Can learning too much be bad?

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BuffSabres09

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Hello,
I want to ask what is a serious question. I am NOT trying to sound like a jerk or stroke my ego, this is a legitimate question based off of my actual observations. Please don't respond with ridiculous comments...Okay, here goes....

I have been playing poker for about 13 years now, on and off (up until 4 months ago, my closest casino was 2.5 hours away). I've always had varying degrees of success playing NL 1-2/1-3. I would routinely profit about 6/10 sessions, usually at least doubling up during those wins. However, in the past year, I have been studying and learning more and more about poker strategy and watching videos, analyzing hands, etc. Over the last 4 months, my success rate has dropped dramatically. In the past 4 months, I've only had 4 profitable sessions in 11 trips. I've noticed that when I try to implement what I've learned, it doesn't hold up a lot because most of the players I'm playing with aren't following these standard "strategies" when it comes to poker. My question is, could I possibly have improved to think and analyze beyond this level? Should I be playing at higher stakes? I don't really have the cash flow to play higher, but it is something I've thought about.
Again, not trying to sound like a jerk or a showboat, it is a serious question.
 
steadman0

steadman0

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It's possible you could have the skill to play higher stakes, the only real way to know would be to try it out.

As for playing at current stakes, revert back to your old style, you have to make changes depending on the table. Use the things you have learnt to help you win more and make more profitable sessions, but don't change your style completely if it's working.
 
Kenzie 96

Kenzie 96

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Making serious well thought moves against some folks who are there just to have a good time, meh. You should be able to watch a round or 3 & get a good feel for your competition & then play accordingly. Very seldom is it a good idea to move up in stakes if your not rolled for it. You can run into the same situations at higher stakes as where you are now, just costs more to run bad. One truism that certainly applies to poker, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
good luck.
 
vov4ik

vov4ik

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You can play for 30 years and be better you just need to take a break sometimes, you can play for small bets but you need to switch to large ones so that your skills that you trained were not in vain
 
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GRSONS

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Specific Poker skill work against specific poker players.what I mean by that is you can't bluff a calling station and can't get a bet by a timid or passive player.
 
M

muunas

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everything doing too much is bad, too much is too much. rest of strategies and teories
 
M

muunas

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maybe you have bad teachers and bad strategies or dont apply them at the right moment. dont believe everything you hear, take just those things that fits to you according to your own playing experience. from all these theories and strategies i have created my own strategie how to play, because every player plays defferently and has his own strategie.
 
Andrew Popov

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To begin with - you should analyze the reasons for your losses recently. Perhaps you are playing a strategy, but do not understand it correctly? Perhaps you make mistakes in the late streets. Perhaps the strategy you've seen - it just does not work (it also happens).
 
M

muunas

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your playing skills wouldnt become better if you go to higher stakes. stay at the same level until you start winning, i think
 
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smuryof

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I don't think 11 sessions is enough to determine whether it's your change in style, or just a bad run.

My advice to you is continue to incorporate what you've learned, but remember, these are people, not AI computers. You should always be able to adjust your play according to what level your opponent is playing at.
 
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Thenightrain

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Really interesting. I would say no, you can never learn enough about poker. The top pros would say they are still learning and evolving to survive.

I think what is key here is adapting the style you play to suit the audience you are sat at a table with.

Part of being a great player is being able to adapt to every style of player you face.
 
John A

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The answer is NO of course. If you're really learning something, then you're understanding how and WHEN to apply it.

Part of being a great poker player is understanding where and how your opponent is thinking about the game, and then applying the best counter strategy to their strategy. When you're good enough at the game, you know who you can apply more advanced concepts to, and who you can't. And that's called REAL LEARNING. ;)

Right now it sounds like you've watched/read some stuff and are regurgitating it at the table w/o really fully understanding the strategy and the WHY's of that strategy.
 
jolubman

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I have found studying too much can be confusing.
 
demibar

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You have a very good winning rate but these last 4 months your poker performance has fallen as you said . First I think you need time to assimilate what you learned if you played differently, it's difficult to change this way and especially in live poker. You should try what you fit in strategy, higher stakes would be fine when you will be again confident about your play ,plus all players have some ups and downs so no worries maybe you need a break
 
ScottieDuncan

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there is a saying that states: study long - study wrong. sometimes it applies to poker.
 
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feecg

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Sometimes learning too much can be bad for the stake you are playing at, for example, you can't use the same strategy on the NL2 that you would use on NL10 or higher, the thoughts on the players minds are very different, and by the same way, you can't use the strategy that you would use on NL10, on NL2 or NL5, cause the players won't go too deep on the strategy.
Maybe what's happening to you is what I just told above, you are using very deep strategies in a relatively small stake in comparison to the level of the strategy studied.
If you want to win in a determined stake, you will have to master all the spots and profit the most money from them, until you can tell yourself you are able to move up to a higher stake.
 
Andrei Korolev

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This is what it is,in part, I agree with you.Tried a new strategy seen or read,sometimes just don't work.Adhere to standard techniques and the level falls.
 
n3rv

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If you ask Ivey or Antonius what poker book they read to learn the game they will laugh at you. Similarly, Negreanu feels his learned playing style and his table image is his edge over people who only play trying to use optimal strategy that they read.

I have also encountered, after learning strategy, major dips in my game when I was experimenting with it too much. For example, doing what a book or a teacher says 100% of the time over what I know is not the best spot to do something. What I tend to find happens is eventually I use that strategy maybe 10% of the time and it is just another style I picked up for a specific scenario and not the be all or end all I had previously assumed it was cause some strategist told me so.

In essence, I have found a good rule is to always go with what I am sure about doing and learnt by myself. Whenever I am in doubt, then I refer to the piece of math, or the pro, or the stats, or whatever, but it isn't the main thing in my mind playing because if I am thinking about it first then it is a distraction to my game. Play your style first, believe in yourself and your own experimentation, then switch up styles and techniques only when it isn't working, but make sure it is your decision and you are doing it for your reasons and not because you are worried about following a certain poker school dogma 100% of the time that may only be right 10% of the time for you.
 
Aces2w1n

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learning too much is impossible... learning to quick is another thing :)
 
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chronical

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dont really see how... unles youre just not inputtiong enopught volume in tro playing. I mean 1 mtt a month or 100 hands a week you can play them 500% good but... =)
 
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