Natasha Sandhu

There’s a common misconception that to refine your technique and become a poker legend, you need a group of poker-savvy friends, a casino setting, and a real poker table. But just like a player on a sports team practices solo drills and studies game film, there’s tremendous value in practicing the game on your own.

Poker is often called a “game of odds and psychology.” However, what truly underpins success is sustained focus and sound decision-making. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman has suggested that, in general, people’s concentration peaks in roughly 90-minute intervals. Beyond that, decision speed and accuracy gradually decline, and small mistakes can accumulate into significant losses.

The online poker scene just got a major boost. Stake.us has officially launched its 1,000,000 SC Bad Beat Jackpot, giving players across the U.S. a shot at one of the biggest social poker prizes of the year.

The days when you had to get to a physical location to wager on the value of cards are long gone. Imagine, with just a tap on your smartphone, you can participate in poker or any other casino game from anywhere, anytime. This increased convenience is actually part of why the casino industry is pulling millions and millions of followers.

Poker is often described as a game of luck, and while there’s truth to that on any single hand, the players who consistently come out ahead are the ones who understand that certain principles matter more than chance in the long run.