How much do you study?

[jadaminato]

Hi! As I interact with other players the more I realize that there are few who study and fewer who do it conscientiously.
I plan to become professional at some point so for my part and at this moment I dedicate 80% to studying and 20% to playing.
So, I'd like to know, in the Cardschat pack, how much do people study? How many hours do you spend with the solver or the icmizer (for example)?

 

[rdwr33]

hi. I play poker as a hobby, but sometimes I take classes online. I currently study 10% and practice 90% with other players. I really like using the cardschat odds calculator.

 

[DoIHaveAFlush]

Hi jadaminato,

From my point of view, a couple of months ago, I started learning poker in more detailed, it all started when I stumbled upon a youtube video from pokerstars about it..it started to fascinate me. So I watched more introductory videos on youtube (there are plenty!), additionally I purchased Masterclass from Negreanu and Ivey, where they teach you a couple of things which are of great value. And finally, theres also the "become a successful poker player in 30 days" video lesssons here at cardschat, which are as well of great value.

To be honest, at the moment im not having enough time to spend 1h a day for watching and improving poker skills, but obviously when i got a day off work, im spending about 1-2 hours watching videos about pros to see how they play. And i do play as well for play money to learn some moves without having a lot at stakes.

In general i would say I watch a video about a particular topic every 2-3 days and play a couple of tourneys or cash games to put into practice what i just learned.

cheers

 

[Sebarios59]

little or almost nothing, just play, but in order to live from this much preparation is needed.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Yeah that is cool, but unlike you: I have no intention of turning pro - of course, I wouldn't turn down the opportunity if I became good enough and I was up for it

I started getting more serious into poker a few months ago (I knew the rules since childhood, but never played and it didn't really appeal to me until one day I literally got out of bed and thought: "hey, I bet I could be good at poker" lol). I probably study more than most at my level, but certainly nowhere near what the pros spend on improving.

Most of my "study" is from reading books, online articles and watching youtube videos. I actually joined cardschat.com for the sole reason of interacting in the forums and learning more about poker to improve my game. As far as "practice" or actual playing, I started out with a poker video game (against AI players only) and then "moved up" to really small home games. Lately, I've been starting to play poker online (with my first money win being the 30 day course freeroll on May 31st which I was fortunate enough to win I hope to visit a local casino for the first time when the pandemic subsides and it is safe to start going out more again.

I don't use any software for poker study that costs money yet, but I did download the free program Equilab a few months ago. I haven't used it much, but it is a nice tool to have.

 

[pohewa]

I've found myself studying more often than playing because studying allows me more breaks. but I think trying to put in practice all that you study as often as possible is the best way to really make it part of your game. I, for once, get too much information and I forget a lot of it after I'm at the table.

Best of luck, I hope you make it.

 

[dregan]

I read almost nothing because I am not going to devote much time to poker.

 

[dominisantus]

Personally, I don’t think poker is a means of earning money for myself, rather it’s a hobby, but I try to improve, I have been actively reading for the last couple of months. literature, watch videos, my game began to improve a little, although there is still work to do, and a lot. However, I almost do not use HUD, and other software. I prefer the game live.

 

[Dailon Arroyo Blandon]

Well ... I try to spend at least one hour a day ... either reviewing my gaming sessions .... analyzing any gaming situation that left me in doubt .... as well as seeing or reading an article on poker. ..!

 

[johnny tigre]

I dont really study the game by reading books abouit it but i study by playing the game and learning from the mistakes that i made during the game.
Sometimes i watch videos of poker pros playing againt each other and try learning from them.

 

[FoxMS]

Usually, I just do not have time to study, although I understand that it is important. For now, I am just playing and enjoying the game. Maybe in the future I will have more time and I will be able to devote it to learning.

 

[ACESOVEREZZZ]

Study

Being honest I do not study the game of poker very much. Have read a few books and read the post on poker strategy here. Mostly learn from playing and keeping track of my wins & losses.
Poker for me is a hobby & past time event and do not plan on making a living from a game I just enjoy


GL all !

 

[vittopio]

I try to make out distributions, and also watch waters on topics that interest me, but because of the small bankroll I play at very low limits, so for now this is enough for me! Over time, with the transition to higher limits, I will buy training and, of course, work with a solver! But even then I do not think that the theory will occupy more than 15-20% of mine!

 

[fundiver199]

I dont study much at all to be honest. It used to be a bit more, but lately I mostly just play. Not saying this is ideal and certainly not for someone, who wants to become a professional player, which I dont.

However I also think, there is a danger in studying to much, especially when you are new to the game. There is no substitute for actual playing experience, and often it is more important to adjust well to individual opponents and situations than to know the theoretically perfect lines and ranges.

If you want to move into mid or high stakes games there is probably no way around it though. To survive in these games you cant afford to leak towards other good regulars. In the micros and low stakes though, there are so many fish and bad regs, that an exploitative style of play is often superior to a GTO based approach.

 

[Matt_Burns88]

I try to evaluate my days play each time I play (3 or 4 days a week) for a minimum of 1 hour. I use HM3 and Equilabs to evaluate.

I had two deep runs yesterday so I will probably spend more time today analysing those games.

 

[redmast]

I am too lazy to read or teach anything. Yes, and I'm not going to play poker seriously. I have victories and prizes and I have enough of what I can.

 

[Waleswasp]

I keep buying poker books and then put them on the bookshelf where they collect dust!

 

[nativehero2015]

greetings , studying poker, hmmm i just signed up for poker coaching.com,... premium... and they got lots
of material for the beginner to the advanced player or if you wanna fix leaks in your game,
quizzes, courses and homework challenges....., and the time a day when i study is 40 mins here and 40 mins there,n even before work... and if its a concept i cant understand it, i watch it again til it sinks in..... Im a MTT enthusiast , only play when im off of work, work 12hrs a day and a 14/7 day schedule...... anyways PEACE

 

[elizeuof]

I am not currently studying, I study only sporadically, I tried the course here on the forum, but my difficulty in understanding spoken English discouraged me.

My intention is to start studying at least a few hours over the weekend, and gradually increase my dedication to studies.

 

[Kush]

Study, study, study!

I have been studying a lot in the past month and it's really been paying off.

I used to play poker online like 15 years ago, back when limit was a thing. I've read a few poker books over the years and watched some videos on YouTube here and there, but nothing serious. Recently I got back into poker and started playing mostly SNGs and the occasional MTT. I was up and down, but a losing player overall. I deposited $50, went up and down and then lost it all. Another $25, same story. I was just playing for fun at that point, but I decided I wanted to take it serious.

I decided to read Chris Moshman's SNG Strategy book and then I deposited another $40 and started grinding the $1 and $3 SNGs. I grinded it up to about $80, which took like 3 weeks at the smallest stakes. During this time, I started studying MTTs obsessively. Like 40+ a week. I consumed all of Jonathan Little, Alex Fitzgerald and Evan Jarvis's free content on YouTube and the free membership at pokercoaching .com. I make it a habit to study first and play tournaments later in the day. Lots of free time during quarantine.

I started playing MTTs and having really good results about the second week of vigorous study. I've only been playing the smaller buy in tournaments on betonline, $11 or less. The players on average are terrible at those stakes. I've been continuing to study daily through the last month and about 3 weeks ago I started making final tables or deep runs almost daily. Sometimes more than one deep run in a day and I'm only single tabling and playing no more than 4 tournaments a day. At first I thought I was getting lucky, I won two in a row, small stakes, small field, but then I continued to make deep runs. My results from the last 3 weeks can't just be good luck. I was up about $600 with my biggest scores like $150, mostly smaller than that. I've only been playing 1 or 2 a day and not everyday. I've been cashing in almost everyone I play. Today I just played in one $11 larger field tournament and got 2nd out of 530 for about $650. Now I'm up over $1200 in the last 3 weeks with an ROI well over 50%. I'm still in disbelief, but I must be doing something right.

Long story short, study... It will pay off.

Huge thanks to Jonathan Little and Evan Jarvis. Next step is a pokercoaching .com premium membership.

 

[JJP]

I look over my own HHs of deep runs a few hours a week. I still think the best form of study is having good active players to bounce ideas off of. I learned the most from that method.

 

[Mohamed48]

Ideal say seek knowledge from cradle to grave
So learning things is better than ignorance

 

[ganzenmuller80]

2 hours

 

[UncleJeff]

I really appreciated the response by Kush/enthusiast. It is always inspiring to read a great story of someone's dedication and progress.

In my case I get my main study from books. I have separately written extensively in the books thread, so won't repeat it here. But I can say that I have obtained some exciting deep runs thanks to study. My habit is to enter a satellite. I first paid tiny stakes for entries that would have cost $11 or so. Gradually I moved up to $5.50 to $11 satellites for seats at online tournaments thereby earning entries of $109 (on BOL). On one weekend I cashed in two such tournaments at final tables and won about $1200. I can attribute this to diligently recording on index cards the lessons I learned from reading, and from exercising strict discipline at the table.

 

[wizz99]

I have been studying a bit more recently as the game are getting a little tougher than they used to be. If I get knocked out a of tourney I try to see if I made a bad play and do some work in that error if I have made a mistake.