What's the single thing that has improved your poker play the most?

[wagon596]

In one word, patience... I know I'm considered to be a Nit... and I don't deny it. It's just the way I play. I think most of it comes from being was raised by my Great- grandmother and we were dirt poor. I mean no TV, no AC ( and I'm from Texas) and no Christmas Tree etc. You get the idea.

 

[brandonnj]

One thing I did was after I had a decent roll I went back to .01/.02c tables and played with $1. I would play almost every hand and try to win every hand I play no matter what. This helped me see what positions I liked with diff hands and how to get through tough spots.

I played alot and lost a little bit over time but not much, learned alot as well, its only a few dollars but was worth it for me as a player.

 

[kidrock1211]

Time and learning from mistakes,

 

[mabeyta]

I felt improving my understanding of Poker Mathematics really helped. Now I count my outs and try to come up with approx. percentages on each street. Another thing that helped my game was twitch streamers. A lot of them go through their thinking process when they play and it helps you to get more insight into different players and how they approach certain situations.

Good Luck!

 

[globetrott3r]

What I felt that helped me until now was Little's book, Mastering Small Stakes, and also Flopzilla for understandind ranges.

I guess I think twitch streams might also help me, but I haven't found one who would explain why he does certain actions - any suggestion?

 

[8bod8]

joining cardschat, and that is not a joke!

 

[SprMnd]

I recorded replays on the screenrecorder of final tables SCOOP and WCOOP on pokerstars with open cards of players and analized every hand and tryed to understand how to play in the best way in different situtions by the example of the best players who reached those FT. It helped me a really a lot.

 

[NBB]

Very Simple......... Playing tens of thousands of hands, at one point it just became second nature when I stayed focused, but the key point is "When" I stayed focused.

That is fairly difficult to do 100% of the time, not just for myself, for anyone.


Just too many factors involved in mastering the Non relenting 100% discipline of focus as a human being. :bebored::boring:

 

[kraemer]

I have have to narrow it done to one thing then i would say reading books. I used some loyalty points and exchanged them for poker books when I started playing online more often. The books by slansky or Harrington actually introduced me to the full complexity of the game. A lot of the stuff you find in these books might not be actionable for recreational players right away. Nevertheless it can help to see what concepts the pros apply to their game and give you a lot of ideas about what aspects you have to improve in your own game.
Without those books I would have been stuck at a small stack strategy for much longer, because that was what you found online at the time when you were looking for advice about holdem.

Hand analysis in Forums is also a Great thing to follow. I like that you get different opinions on many hands. So this is not just consuming an opinion but it also gets You to think about the Hands from different perspectives. Newbies should be careful though because not all advice you get in forums is necessarily good.

 

[AndySavage]

The single thing that took me from rookie to intermediate was mastering position. Raising/jamming uncomfortable cards but in good scenarios. Once I truly learned to play by position everything else sort of fell into place.

 

[nmate]

watching good players on twitch. especially the ones who explain what they're thinking.

 

[TDTODDY]

I've read countless books on body language, game theory ect. . Playing live was the only way to put it all together.

 

[dpoole71]

Reading watching and putting skills learned into play plus learning tilt control which is over looked alot

 

[Stacker]

You tube tutorials has helped understanding how to study and practice

 

[radartodd69]

That all depends on what type of game you're playing.

If you are playing freerolls, you might have to loosen up to get anywhere because people are all in almost every hand. If you don't risk playing hands that aren't the greatest, it's doubtful you will make it to a higher chip count. Where as if there was a substantial buy in (online $10 or more and at a card room $100 or more) you would want to play tighter and wait for a great hand.

 

[sammy22]

I have have to narrow it done to one thing then i would say reading books. I used some loyalty points and exchanged them for poker books when I started playing online more often. The books by slansky or Harrington actually introduced me to the full complexity of the game. A lot of the stuff you find in these books might not be actionable for recreational players right away. Nevertheless it can help to see what concepts the pros apply to their game and give you a lot of ideas about what aspects you have to improve in your own game.
Without those books I would have been stuck at a small stack strategy for much longer, because that was what you found online at the time when you were looking for advice about holdem.

Hand analysis in Forums is also a Great thing to follow. I like that you get different opinions on many hands. So this is not just consuming an opinion but it also gets You to think about the Hands from different perspectives. Newbies should be careful though because not all advice you get in forums is necessarily good.

Which Harrington books are you referring to....his original 3 book series or his most recent book on Modern Tournament Poker(2014)?

 

[bekel285]

Jonathan Little

 

[Jimboskie]

No matter what your skill level is in the game you must learn concepts off the felt and then implement them on the felt. At least that's what Doug Polk said. Oh yeah - Doug Polk helped me the most...

 

[gabpoker]

I think Doug Polk got me hooked on the fact that the only way to improve was to put in the hours studying and Jonathan Little's books and pokercoaching.com showed me how.

 

[vov4ik]

For me, the important thing that helped me improve the game is poker courses and viewing training materials on the forum and a lot of freeroll games, now I'm better at playing!

 

[LumeBStackin]

Being patient and playing my A game for as long as possible. It's very hard to do online considering there are so many distractions. But when I do it, I find my bankroll rising.

 

[XYZ2123]

More recently I would say watching poker streamers has helped me a lot. Just seeing how they play certain hands in specific situations has helped me plug many leaks in my own game. When you watch a stream you should consider it study time and really pay attention (and maybe even take notes), not just have it on in the background.

 

[freddy66]

hummmmm...

i really think there is but just 1 way to improve.....NO shortcuts,just like cardschat!you have to read,read,read,play,play,play,apply,apply,apply,use what works for you,trash what doesnt,simple,abc's and 123's... every hand,every game,try to eliminate mistakes and play from position.many tools...try the starting hands chart found here on the forum,many great tools here!you have to want to improve to improve,it takes time and effort,but if you do a little,read a little,and apply a little everyday,your game WILL improve!good luck at the felts baby!

 

[3betfish]

Learning straight up A.B.C. poker helped me the most. It took me a long time to learn fundamental strategies and I noticed that my win rate has increased significantly since at micro/low stakes poker - essentially going from an always losing player to a positive green player.

Right now, I am learning more advance strategies and also training myself to be a better player in regards to exploitative play.

 

[Argonaut]

Reading Dan Harrington's book on tournament hold'em. Not only is it a well organized and concise narrative, but it has examples hands to work through at the end of each chapter. The examples really resonate with what he is saying, and make the seemingly dry concepts stick to the ribs for awhile.