Becoming a winning player

Jollocks

Jollocks

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Hey CC, I've been playing poker for about a month, and I'm terrible to be honest. However, I love the game and want to improve and become a winning player. I just started studying my first poker book: Internet hold 'em, by Mathew Hilger, it's a good book and I've learned quite a bit from it like how to calculate outs, pot odds and implied pot odds, however, a lot of the time I forget to implement these things into my game. Is their any advice for me to become a winning player? Any book/video recommendations?

Thanks.
 
crocoduck11

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Hey CC, I've been playing poker for about a month, and I'm terrible to be honest. However, I love the game and want to improve and become a winning player. I just started studying my first poker book: Internet hold 'em, by Mathew Hilger, it's a good book and I've learned quite a bit from it like how to calculate outs, pot odds and implied pot odds, however, a lot of the time I forget to implement these things into my game. Is their any advice for me to become a winning player? Any book/video recommendations?

Thanks.

I am in the same spot as you except I am playing once every few days and reading/watching videos during the rest + 1-2 days of time to relax (basically not poker time ) once a week
I think what we need to do is not to play fancy (at our level, until we get the fundamentals ) and try to get the basics right. For example one MAJOR leak of mine was starting hand range. I simply had no idea how bad it was and in how many situations I simply didn't have the experience to handle it had put me trough. Since I've adjusted my range I feel much more secure. A friend of mine also tried this with similar results.
Daniel Negreanu has also written some books and he's a big pro so maybe you should check them. He also has video lessons on youtube so check those out too.
And if you find anything really important pm me because chances are I will need it :D
Hope this will actually help you and not create trouble
 
EvertonGirl

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A year ago I was like you, so I joined here and with the help of people on CC I managed to play better and make better descisions in the game. I started to make FT's more and started to bink a few mtts, which I couldn't do before I joined here.

Stick around this forum and you will be learning in no time. I also did research for certain topics like the gap concept and studied it, that was refered to me by AlfieAA. I also read the hand analysis on here to see what the winning players were telling people how to play specific hands and tricky boards.

Just study all there is to know and when you start cashing, carry on studying so you never forget what you learnt, go over stuff you learnt over and over again, and then take what you leant into practise. Just don't give up and you will get there. People will recommend using a HUD and reading certain books. I couldn't tell you about them as I am not using a HUD yet and have not read any books.

GL @ the tables :)
 
teh_colonel_saigon

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Hey Jollocks thanks for posting.

I am a new player too, and I think I have recently become a slightly winning player.

I was playing STTs and MTTs for the first part of my poker journey, and losing money, but recently I switched to cash games and I'm up $25 in just a week of playing (which is amazing for me, lol, don't hate) so maybe I can give you some advice. Also, some more background on me, I started playing poker last September in a home game, decided to buy a book to learn outside of the game, I took 5-6 months off, and then started practicing/studying again in May. So 3 months of serious practice, 1-2 of preliminary studying.

Videos and books are great. There is so much you can learn about how you should be approaching the game from these books/videos alone. I won't write too much about this since there are tons of threads about good poker books to pick up.

As for implementing the things you've learned, you have to understand some things about poker. It is an insanely hard game to master, because there is so much to think about when in a hand, so you often don't have enough time to calmly consider everything. So you need to work away from the table to reduce this aspect.

For one, you will need to start playing. Play a comfortable amount... if you can get an hour in a day, that's fine. Review every single hand you play. Preflop raise amount, other possibilities, etc. should all be considered. I started keeping a poker journal, and recently I had to transition to a digital one just to make it easier to keep track of things.

I guess I will suggest Sklansky's hold em: theory and practice, if you haven't heard of it. It will certainly be mentioned in any poker book thread you go to... you'll learn the basics and much more, you'll probably have to read through it several times. It will also teach you more ways to analyze your play.

Post on here, and see how other players review your hands. Also, keep watching videos about hand analysis to learn exactly how other people think about poker.

It's okay to lose some money initially as long as you are learning and having fun. By reviewing all of your hands, you will get the most learning out of the least amount of money.

Keep posting on CC, we'd love to hear from you as you progress as a player!
 
Fknife

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[..]
Just study all there is to know and when you start cashing, carry on studying so you never forget what you learnt, go over stuff you learnt over and over again, and then take what you leant into practise. Just don't give up and you will get there. People will recommend using a HUD and reading certain books. I couldn't tell you about them as I am not using a HUD yet and have not read any books.

Lol, but you are a poker prodigy after all, Sarah :)
 
Jollocks

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Thanks a lot for all your contributions. I've began reading poker theory by sklansky and so far it looks like a good book. I do play quite a bit. Maybe 2-3 hours a day, and the rest i'm reading forums, watching poker videos or something.
 
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bluejay2220

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Doyle Brunson has some good books.
 
Jollocks

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Doyle Brunson has some good books.

Gonna' read 'em! I'm picking up a bundle of poker books on e-bay for £20.

The bundle has dan harrington on hold em 1/2 super system doyle brunson 1/2, theory of poker - david sklansky and another book I don't remember. Bargain!
 
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thatgreekdude

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You'll learn a heck of a lot through trial and error and definitely discuss hands on this forum, there's no better place to learn poker than CC! Books are great but they can only take your game so far.
 
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joe777

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Apart from reading books,implementation of the theory is also important.It require discipline,focus and hardwork.Btw if you an mtts player i would recommend Harrington on Hold 'Em for Modern Tournaments.
 
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Didn't read any replies but I noticed you called yourself a terrible player in the OP. This already puts you miles ahead of a lot of other terrible players whose ego and pride or w/e impedes their ability to improve. Always keep an open mind. Don't take anything for granted, even the basics. Question every action you take and every piece of garbage advice you're given whether in a video a book or (especially) on this very board. As soon as you think you understand the game, you're doomed. gl
 
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