Fastest way to improve ?

"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital." Joe Paterno


Ok, gaining poker knowledge is a must. But what is the fastest way to improve ? Reading books, articles, discussing strategies with friends or in forums, coaches, watching poker videos... ?

Since I am facing this same question in my playing, I dont have an absolute answer myself. However, it seems to me that a good balance between academic and practical is important. I read books, articles, forum posts etc. as well as watch a lot of videos. I try to combine some of the above with playing games and try to utilize the info I have just been getting i.e. if I read about mid-blind SnG play then I play a few SnGs and pay attention in the mid-blind phase and so on. I also think hand and game review are of utmost importance to see where you are in your game. It shocks me sometimes when I replay a game, and i am like "I did what???" Things that seem to make sense at the time, or just plays I made without thinking it through become clearer later.

But for me combining the things I watch and read with playing and using the info while it is fresh works ok.

The ultimate thing that is going to make you better is playing poker. You could read every book and watch every video, nothing will teach you like experience. Many people suggest that you do about a 75/25 split between playing and studying, so if you play for 3 hours, you should spend one hour studying.

With being a beginning player, I would say you should probably be spending most of your time reading through the specific sections of the forums that are geared towards the types of poker you play(ie. cash game strategy or tournament/SnG strategy) because you're going to find a lot of information that is relevant to the stakes you're playing. The problem with most books is that they are geared to higher level thinkers, not just the players themselves, but also the opponents. Once you get a good understanding of a good bit, the video sites might start benefiting you, once again only if you're watching ones that compliment the stakes you're playing.

I think the answer is fairly simple.....play more hands. The more hands you play the more you come across different situations and once you start to see those situations again you know what to do. Your thought processes become more automatic. And on top of that reading books and articles is needed to improve, but playing hands lets you analyze situations with certain types of players in real time. Does this player do this often, or i've seen a player like this guy here's what i think will happen? maybe this isn't what you were looking for but, that's my advice. Play more hands.

I play in a touring band and know quite a few people who play poker to pass time on the road and win at it. It all comes down to the fact they play a lot. Some guys like Online others like face to face Casino playing. I'm going to say that most people I talk to about poker that are good at it say there's nothing like learning to play in a live scenario. I tend to believe them too because they ALL play online and most if not all of them will tell you they learned to play on the felt.

Either way I'm w/ everyone else on playing more hands. I play guitar and just like poker there's a million other people out there who do it too. But the guys that are successful at it are the people who just like playing. As long as you never think you know it all and continually try to learn and better your game in the process I think you'll be ok!

Playing more hands is key but studing the play afterwards with ideas from books, online sites and people will expidite the learning of the game. If you just play hands you may not pick up on all you opptions. gl

Here is the secret:
1) Study a whole bunch
2) Play a whole bunch
3) Make adjustments
4) Repeat steps 1-3 a whole bunch

Think you have hit the nail on the head with all the ways to do it. Only problem is there is no time frame or fast track. All those you mention besides coaching will come together with how much time you willing to spend doing them.

If getting a coach is the option, then allow them to dictate the time and means to learning. Think putting a time frame or looking for the fastest way isn't as beneficial as allowing a certian percentage of your time towards that. Bankroll manangement dictates a percentge of funds go toward learning. That same philosophy would also say allocation of time learning verse playing. Extend that percentage of time learning over playing.

Sorry for the de-rail, but PSI, I am a guitarist/singer)songwriter.

PM me some links if you want.

Here is one of mine http://www.jayfletcher.de/OSS1.htm

And there are a lot of similarities to getting good at anything such as Guitar/Poker. As stated, just keep doing it, keep trying to spot what you do good and keep on doing that, and where your weaknesses are, and work on getting better in those areas. Just find what works for you. I studied music. I know guys who cant read a note any play their asses off. There is no "best" way. If you keep at it, you will slowly begin to see what works for you.

^^^^^^ makes a lot of sense.

ok well heres my openion on how to improve.

in poker like many other things you have "logic" i.e boooks, training videos, forums and many more. on the other hand you have "experience" which is getiting in some table time. i had someone explain it to me really well once and ild love to pass it on to you.

its like building a ship, and making your ship as good as it can be. but to build your ship you need your blueprints which is your "logic" and you have to bang those planks together and get as much experience as you can practicing the logic side of it.

in poker there is alot of thinking but alot of the time your on auto pilot. we all have our naturall ways that we react to certain things like wether to call or fold ect. this is why we need experience so we can make our logic from all that we learn in to our natural plays that we dont even have to think about we just know its the right play.

hope i explained it well i couldnt be bothered to read over what i wrote because im eating toast

if you want to ask me anything about it feel free, or maybe you will all think this is rubbish lol.

http://www.cardschat.com/f50/ (http://www.cardschat.com/f50/)

^^ Yep

Personally I feel I've benefitted most from watching vids. but it's tough to say for sure because combined with that (along the path) I've read over 50 books (some of them 4 & 5x cover-to-cover) have read a zillion articles, talked to ALOT of players (particular hands, etc.), reviewed a ton of HH's (ie. different spots in MTT play... using tools like Pokerstove & posting some of these HH in different forums), read many HH posts & played quite a few hands.
I think perhaps identifying our weak pts. & working on those with whatever avenue we've found works best for us. It's also a 'process'... one that seems to never end (or at least it shouldn't imo) & just know that things are being imprinted into the mind.... & stuff becomes alot more intuitive as we progress. I spend most of my time working on MTT play but have also spent a fair bit of time on SNG & Cashgame play as well..... all which I've found has been of benefit for playing MTTs.
"fastest way to improve"...?? idk... depends on where you're at I guess (what stuff you've already been doing, etc.).
Right now for me (& probably for awhile now) it's the emotional part of the game I'm working on. I don't flip out, smash stuff, etc. but I can let the Tournament downswing stuff get to me (ie. repeatedly getting in good & getting fk'd over... over & over again). How do I work on overcoming this... dealing with ('improving'.. 'faster')... I read articles of stuff that relates to this very topic. I talk to other players, etc. I then practise what I learn.

Also agreeing with Lizzy. Making the adjustments is a really important part. Playing all the hands in the world are not going to do you any good if you make the same mistakes over and over again. You need to review hands, post hands in forums, try to continuously get feedback, keep track of improvements, and constantly look for leaks.

there's no right way to learn. anything can work for anyone. I mainly stick to articles/forums and books

So you don't play at all eh?

"What's the difference between a trampoline and a dead baby? You take your boots off to jump on a trampoline. "

What is that all about????

http://www.dead-baby-joke.com/introduction.htm

Here's a link to a Pokerplayer magazine article on that very subject.

http://www.pokerplayer.co.uk/poker-s...ning_zone.html

Like most I think it's a bit of everything, they say hiring a coach is the fastest way to learn but surely you would need quite a bit of money behind you to get a decent one, think that would be more for people who are winning players but want to go up a level or two.

I think i improve my game by simply playing poker the more i play i believe the better i get in reads and just understanding the game better in different situations. Also watching poker videos helps me alot, I have read books but somehow I don't feel they help me that much. As some one said above everyone is different.

The fastest way to improve is to realize nothing comes quick in poker except variance. You need to look at the big picture and learn what plays are profitable over the long haul. As others said this takes a lot of studying and applying to real game situations to get there.

The quicker you stop saying quickest/fastest and poker in the same sentence, the sooner you will become a better player.

Now if I could just get over the part of that variance kicking my butt my ROI would improve drastically and I`d be a damned sight happier.

Every body wants to win but is it possible in all time, absolutely not. if anybody try hard to learn different strategy of poker then his win possibility is better then defeatism. "practice makes a man perfect" you should belive that.also forum discussion is another fastest way to improve.

Practice does not make perfect, practice makes you better. Perfection is an illusion and it is the enemy of progress

One thing that has really helped me lately is a pre and post session routine. Before starting play, I make a list of one or two things that I really wan't to work on in this session. For example, I have been having some struggles with play on the river lately so one of the things on my list has to do with that. Another item is to remain positionally aware. Focus on the biggest thing you are trying to fix and really work on it during the session. After the session I look to see if I followed my plan and also to see if anything else turned up (difficult spots etc) and whatever I find becomes part of next session's plan.

As far as studying, I just finished Dusty Schmidt's book and he recomends 80/20 play to study. As for what to study, videos have helped me a ton. I use Deuces Cracked but Drag the Bar is awesome too. l feel like I can take a concept straight from a video and go make money. The main thing is to use what you study and put in the hours.

Bill

exactly what youre doing by being on this site. you need to read a lot of osts and hear what people have to sya other then that just by playing a lot most people have but in so much time into poker and thats how they gain experience

This is about how I am doing things now. After running a session I look over my hands and different spots and try to pick out a few things I would like to work on and make them a focus in my next session.

As a kid growing up i remember learning to shoot billards. And my father told me to practice as much as i could. And he would teach every week a new lesson when i got my allowance for that week. And every week he would take back my allowance. But I learned quickly, not to play with more then i could afford to lose. Kinda like br mgt. But one thing my father told me was if you realy want to improve was to play players that were better then myself. Cause it's easy to win with average players but you don't improve. So i'm sure the same principle works for poker. My game is improving I am playing smaller fields with great players. And do look forward to joining in sum cc games soon.

for the fastest way to improve ur game id say is to focus on specific problems/situation that u find urself in, rather than just trying to take a generalized approach like reading a whole book on poker tourn or cash play, or watch random poker vids on different issues. i mean its like if some1 read an entire general math book but couldnt solve 1 of the problems in it because they didnt take the time to master any of them, it would be a big waste of time.

this is why so many ppl say it takes a huge amount of time to master holdem. because they have to master specific situations.

id say stay focused on that problem for awhile. review the problem in ur poker tracker or whatever means u use to take notes. then come up with a solution that fits ur style of play but try to learn more about the situation by forums and up to date books that might give u an even better solution to dealing with that problem that fits ur style of play. then move to an another situation.

I think you have to play to get better at poker but there is also merit in reading the right books and watching good poker videos. Unfortunately too many people watch tv poker and try to copy some of the players on there. In my opinion tv poker teaches people bad habits which they try to use online.

for me, I spend my time practicing through online poker sites that offer free games.