Avoid these study traps
It's tempting to study spots that were close or confusing, but that is not the best use of your time, says Dara O'Kearney.
I had a private session with a new student and he asked me something important. He asked me how to know which spots to study after a session.
Our natural instinct in poker study draws us to confusing spots. We don't like feeling confused, especially when money is at stake, so often we have to scratch the itch and study the spot. The problem is that the most confusing spots are often outliers that will rarely come up again. A 5-bet pot UTG vs UTG1, for example.
The other instinct we have is to look at close spots, where two different decisions both have merit. Like facing a polarised bet on the river with a hand that can only beat a bluff. The problem with studying these spots is that the EV difference between option A and option B is marginal. You probably didn't make a mistake even if you lost.
How to prioritise your poker study
The most useful hands to study come from two factors:
- How often they happen
- How much equity was at stake
Having a good baseline strategy for BTN vs BB, SB vs BB, CO vs BTN, and other common spots is much more valuable. These situations come up all the time, so the impact of studying them compounds. So if you think you messed up a small BTN vs BB pot, study that.
Likewise, high-equity spots like bubble situations, heads-up play at the end of a tournament, or large pots with many big blinds in. These all have a dramatic impact on your bottom line, even if they don't come up often. A “close” spot at a final table might be worth 10 buy-ins, so you'd better know what to do.
One of the hardest parts about tailoring your study in this way is that it can be boring and feel repetitive, but it's worth it for the confidence you'll feel when you need to execute these spots at the table when they come up.
You can get Dara's free book on effective poker study by joining his mailing list.
