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This module deals with the usage of the acquired knowledge. Firstly, to speak in very plain terms: You'll not gain any knowledge by just playing poker.
Set up a good atmosphere for your learning sessions. You have to ignore your winning rate. Learning sessions aren't for maximizing short term profit. It'll increase your profit in the long run. Possible losses are a perfect investment in your skill.
Like I said above, you have to point out things you want to reflect on. And once again, you have to Verbalize your knowledge!
Besides that, you should repeat your technical skills: pot odds calculation, odds counting and discounting, hidden outs etc.
The two essential learning methods in this module are:
1. Self management
2. Mutual coaching


Self management is a perfect learning method. Play at two, maybe three tables and coach yourself, without listeners. Describe your moves and why you chose this specific action. It would be very useful if you could record yourself. These records can be useful for the third module “Reflection.”
I know that some of you think that this is silly, especially if your fellow occupants/partners/parents think that you're totally wasted. But verbalization of actions is very effective to learn and optimize complex systems. This is used quite frequently in sports psychology.
I recommend the following approach: In the beginning you'll describe your actions in very unclear and choppy language. With more and more practice you'll be able to use abbreviations that explain the complex strategies that are in your mind.
This should be the final result: to use phrases like “check/raise flop, bet turn,” but to know all the strategical information behind these terms.
If you can achieve that, you're well on your way to becoming a very successful poker player.

The only difference between this and self management is that you do this with a partner. You don’t have to teach the listener, the important thing is that you'll have another individual to increase your self-awareness.
Human beings tend to not think enough about complex facts because they put them into patterns. But, if you are forced to give reasons for your actions, it'll help you to self-study these actions correctly and with greater efficiency.
These mutual coaching sessions are very useful, so remember to use this tool as a learning mechanism and not for fun.


This module deals with the reflection of your gaming and analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. While sitting at the tables, you often simply don’t have the time for intensive analysis. In most other sports and situations in life, mistakes will directly influence the result in a negative way. At poker, mistakes might even lead to a positive result. This makes it almost impossible for an effective instant analysis. Tools like PokerTracker and PokerOffice are essential.


You should use the replay function (PokerTracker) for your analysis. You have enough time to recapitulate your actions, recheck equity calculations, and find mistakes. This procedure has the advantage of finding weaknesses which would otherwise remain undiscovered. You can post these hands in the boards to get other opinions.


This field includes posting and discussion of played hands. To make this method useful for you, you should follow these simple rules:
1. Formulate a question
2. Look for suitable hands
3. Formulate your own considerations
4. Collect all the available information
5. Answer questions asked by other members

Furthermore, I recommend working on these points as intensively as possible. The more you post, the better the quality of answers and the bigger the learning effect.


With a certain amount of hands played, the comparison with the stats of a winning player or posting your statistics in our boards might be useful. If you only have a couple of hands saved, the variance might be too big to make a solid analysis.
Nevertheless, you have to remember that the analysis of the stats is just a quantitative analysis that does not give you any information about the mistakes you have made. Therefore, this tool can only be used for a general analysis. If you found any weaknesses you have to take a look at the individual hands to get any information on the mistakes you have made.


And now the circle starts over again: Knowledge -> Usage -> Reflection.

When I started this article I was just about to create a schedule for you, which you might use. But by now I think you have to be able to motivate yourself and create a learning schedule on your own.

Confucius says:
“Tell me and I will forget;
Show me and I will remember;
Let me do it on my own and I will internalize.”

Good Luck!

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Next article: Self-Management Quiz