R
Roachor
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Guess the pros study on a single topic since they already have the basics sorta down.. So they walk through their database to see what loses them the most or what they are not sure about and then hold a study session about that topic.
dartwind
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Go through the basic poker course first. Make a list of all the poker things you need to study. Focus on the things that give you trouble. And then study these things in a way that you can learn. (books, charts, videos, podcasts, etc.) Good luck.
thatguy6793
Legend
Silver Level
I would say first on top of this you want to start every day with some hand reviews of your old sessions. This will help you direct your studying a bit in that you can see where you lost a lot of money and find some ranges or hand reviews of those types of spots. Always make sure your studying has a purpose, don't study stuff you are really good at when you have a huge hole in another area. Balanced studying will lead to balanced play
Matt_Burns88
Legend
Loyaler
So I keep hearing pros say you must study 2hrs a day and play 6hrs plus to be good my question is what are they studying, is it reading books or hand ranges, always gets me thinking study what ?? Any help please guys
Hi mroakley, thank you for posting.
Naturally every player will need to focus their study on different areas. Pro will likely study one particular spot at a time, such as 4-bet pots out of position, or perhaps if they fell they were massively outplayed by someone in their last session, they will look to see what that play was doing differently compared to them and see if it is something they can or should incorporate into their game.
Beginners should start studying the fundamentals, simply by reading a book or a course such as CardsChat's own 30 day course - https://www.cardschat.com/become-a-winning-poker-player/. There is so much to learn that will have a significant and immediate improvement on your game and is relatively inexpensive (or free in the cash of the 30 day course). I would also suggest checking out PokerCoaching.com and RaiseYourEdge. They both have some free content and much more on YouTube. This will help you to build a basic fundamentally sound game that you can then begin to expand on.
If you consider yourself an intermediate, you should start to look at leaks in your game. Perhaps you tend to lose a lot of money from the blinds, or when you get check-raised on the flop. You may be defending your blinds too wide, or maybe not enough, or you could be continuation betting too much when the board connects better with your opponents pre-flop calling range than your pre-flop raising range.
Hope this helps. Good luck in your games.
M
mroakley1
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Thanks for reply just reading the forum is helping so much, I'm on day 6 of the course and learning lots pot odds are something I dont even think about so that was something I must take into account, hand ranges and position also calling to much is my problem, once again thanks guys...
Evan Jarvis
Legend
Platinum Level
So I keep hearing pros say you must study 2hrs a day and play 6hrs plus to be good my question is what are they studying, is it reading books or hand ranges, always gets me thinking study what ?? Any help please guys
Hey MrOakey!
While studying is important, the 2 hrs a day w/ 6 hrs of play is if you are doing poker as a full time job. When you are just starting out or if you are playing part time there is no need to commit that amount of time to studying.
If you do you'll likely feel overwhelmed, and like most things in life it's something you should build up to slowly and steadily. Especially when you are learning new concepts, taking the time to make sure you understand them before moving on to new topics is the best approach (in my experience and that of my students at least)
Here is a great free playlist to get started - http://gripsed.com/win
It is a nice compliment to the 30 day course from Cardschat.
If you want more free stuff check out the links in my signature, I have some stuff for both cash games and tournaments and it's geared towards beginner/intermediate player.
As for the people who study for 2+ hours a day, they are usually talking about the training sites or using poker software to review hands.
Here are some reviews of the main training sites & courses out there so you can learn more about them. If you have any questions feel free to hit me up, I'm always happy to help!!!
That covers fundamentals, cash games, tournaments and advanced software study.
Hope you'll find something to your liking, and remember, in the beginning there is no need to push yourself too hard. Have fun, enjoy the game and learn as you go, there is no rush!!!
Pokerpoet2
Legend
Loyaler
Any game of Poker you play whether it is a cash game, MTT or Sit and Go you learn from the practice even if you are playing for fun money there is always something to be gained from it.
I used to play for fun money and was doing really well in the low stakes, so I thought why not try the high rollers level and start playing them and immediately started to lose big style.
After a few disastrous games I stopped and looked at what I was doing wrong. After all said and done it was the same game played by the same person(me) so why was I losing? The answer came to me in an instant. The stakes had changed, I was the same person playing the same game but the stakes were higher and because of this my style of play had changed and I started losing.
So I returned to the way I used to play and began winning again, Lesson learned was a simple one if you are winning in small stakes and start losing in higher stakes, take a look at yourself and see where you are going wrong.
Learn from your mistakes, your bad beats and in the end it will all be of benefit.
When the fun Stops, STOP!
I used to play for fun money and was doing really well in the low stakes, so I thought why not try the high rollers level and start playing them and immediately started to lose big style.
After a few disastrous games I stopped and looked at what I was doing wrong. After all said and done it was the same game played by the same person(me) so why was I losing? The answer came to me in an instant. The stakes had changed, I was the same person playing the same game but the stakes were higher and because of this my style of play had changed and I started losing.
So I returned to the way I used to play and began winning again, Lesson learned was a simple one if you are winning in small stakes and start losing in higher stakes, take a look at yourself and see where you are going wrong.
Learn from your mistakes, your bad beats and in the end it will all be of benefit.
When the fun Stops, STOP!