Relearning the Game

I have recently began to take the game of poker a ton more serious. Not that I did not before but I am starting to see the potential of making some extra money playing the game. When I started having this realization I began to find huge wholes in my game which when playing other good players would make me a huge target at the table whether it was online or live which I will start playing in the fall. I have tried to pretty much relearn the game, in sense I've tried to go back over different parts of playing to find the best way to play these spots. Which books would be the best to help at this along with helping me get ready to play live in the near future? Thanks in advance

I think books will not help, you yourself should understand.
And the Internet is full, whichever is cash game or tournament...

In my opinion Phil Galfond has the best poker startegy training videos. I learned a lot from him.

fordman427 said:

I have recently began to take the game of poker a ton more serious. Not that I did not before but I am starting to see the potential of making some extra money playing the game. When I started having this realization I began to find huge wholes in my game which when playing other good players would make me a huge target at the table whether it was online or live which I will start playing in the fall. I have tried to pretty much relearn the game, in sense I've tried to go back over different parts of playing to find the best way to play these spots. Which books would be the best to help at this along with helping me get ready to play live in the near future? Thanks in advance

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I think that will help any book associated with the reading of the gestures of the person, to play live poker, this is very useful for game when you know what the opponent thinks

I've read two poker books cover to cover: Dusty's Treat Your Poker like A Business and The Zen of Poker.

I'm big on the mental and discipline aspect of poker these days and I attribute my recent successes and vast improvements over the past 2 years to working on these two aspects.

It also doesn't hurt to brush up on things like BRM, tilt control, odds, reading board texture, and c-betting understanding. Pretty basic stuff but I mean for me, once I combined understanding of just basic pot odds, outs odds, and board texture's role in understanding odds with better discipline and mental focus my improvement was like day and night for me at least. I'm also no longer afraid to try different strategies on the felt with different ranges, positions, etc that might either go counter to what I've always done or counter to the popular opinion. Will this move work? Should it work? Does the math support it? Do these spots come up often? You should be actively asking yourself these questions as you play hands. We all can build a great foundation of basics, but it's up to us individually to build upon it and really develop our game. Advanced books and training videos can help the foundation but I think actually hurt some players who stick to much to the strategy recommended in these advanced books and training guides. Talking over hands on forums like this and reading threads of hand analysis and such is a much better use of time I think.

I may consider reading some others BUT my issue with books and such is that it might get you set in certain ways/patterns/methods that could be less effective in today's game.

I think the best way to learn is on the felt. Grinding. Putting in time on the table. Yes look over hands, yes read and understand odds and bet sizing online for free. But books and training videos concern me because you're relying on someone to teach you their strategy which unless you then adapt to make your own and apply it on a hand by and basis you're just really another predictable player.

There's so much free info out there online, use it. Sure the books can be helpful, but so can applying basic concepts and then going beyond them as you experience thousands of hands each with their own different dynamics and challenges to solve.

buy holdem manager play 100k hands the hire a teacher that can run threw your own stats saying what needs to change. there is a chart also saying what hands you loss/won the most with and with filter options that brakes it down from ep, mp, lp, button,sb,bb. tourney players that are at the top of the game will win around 20bb per hundred in mtts

fordman427 said:

I have recently began to take the game of poker a ton more serious. Not that I did not before but I am starting to see the potential of making some extra money playing the game. When I started having this realization I began to find huge wholes in my game which when playing other good players would make me a huge target at the table whether it was online or live which I will start playing in the fall. I have tried to pretty much relearn the game, in sense I've tried to go back over different parts of playing to find the best way to play these spots. Which books would be the best to help at this along with helping me get ready to play live in the near future? Thanks in advance

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I have exactly the same situation and the same question)

you really can't go wrong with phil gal fonds training videos, or black rains crushing the micros

I just love Dan Harrington's books. I learn't so much for them. I keep going back and rereading them.