles that will address each area with the objective of helping you improve your tournament poker game.

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.