Learning Curve

[Cloud]

I was wondering about other players experiences when it came to learning the game - and what impact learning different parts of the game had on their game.

My starting point was a few months of MTT's and STT's - playing almost blindly (looking back on it) - had a few results - but generally made a loss in the long run.

In doing this I started to learn what hands I should be playing with - and started to get an understanding of pot odds and to a smaller extent of implied pot odds (still find that one difficult to gauge sometimes).
At this stage I was still losing - not as quickly though - and my deposits were lasting a lot longer.

The biggest breakthrough for me - which turned me from small negative to small positive - was the understanding of position, and the impact on the game it has. I found myself a lot more confident in my game - and I generally felt I was one of the better players at most of the tables i sat at - and that confidence in itself raised my game.

My next step is to concentrate on my opponents a lot more - a failing of mine so far - and to actually make notes and maybe use some software to take my game up a level again.

What experiences has everyone else had??

[Marcus0000]

I actually taught myself. Back in high school during French class me and a few friends would play poker (the teacher was hardly ever in the class). Probably the reason to this day I don't remember much from French class. Then when I turned 18 and was working horrible jobs like working at a gas station or stocking in a grocery store I came across an online poker site. The more I played the more I taught myself. I started to figure out odds of hands, how many outs I have, etc.... Then finally I moved here to Vegas to test myself fully. To me the best asset in learning poker is yourself. You can read as many books as you want, watch as many poker tournaments on TV but you just have to train your own self on it. Don't get me wrong, you will get great tips from most of the pro's how to approach the game. But if you don't have the mindset for the game itself, no amount of reading will help you.

[Chewie2000]

Ive got to agree. Ive only been playing for a small time myself (3 years) and have done a lot and still am reading the theory of poker. But the thing which distinguishes the good from the great is the gut instincts and actions taken.

I'm a great believer in if something feels wrong but the odds are right DONT do it and vice versa. The others are from the great man Brunson, a quote from High Stakes Poker (THE BEST POKER TV SHOW EVER BAR NONE... if your interested ive got the whole eon DVD) was a great poker player has discipline and the ability to recall previous actions (basically remmbeing every situation you've been thru in the past).

It's what makes hold'em a gr8 game...

[daftpegasus]

I agree with you Cloud. The day the penny drops about playing position and not your cards is a huge step up the ladder.

I played a live game last night (only about my fourth or fifth) and spent the time trying to read the other players. Unfortunately the best read I got all night was when the guy next to me didn't cover his cards well enough and I saw the 72o!!! (He folded them).

Making notes on internet players is good but also add into the notes the type of game you're playing (cash, MTT, STT) and the level (freeroll, $1, $10, $100) and the stage in the game that you're at when you decide to type the note. Coming back to a note which describes someone as a loose and reckless player is little use if it was taken at the start of a MTT freeroll and you're now playing a $100 STT.

[DAC]

I read a quote somewhere...."Poker takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master" - I agree entirely.

The best peice of advice I can give you is to have fun and be philosophical about poker. Just enjoy it.

[Masterplan]

i'm still on my learning curve even after playing steadily for 18 months or so now. every few months i find a new thing to use to help me improve, atm its keeping CAREFUL track of all my expenditure and income. because previously i wouldnt care about losses because the only record was on my bank statement, now i have a full spreadsheet dedicated to it.
atm i'm concentrating VERY hard on my MTT game, as i feel this is where i ned the most improvement since steady cash game profits including variance is fairly easy now even at 5/10 cent levels.
books are helping, but i find them difficult to absorb all in one go, so i'm having to read them 3-4 times over fairly long periods to get the knowledge i need.
i think we're all constantly learning tho right?

[Chewie2000]

talking of learning curve. I was on poker.co.uk doing a bit of Omaha 8 (or so I thought) to get my rake for the freeroll qualifier. I learnt not to dump $40 in with the nut low especially when someone shows the nut high flush and your on an Omaha table not HI/LO... DOH!

ps. poker .co .uk have got at a daily $2.70 qualifier to the PAT (pick a tournament) Weekly at $27 one entry in ten. Breezed thru last night with 200 runners.

Hopefully can get a $270 ticket on the weekly final on the weekend. will let u know the softness of the field

[Masterplan]

Originally Posted by Chewie2000

ps. poker .co .uk have got at a daily $2.70 qualifier to the PAT (pick a tournament) Weekly at $27 one entry in ten. Breezed thru last night with 200 runners.

Hopefully can get a $270 ticket on the weekly final on the weekend. will let u know the softness of the field

thats boss-wide, not just poker.co.uk

[slapdash]

Originally Posted by Masterplan

i'm still on my learning curve even after playing steadily for 18 months or so now. every few months i find a new thing to use to help me improve,

If that weren't the case, I think I'd lose interest pretty quickly.

books are helping, but i find them difficult to absorb all in one go, so i'm having to read them 3-4 times over fairly long periods to get the knowledge i need.

In my opinion, if you could absorb everything in a poker book in one reading,
that would be a sign that the book didn't really have much content!

[Masterplan]

Originally Posted by slapdash

In my opinion, if you could absorb everything in a poker book in one reading,
that would be a sign that the book didn't really have much content!

you've never seen PokerBarney read a book :p he has an incredible aptitude for learning and remembering very very quickly.

[PokerBarney]

Heh. Gonna read Harrington AND Brunson next week. In an hour. Backwards.

[slapdash]

Originally Posted by PokerBarney

Heh. Gonna read Harrington AND Brunson next week. In an hour. Backwards.

And in the Russian translation, I presume?

[Masterplan]

Originally Posted by PokerBarney

Heh. Gonna read Harrington AND Brunson next week. In an hour. Backwards.

i wouldnt put it past you :p
copies on the shared drive whenever you can bother to come home :p