Hi everyone,

I've been strolling around this forum and playing some poker on PS for a while now. I read some pokerbooks and a lot of topics on 2+2.

But as I try to understand poker theory in a more fundamental and practical way, I feel like I'm drowning in the enormous quantity of information about ABC-poker ('cause that's what I'd like to get in my system). I already tried to narrow my study down to studying 'preflop' as a start, but still I find it quite difficult to find structure in this gigantic information society we live in

SO, to make an unnecessary long post short:

How do you approach the study of poker? What's your structure? With 'study' I mean studying in books, fora, etc...

I ask this just as an inspiration.

Thanks,

Teski

My old friend from a while ago Chris Brand is a pro poker player and I asked him this .....


His answer ... He told me to sign up on these forums and to just keep playing and read these forums in and out ... He's the reason I even signed up here And it's been going pretty well ...

3 days is a lolsample size imo

I think one of the best ways is to just accept at the begining that there is just a **** ton of theory to learn and that it is ok to not know it all at once and be cool with where you are. Another thing is to always remember to look in the rearview mirror how far you have come to keep your motivation up.


But as for practically what to do, find a good reliable source as your base. For example you might find that watching videos of Galfond really good for you to take in information and becoming better at thinking poker. then you primarily get your theory from him. There really is just so much you can effectively take in and really really integrate into your game at the tables.

One video series I found really helpful was the game theory series on you tube from the yale university. Especially the episode were the teacher made an experiment with the class about leveling (might have been the first or second). Really hit home on how to win at the tables.



For me personally what has done the absolute most difference is when I actually sit down and think about poker concepts when going through my database. Poker is alot about extrapolating concepts you learn and expand/integrate them into your default thought patterns. So you really have to work at not just clicking buttons and being very real about what decisions you actually make and WHY you make them.

HH review and discussion is going to be #1 and should be incorporated into your study routine on a -every- day/week base. In conjunction with this you should have a specific focus on what you want to work on and try to incorporate that into your following sessions in conjunction with the "everything" approach accomplished by HH review and discussion.

If you're just starting to get serious then the first thing you should be focusing on is indeed preflop. But, that being said, even preflop can be dissected and split into multiple smaller focuses.

1.0 Preflop
1.1 Default Preflop opening ranges
1.1.1 Alterations to 1.1.1 based on opponent types at table
1.2 Preflop default action in MP vs UTG open 3x bb 100bb effective
1.2.1 Preflop flatting range in MP vs UTG open 3x bb 100bb effective
1.2.2 Preflop 3-betting range in MP vs UTG open 3x bb 100bb effective
1.2.3 Alterations to 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 based on opponent types at table

etc.

Then as your game develops you can go back and refocus on things and develop your post flop game.

You can read a lot of posts in 3 days when you're obsessed... Lol very good information in certain posts here

I don't mean to pick on you, but a lot of people on 2+2 take this this attitude and then fail to improve. There's more to poker than just reading about a concept. You have to understand it and then incorporate it in your game. If you are like most people, you can only work on a couple of things at a time until they become second nature.

OP, what I would do now is to stop reading books. Most likely, you haven't mastered any of the material in it. It is good to start with preflop play. A lot of HHs on 2+2 exist because the Hero made a mistake pf. I'm going to assume for now you have a starting hand guide in mind. You'll eventually have to come back to it later to add some nuance to it, but that's not where I'd go for now. What I would look at is your calling range. Go through the hands and ask why are you calling with each of them. On your implied odds hand, how often are they going to hit on the flop. Ask yourself why people say you need at least 15:1 implied odds with calling a pocket pair. What are the implications of that for playing suited connectors?

It is going to be a slow process. Instead of expecting to be a top pro in weeks or months, your time horizon should be years. The micro full ring forum has a collection of threads labelled "Concept of the Week." read through those one at a time, working them into your game until they are nature before moving to the next one.

There are lots of good posts here, one other thing, that is important is, decide what variant you want to play(Holdem, Omaha, stud), it is mostly No Limit Holdem for most people, than decide, if you want to play Cash games, tournaments or what ever you like. And focus mostly on that variant.

Thanks for all the good posts. I've made a structure of the different components in the game (NLHE). I actually copied it from an earlier post in 2+2: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...73&postcount=3

1. Pre-flop
2. C-betting
3. Position
4. Floating
5. Blocking
6. Pot Control
7. Fold Equity
8. Image
9. Bluffing
10. Value
11. Implied Odds
12. Hand Reading
13. Misc Hands
14. General

Now I want to extend every title step by step like Brokenstars already suggested:
Are there titles you guys would add or combine?

Greets,

Teski

The approach I use, and reccomend, is study, play, and review with a purpose. in other words, study a single concept or tactic for several hours, and then put together an idea of how to use it (for example, you might read up on opening ranges relative to position). Then, before your next session, set an explicit goal or plan for that session (for example, I will only open premium hands from EP, and will widen my range silughtly the later I get). Play that session with explicit purpose and note the results. Mentally tag any hands of interest for later review. then after wards, review your session. I find it helpful to actually journal my progress. I note what I tried to do, what I ended up doing, how it worked or not, what were the reasons, and do i think I am on the right track. This will usually suggests my topics for my next study session.

The idea is that you have to learn the concepts, but you also have to practice them deliberately, and evaluate them.

I do agree with this tactic but it can be hard in the begning to even start defining exact spots/situations/concepts like this and have any sort of clue on how to really get any good studying out of it. If hero is really new I would start just trying to break it into preflop and postflop play. Then as the knowledge increase go into more specifics like the above.

So for example the first period might just be to understand what a good starting hand is regardless of position or action. Next step is to break down opening/calling ranges per position then action etc.

Also the single most important thing is to actually articulate the things you study while you play (think out loud), keep the nr tables to a minimum and play short sessions with high focus.