Study groups. 4 traits of a good one and 4 steps for getting started.
This was big for me and I wanted to share it in this blog as soon as possible. These big blinds won’t win themselves and we don’t have time to mess around. Having said that, whilst you may love the idea of a study group, if the very notion has made you feel ill, I’ve included a bit of a hybrid for you at the end.
The reason I’ve chosen this topic is that a fantastic study group was/is the most important thing to have happened in my poker career so far – and it’s not even close.
So, whilst I will write about many topics in this blog, all of the advances I have made have been within the context of a great study group. I would highly, highly recommend you become part of one.
In terms of structuring this post, I’m going to start off with a short story before moving onto what a good study group looks like and, crucially, some steps you can take to finding one. If you’re already in one, hopefully some of the points raised will help cement or improve the one you are in.
Let’s go.
1st April 2021
I had just finished a Coaching Chris stream when out of the blue I received a discord message saying that if I wanted any help with the homework Pete had set me (on defending flops) they’d be happy to help. After a short exchange, they said some of the most important words I’ve been told in my poker journey: “one of the best ways to get good at poker is to talk to other people!”
Little did I know it but the ‘short’ call we set up for the next day would end up lasting 3 hours and it would be the start of essentially the most important thing to happen in my poker journey. Over the next year, my new study partner and I would talk daily, having online calls most days for varying lengths of time discussing every bit of poker you can imagine.
After about 12-18 months, we both had another great stroke of fortune when a third person joined the group and added new life to what was already a great dynamic. Between us since then, the three of us have made huge strides in the game and I’m immensely proud of the fact that my two study partners are, frankly, crushers in their pools. It’s been really quite insane to witness. Shocked, I tell ya.
The problem with study groups
Despite my euphoric experience, I can already sense the well-founded suspicion from some of you about the effectiveness of study groups. We all have experience of groups that start well before slowly losing that initial spark, limping on and then slowly but surely inevitably drifting into “we should really study sometime.” In the worst cases, you can feel as though your own journey is now being held up by the unreliability of others. In even worse cases(!) you’re left doing all the work and talking into the void. Nobody wants that.
The good news is, to some extent study groups are trial and error. I very much hope the one you are in or the one you find works amazingly well; but please accept that it’s OK to have a partner or a group where it works for a short while and then the fit isn’t really what you thought it would be. Know when it’s time to move on, and accept that actually you probably got a fair bit of value from the study you did anyway. With enough trial and error, you’ll find your people.
However, we don’t want to be searching forever, so what traits do I think a good study group will have? I’m glad you asked.
4 traits of a good study group
1. They are small. The larger the study group, the less effective it is. I would advocate for a maximum of three people. I actually think three may be the perfect number as it means if one person is away, the other two can still carry on. Equally, if you share a discord server, then while one of you may be busy with other things, the others can still have dialogue which can then be caught up on and commented on by the third. For me, three is the sweet spot.
2. You are different. I had to think about this one but I do believe that if you are all slightly different, then likely you will have skills that complement each other and you can share tasks and support each other in a harmonious way. If you all love spending time on PIO but hate doing hand reviews, you may well neglect a beneficial part of your study time. However, linked to this is trait 3.
3. You have the same philosophy / mindset. This one is crucial. I think you all have to want to think about poker in the right way and you also have to have relatively similar goals. If one of you wants to reach the highest stakes they can and the other is looking for a side income to support their job on weekends (both respectable goals), I think it’s unlikely that a study group with you both in will reach its maximum potential. You just want things that are too different. Equally, if you both have similar goals and you want to think about poker in the same way – say for example you both want to get very strong theoretically in order to have a solid foundation to build an exploitative gameplan as a group, then you are going to do very well indeed.
4. You have the time to commit. Show me someone who is progressing at poker and I will show you someone who is consistent. It is a prerequisite of success at this game. Good study groups will have regular calls to focus on areas of study and in between those calls, work will be being done constantly by members to progress the knowledge of the group as a whole. In our case, we would have calls once per week, with discord channels dedicated to what we discussed and regular check-ins. If I’m honest, because of points 1, 2 and 3 being so strong for us, point 4 kind of came on its own. We always wanted to discuss poker, so it just happened naturally. Hopefully for you it does too. If it does, I think it’s one of the clear signs you are onto a winner.
4 steps for starting a study group
Ok, you’re sold. You’ve considered the above, you’re feeling motivated but you’re not entirely sure where to start. The following would be my suggestions:
Step 1: Join some discords. More and more poker communities are popping up on discord. If you’re not on there, you are probably missing out on some really good poker discussion. I imagine your favourite streamer or poker YouTuber has a discord. Start there.
Step 2: Take a bit of time to settle in. It is surprising how different the cultures can be in poker discords and, being poker, some of them are great and some of them are…well…not so great. Along with point 3 above, the philosophy and mindset of the discords you join should align with your own. If you feel uncomfortable by the conversations happening, or you think they are approaching the game the wrong way, don’t feel like the problem is necessarily you. I joined a number of discords before I found Carrot Corner.
As a caveat, Carrot Corner requires you to buy some form of (relatively expensive) coaching in order to get access to their discord. Whilst a barrier to entry, it is also a filter and tends to self-select for serious people who are willing to commit to the game. If that’s you, then joining a discord which has some form of purchase-before-entry could well be what you are looking for.
Step 3: Get involved. Once you’ve settled in a bit and found that the poker discussions are the ones you would like to take part in, it’s time to start contributing yourself. Hand discussions will take place in every poker discord, so either post your own or start discussing the hands that other people post. If you immerse yourself in this sort of discussion, you will relatively quickly find people you have good conversations with about the game. Well done, you’ve just got your first potential study partner.
Step 4: Make contact. Then, as simple as that, once you’ve spent some time engaging in hands, had some helpful discussions and found some people you connect with, there’s no harm in suggesting setting up some more focused private study together on the topic you’ve just been discussing. At worst, working on a specific thing together will help both of your games and at best, you’ll do it again…and again…and again.
Sure, Chris; but I really don’t want to join a study group
I feared you might say that. However much I might advocate for them, I have to accept that people have different ways of working. If you’re one of those people and you’ve made it this far, kudos. Being able to listen to a different point of view for this long will probably set you in good stead for anything, including poker.
If the real truth is you just don’t want to have a study partner or group and you really feel you work better alone then who am I to tell you otherwise. Providing you can be accountable to yourself, build a study plan, execute that study plan and track progress all on your own, then hats off to you. I still think going on the journey with people is more fun than doing it alone; but we are all different.
If you are the lone wolf, I would still encourage you to do steps 1-3 above. Being active and involved in a poker discord / community will be very unlikely to hurt your game and instead will allow you to hear perspectives, discuss hands, learn about topics and give your study direction that you wouldn’t have if you went at it entirely alone. So, you don’t have to totally go for it and have a full on study group; but do put yourself out there a bit. I promise it’ll improve your game.
A concluding remark
All of the above can be summed up with a proverb. Amusingly, I had always attributed this as an African proverb; however, having done some research in advance of this post, it’s a bit disputed as to what it’s real origin is. The spirit is still nice anyway.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
- Unknown
Good luck at the tables and see you next time.