If you are playing 10 tables at a time, you are basically playing 10,000 hours compressed into 1000 hours, and many online players do 1000 hours in like 4 months.

And most hardcore players get 10,000 real hours in within 3 years, playing+studying+talking/posting about poker.

And in general I agree with the ~10,000 hour idea.

I have to aggree with you. Noone can really call themselves a pro unles they have worked at it for 5 years or more. Or fulltime hours 5 years worth.

I am not a pro at poker by any means but I am a pro at my trade. It took a long time to become a professional but I earned it.

Dive into the pro starcraft scene imo.

10,000 hours is ridiculous. i've been playing for 3-4 years, and i say i've logged about 2k hours?

Looking forward to you soul-crushing in 16 years.

its not as clean cut and easy to categorize but yes more or less this principal is without question true.
A perfect example is the difference between online and live players. Many live grinders put in massive all day/multiday sessions, accumulating far more hours than online players, however they are inferior to online players.

What it comes down to is efficiently allocating thought energy.

edit: no one improves while playing, its impossible.

read the first 10 posts: tempted to infract the OP for not knowing the difference between a coma and a comma (much less asking a ******ed question)

If you stand at the finish line of a marathon, it looks like it's really easy to run a marathon. Gladwell is standing at the finish line.

I'm sure that a whole bunch of unsuccessful artists, entrepreneurs, athletes, and whoever has the most cringe-inducing "Truly Awesome Sharkscope Graphs" also put in a ridiculous amount of practice time, but since nobody writes books about failed bands who put out one ignored album, Gladwell's 10K theory looks like a complete record of success.

6 years of poker and I'm half way there.

You're point would have merit if he didn't devote an entire book to explaining why he isn't saying that.

you talking to me?

no he is wrong

Lots of money in that?

What is Bill Gates skill that he practiced for 10k hours? Seems like he just hit the lottery with a ticket he got from someone else.

all the oldschoolers like doyle,berry,etc sure have. rest dunno. ivey,negreanu,lindgren,durrrr could be...

he was an outstanding coder back in the days. he started M$ in a garage with all the other nerds you know. wiki him for more info. cheers

In the book, the 10000 hours figure is for someone to be considered a PRODIGY. They have to put in all that time when they are young, to perfect their craft, and then when they reach their 20s they rise into the masters of industry.

As it has been mentioned, Ivey probably fits the definition because he spent those many hours playing in AC underage. The book talks about The Beatles getting to play several-hour long blocks of time in a club in Germany despite how good or bad they were, just for constant practice. Bill Gates had the fortune of growing up near Seattle and having the connections to get programming time on the University of Washington mainframe computer as a middle- and high-schooler.

Gladwell talks about other things in the book as being important for personal success like what year and even date you are born on, the circumstances of your upbringing, and how you are taught to ask questions and pursue your own goals, among other things.

i've had an hour long poker study session that has improved my game more than a weeks worth of play. It should not be the amount of time invested in an activity, but "time*quality of effort*quality of item being learned", or ssomething along those lines.

assigning 10,000 hours as X point where u master any random skill is sillly. It does emphasize that a large quantity of hard work is involved, but aside from that, it is a dumb number from a good "writer"

edit: also don't give me this bs about "prodigies". tiger woods probably practiced golf more from the age 2-6 than most golfers practice from the age 8-18. u think that little 60lb shrimp had some genetic edge over everyone else? u think michael jordon who didn't make his high school basketball team had a genetic edge that didn't click until after high school? practice practice practice. that includes using ur brain, moran

I think Gladwell's books are crap. He gathers some interesting info, talks to some interesting people, then makes these horrible overreaching conclusions.

Good god please tell me you're leveling and not actually this stupid. Tiger was so damn talented at golf by the age of TWO that he appeared on the Mike Douglas show to astonish the audience with his swing. Ever hear of Mozart? Bobby Fischer? Stu Ungar?

My mistake, then. Read Tipping Point and Blink; didn't have an interest in this one. I was going by what he said on Charlie Rose, but obviously it's more complicated than the thumbnail (though knowing Gladwell, I'd say it's probably only slightly...).

I will say it's probably really hard to play 10,000 hours of terrible poker for the obvious money reasons.

i just finished the book, and thought it was very interesting and a quick read

i would def recommend to anyone as it applies to everyone and everything

i think a coma lasts until you wake up??

oh you meant comma.

[x] should learn to spell before criticising others.

genius