Hi all,

I, like many of you, am a LLSNL player, 2/3 specifically, who is in the process of logging hours and building a baby bankroll. My main question is regarding how many hours is necessary to put in in order to grow as a player and move up stakes. I am currently a full time student and a casual worker, so I have struggled to find time this year to make the hour long trip to the casino to play. I have logged about 150 hours this year. The reason why I am asking this, is that I am currently looking to invest in some study material, specifically the UpSwing Lab. However, I am wondering what the minimum recommended number of hours weekly I should be logging in order to make this investment worthwhile.

Thanks in advance

A

There is nothing anyone here is going to be able to tell you as a satisfactory response.

If you have a full time job, then I wouldn't worry too much about trying to build a roll for 2/3. Instead, focus on trying to improve your game and study. There is a ton of free material out there that can help you beat low stakes live NL. If you do decide to pay for study content, I'd recommend Crush Live Poker. Really great training videos and forums for a very reasonable price. Good luck.

I do not have a full time job, I am a casual worker. I don’t earn enough to save, have everyday expenses and play poker. That’s why I started a poker bankroll that I have grown in the past year. I have heard about CLP and I will check it out.

P

While I agree with the owner of this website that you don't need 10,000 hours to become proficient at poker, there is a matter of putting what you know into practice and making it a habit. At a rate of about 2 trips a month, you just aren't playing enough to progress where buying a subscription to any service makes much sense. You can learn a lot here for free, probably far more than you could implement at this time.

My suggestion is to focus on your studies. Poker will be around when you graduate. If respond back that you love poker and can't stop playing, then you have leaks that CLP and Upswing can't fix for you.

+1 good post.

Also i cant state how good/relevant alot of the material on this forum is. The biggest upside is that everything that experienced players posts here is tailored to live low stakes games and actual dynamics in those games. What i see from several posters is that they pick up way too complexe ideas/strategy concepts from training sites, wich they are then misapplying afterwards because they dont fully understand the context of it. Its crucial to learn to walk before you can learn to run in my opinion.

Considering where you are in your poker journey i would recommend going through all the threads in the "best of LLSNL" collection linked at the top of this forum, instead of investing lets say $1000 bucks in an upswing course.

By far the most valuable stuff i have learned through the years is stuff i have picked up from experienced players on this forum in different threads. Doug Polk and his coaches havent logged thousands of hours in LLSNL games or been winning at these games for years and years- but several of the posters on this forum have done that.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...t-dew-1339655/

For example, this one by DK Barrell is one of my fav threads and was very important for me when i was relatively fresh to grinding live poker. Ive revisited this thread numerous times as a reminder and doing some reflections over the years.

I appreciate the response. My studies have not been my main focus for a little while now due to reasons other than poker, So I am currently looking at alternate life paths that don’t include school. Poker is very much an activity I enjoy and I intend to keep playing and studying on the side of whatever I choose to do. I am hoping to play at least twice a week next year in order to log more hours and grow better, without it consuming my whole life and limiting my ability to follow other pathways.

Wow thats an incredible resource I never would have found. Thanks!

So which is it? If you are a full time student, your studies need to be your main focus. If they aren't, you aren't a full time student even if you signd up for the courses.

So one last attempt to provide some clarity before I wish you good luck because that is the only way you'll have any success short term. You don't want to enter into poker with any significant issues going on in your life. Poker magnifies all your weakness and problems. Unless you have everything buttoned up, poker will add to those strains even for successful players. If you aren't working on your studies because of some issue, poker will not resolve it.

Good luck.

As someone who spent way too much time playing poker while in grad school, I’ll say there’s no set number of hours anyone can tell you. It’s really dependent on your talent level. Some people will pick it up to the point of being a winner almost immediately. Some will never have the brain power and emotional stability no matter how long they study and play. If it’s something you enjoy then play when you can. Your comment about it not interfering with other pursuits made me breathe a sigh of relief. I would not recommend paying for training at this point. There’s loads of free material here that is still very relevant to what you’ll find at the tables. Aside from that experience will be your best teacher. Just know that experience is more expensive than any training site, but there really is no substitute.

A cheap alternative is throwing $100 on an online site. The games are very different but it can help you see hands and build some basic competencies. I still do that. Plus, it can satisfy the itch when it’s your turn to take the kids.

I am enrolled and attend university full time, however I have started to realize it is not for me, and have been starting to explore other options. So however you define full-time, technically my schedule is full-time. I am actually in a very good place right now, but I completely understand your point about making sure my mindset is good before I play. I am not looking for poker to resolve any issues for me. I had a lot of spare time after high-school finished so I started playing. I loved it and now I play more. I have my priorities, and those come first. Anyway, i really do appreciate the advice and all.

Your point about experience being expensive, trust me, I know . I do believe I have the aptitude to become a winning player, that’s why I’m looking to log more hours and study more. I enjoy poker, more specifically winning at poker, but not for the money. Also, I have thrown many $100’s on online sites over the past year

There is no magical amount of hours to become effective at anything. 5 hours mindful practice > 100 hours just going through the robotic motions. I see regs with 40 years experience getting crushed by 25 year olds who've been playing for 2 years. And of course vice versa, just saying total hours is almost meaningless.