Best advice for full time learning

[whyndam]

I'm in a position to commit all my time to learning Poker right now but I'm not sure what the best way to use my time would be to achieve this. Like, should I be reading books, using online training software, training videos or what? There seem to be an overwhelming amount of resources available these days, which certainly makes it tough due to the competition so I want to make sure I make the best of these resources myself.

Regarding budget, I don't have enough to stretch for a coach and perhaps that wouldn't be the best for a beginner anyway, but I can afford to invest some like into membership of simulation websites, books or training videos etc.

I've tried to learn what I can over the last couple of weeks which is the sum total of my experience in poker until now and I think I would perhaps prefer tournaments rather than cash games so maybe my training should be focused on that.

Up until now I've been trying to absorb information from videos, websites, books etc and feel my learning needs more structure to get the best results.

If anyone can give a list of what to do in order, or what to do each day/week or anything like this that would be extremely helpful.

 

[5pAce_C0wb0y]

First of all read How to study poker by Sky Matsuhashi. Through the book he will give you some free training material from his website and if you sign up to his newsletter you'll get quite a lot of free resource. His book will also set you up to get the most out of any book you read. Since reading his book I've re read several of my books using his methods and got so much more out of them. As a starter I recommend then reading Harrington on Holdem to give you some good base knowledge of tournament strategy. Your learning from there should be based around weaknesses you find in your game.

 

[vwpokernut]

split suit sweeney on youtube has an excellent video concerning this very topic

 

[whyndam]

split suit sweeney on youtube has an excellent video concerning this very topic

I've been watching his videos recently and just did a search for this kind of video you mentioned but couldn't find it. Can you tell me roughly what the title was? Thanks.

EDIT: Is this what you meant?

 

[Newzooozooo]

Hi.
Firstly, I recommend that you play only freerolls. This way, you will get experience and save your money. Second, in no case do not play cash games. Thirdly, play only in slow tournaments. Be patient and disciplined and in the future you will become a successful player.
Good luck.

 

[eberetta1]

Not sure I can buy into the do not play cash game philosophy. That is an individual decision and you will have to see if it fits in your arsenal. I say this because sometimes you may not have hours or days to devote to one tournament. Also, you can come and go as you please in a cash game. Try doing this in a tournament, and you are out your buy-in.

 

[ROman77]

In my opinion you need only discipline in online poker, forget about poker math and everything else ..just find a good site and do not break if you beat 7-2

 

[LotharMcDowner]

The thing I always tell beginners is try to put in about $10k in losses as slow as you can. Play tiny tournaments often, but one at a time. Once you get to about $10k in losses you should know if you like poker enough, or are good enough at it to keep playing . It doesn't mean you have to have 10k at any time, or that you have to lose 10k total, but you'll know when you get there.

Read the books in your spare time. Hours/hands played is really the only way to learn at the start. You need to have a strong point of reference for the books/videos to really take hold.

 

[NickNation]

treat it like school and remember you can only learn in 2 hours sessions without losing concentration (which is why classes usually end prior to hitting that mark)

sign up for upswing or raise your edge... actually invest time AND money into your education. set up a serious schedule that you follow strictly.. x amount of studying per day/per week.. what days you're going to study, what days you'll play.. maybe some days mixed.

review hands!!!!!! get tracking software/HUD and tag hands you're unsure of and review them later. ask others, ask people here.. ASK MORE QUESTIONS! lol

PT4 and HM2 both have free trials if im not mistaken... try them both out for a month or two weeks, or whatever they offer.. see which one you like best, and buy it. use it every time you play, even if you dont pay attention to the stats on it.. but it'll track your hands and you can review them later for bad tendencies/leaks/whatever

 

[Darth_Moola]

First of all read How to study poker by Sky Matsuhashi. Through the book he will give you some free training material from his website and if you sign up to his newsletter you'll get quite a lot of free resource. His book will also set you up to get the most out of any book you read. Since reading his book I've re read several of my books using his methods and got so much more out of them. As a starter I recommend then reading Harrington on Holdem to give you some good base knowledge of tournament strategy. Your learning from there should be based around weaknesses you find in your game.

This is good, sound advice. Sky does a really good job of breaking things down so that you can understand and implement the process of learning. Everything is applicable and relevant since he comes at things from he perspective of a poker player.

My personal advice is to not rush into playing with money you do not have. Studying can be really good for you and will help you be competitive sooner.

 

[xy23]

Like someone before me already said, stick to freerolls. There's no point in depositing money when there's so many opportunities to apply what you learn into freerolls and build a bankroll through that.
I'm not sure what your game is but for cash game, grinderschool videos mainly for 6max cash games are free so this link may help. They also have mtt/sng training videos as well. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw-uVoosoY7HgxdhCxiyGGA/playlists
Aside from that, good luck studying friend

 

[pokerpie]

not sure if this was mentioned yet, but there are plenty of twitch streamers you can watch while playing freerolls to start with the basic concepts. It's free content and helps for sure.

 

[5pAce_C0wb0y]

This is good, sound advice. Sky does a really good job of breaking things down so that you can understand and implement the process of learning. Everything is applicable and relevant since he comes at things from he perspective of a poker player.

My personal advice is to not rush into playing with money you do not have. Studying can be really good for you and will help you be competitive sooner.

Sky is also happy to answer any questions you have. I've emailed him several times and he's always been happy to clarify things for me. He's even reviewed hands for me that I've struggled with.

 

[Viper ChipIt]

Try raise your edge, its ran by bencb. He will teach you gto poker making you un-exploitable to regs and teach you how to exploit fish at the same time. Watch some of his YouTube videos and see if it peaks your interest, to subscribe it is very expensive so keep that in mind. Its not for everyone

 

[whyndam]

Hi.
Firstly, I recommend that you play only freerolls. This way, you will get experience and save your money. Second, in no case do not play cash games. Thirdly, play only in slow tournaments. Be patient and disciplined and in the future you will become a successful player.
Good luck.

What exactly is a slow tournament?

Regarding freerolls, I did try that a few times but found it quite strange that each round about four of the 9 players goes all in. Do they really all have premium hands or are they just going crazy because there's nothing to lose? I realise it's a great free way to practise against real players but not sure if they play anything like a normal buyin game would.

Lots of good advice from others. Nobody mentioned books or any specific books so I guess these days that's not the way to go?

 

[whyndam]

In my opinion you need only discipline in online poker, forget about poker math and everything else ..just find a good site and do not break if you beat 7-2

What's 'if you beat 7-2'.

So no need for learning about pot odds, implied odds, SPR etc? Does anyone else concur with this? I realise discipline is certainly a crucial aspect though, but is it really the only thing.

 

[ROman77]

What's 'if you beat 7-2'.

So no need for learning about pot odds, implied odds, SPR etc? Does anyone else concur with this? I realise discipline is certainly a crucial aspect though, but is it really the only thing.

I meant that people often fall into the zone of tilt thanks to these cards from an opponent ..and again, I mean, I don't need anything of the above you mentioned except discipline ...if you didn't top the regular open 10-30 tables ? Do you think they are watching the actions of their opponents ? Ahhh.
I have been playing online poker regularly for six years and play a small plus. I definitely know better than you why people lose and can't move .

 

[5pAce_C0wb0y]

What exactly is a slow tournament?

Regarding freerolls, I did try that a few times but found it quite strange that each round about four of the 9 players goes all in. Do they really all have premium hands or are they just going crazy because there's nothing to lose? I realise it's a great free way to practise against real players but not sure if they play anything like a normal buyin game would.

Lots of good advice from others. Nobody mentioned books or any specific books so I guess these days that's not the way to go?

Me,me,me I mentioned books lol

 

[Vasilii813]

Message "10

Books by far the best out there attain maximum information in the commercials it is not complete. They make movies from books. And faster to read than to watch. I read books.

 

[Newzooozooo]

What exactly is a slow tournament?

Regarding freerolls, I did try that a few times but found it quite strange that each round about four of the 9 players goes all in. Do they really all have premium hands or are they just going crazy because there's nothing to lose? I realise it's a great free way to practise against real players but not sure if they play anything like a normal buyin game would.

Lots of good advice from others. Nobody mentioned books or any specific books so I guess these days that's not the way to go?

Slow tournaments are tournaments in which blinds increase every 10 minutes. As for books, I can recommend the following:
Texas Holdem for beginners - Ed Miller
The Easy Game - Andrew Seidman
Good luck.

 

[whyndam]

Me,me,me I mentioned books lol

That's right you did, I got distracted going to Sky's website instead lol.

Books by far the best out there attain maximum information in the commercials it is not complete. They make movies from books. And faster to read than to watch. I read books.

Alright, any particular books? Maybe for tournament play since I'm perhaps leaning towards that rather than other game types.

Slow tournaments are tournaments in which blinds increase every 10 minutes.

Oh right, why does that sound fast to me... How often do the blinds increase in a fast/normal tournament then?

As for books, I can recommend the following:
Texas Holdem for beginners - Ed Miller
The Easy Game - Andrew Seidman
Good luck.

Is that "Getting Started in Hold 'em" by Ed Miller? Otherwise I couldn't find it.

 

[Dailon Arroyo Blandon]

There are a number of very good tips to learn the best way to play poker ... in fact some are already said in the previous post ... however I advise you to take seriously the discipline ... you must design a study schedule, hours of play and level at which you play .... I assure you that if you comply to the letter and discipline ... you will succeed in poker ...!

 

[Yanko57]

I don't know if it's a good way, but I like looking at some names that wins tournament and follow them in tournament they're in now and learn how they do it.

 

[liuouhgkres]

1. Find good preflop ranges and memorize all of them. It's not actually as easy as you might think, opening ranges, flatting ranges and 3-bet ranges, it would consume ton of your time.
2. For postflop I advise power equilab or flopzilla, two equally great programs, in my opinion, for postflop analysis. You need to work with one of this programs to get better understanding of ranges on different boards.
3. Get pokertracker and review your hand history. You need this to notice your biggest leaks. A lot of mistakes are actually quite easy to fix, but you need to find them in the first place, to be able to.
4. Invest in GTO+. It is a very cheap postflop solver and I don't even get why it's so cheap. It can do most of what piosolver can do and yet, nobody speaks about it.
5. Don't play freerolls.

 

[vra4a]

Look this theme
https://www.pokerlistings.com/daniel-negreanus-7-golden-rules-for-poker-beginners