I assume like all of us fairly serious poker players out there, I own two or three poker theory books as well as being a member of several forums and the such which allows for the discussion of strategy, etc. As well as the overwhelming amount of poker articles available to us via the world wide web. My question to you is, how do you study?. Besides playing for free, what do you do to help progress your poker skills?. I've printed up certain articles that I found to be necessary or that simply cut to the white meat. I have these lying around my room, etc. but I was thinking about finally getting organized so to speak. I mean, organizing these printed articles and putting them in a binder or folder where I can go to whenever I'm in need of a brush up or require a review of a certain part of my poker skill set. I've read several sources that tell you to us the practice chip/free money tables to practice a certain theory, strategy, and/or skill and solely for that purpose. That means you're not concerned with winning pots, etc. You're focused on applying and eventually mastering said skill, for example, reading the board, pot odds, etc. Whatever the case may be, you're at the table to work on that aspect of your game, nothing else. But that's enough about me already; the purpose of this thread is to hear your story, your study method(s), if you do study that is.

Jonathan // JdhMac

Hi, I read a lot of articles books etc but the only ones I keep for review are the ones concerning the mathematics involved..pot odds etc Those dont seem to sink in my small brain for some reason I've found different authors have different styles and some conflicting advice so better to read, digest , test and then form your way of playing imho. Surely its better to be unpredictable than 'play by the book'

Exactly Tacman. There's actually a section in one of my poker books that talks about players who are "book players." They're so predictable that you can pretty much play them blind. But getting back to your point about having your own style, I most definitely agree. We have to remember that most of the books out there today are mainly produced to make the author some money. I read a Phil Ivey article somewhere online and he said it best, read all that you can you get your hands on then let it go and when it comes time at the table, trust your instincts and play your game.
(I'm obviously paraphrasing here... LOL.)


And Tac, the math is what gets me too bro.

I just read the book of my choise when i discover new stuff i read trough it a few times and load a table to practice. I ussually go to the table with less money than i ussually would. So i practice the skills for a while to see if they hold trough or is just bull on the level im at. Then I play normally and try to integrate the skills in my own style of play.

if you "play by the book" then you should be changing gears,
if thats not in your book, I suggest finding other material.

How do I study, as apposed to what to study

early in the morning
the worst time to do any reading, that you want to absorb shouldn't be late at night, or when your tired, or got plans to go do something.

be organized, start from reading the basics till you do understand before going onto other parts of the game. No point knowing emplied odds if you don't know what draw is.

Find a Proffesional player, mimic their style, then find another player.
Why?
Getting the most value at any sitting is not about how you play, its about how others at your table play. You need to play to the styles that take advantage of those players at the table.

table is tight, you play loose/aggressive
table is loose, you play tight/passive* (depends on trapping strategy)

The more you know, the more you know

Thanks AJ!. And obviously I am not a "by the book" player. Like you said, all of my poker books tell that exact same thing, DO NOT play straight from the book; ANY book. Read books, articles, etc. Digest them, practice them, figure out if they work into your game or not, and then always go back to playing YOUR game. With someone like myself, the math part hurts me, so yes I will incorporate my newly learned skills into my game, but I will not CHANGE my game. Mike Caro says stick to your game plan. If you don't play A-J in early position, unless there's some utterly obvious tell, etc. that changes the game, don't play it; stick to your game plan and adapt when necessary and available. Don't force anything. FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome) gets a lot of new players after reading books, etc. You go and try something that you've just read ten minutes before and of course it's going to backfire and blow up in your face.

Just trust your instincts and play your game.

And thanks for that NBC Saturday Morning TV thing...
"The more you know..." flying peacock feathers across the screen with lovely theme music ...

Reminds me far too much of Step by Step, Hang Time, and all those CLASSIC TV shows.