study themes needed

15.12.2008, 11:01 0

As those of you who read my blog will know, I am on a long term mission to transform myself into a professional poker player. I am almost at the stage now I have a good all-round understanding of the basic elements of poker, so it is time to get serious.

For each month of the year 2009 I am going to study a different poker-related theme. For example, my theme for January is the psychology of poker.

In January I will read books about poker psychology, study all the articles here and on other sites, and park myself in the psychology forum. I will spend the entire month trying to turn myself into the ultimate zen guru, the undisputed grandmaster of poker psychology. Then I will choose a different topic for February and study that for a month and so on.

My goal is to be a successful mid/high stakes BSS online player, live cashgame player and MTT player.

I need some ideas for topics I could spend a month studying. I would also greatly appreciate any advice on how I should approach each theme - which books to read to help with a particular theme etc and which themes should take priority or in which order to study them. (I chose psychology first as I felt it may help me learn other aspects of poker more thoroughly).

My ideas so far for monthly study themes in 2009:

> the psychology of poker (January)
> mathematics of poker
> onscreen stats, tracking programs and other software
> opponent reads
> SH play
> live games
> MTT play

As you can see I need some more, I also need ideas on how to approach each topic.

Thanks

5 replies

andrewkd

Joined: 20.11.2008

Posts: 108

15.12.2008, 11:25 0

Hey,

i have one idea on a topic, knowing when to take a break.

Don't know for sure how much it has been covered, but i feel it is one of the most important things that people forget.

I don't just mean taking a break for an hour or so, i mean taking a week or 2 off, to help re-charge the batteries and refresh your mind. people go stale and that can effect their judgement.

if i can help i would love to, i am just not sure how much i can bring to the topic as i don't feel my experience is vast enough.

Good luck with it all
Andrew

viewer88

Joined: 19.04.2008

Posts: 3,417

15.12.2008, 17:52 0

You are very enthousiastic, but I dont really like your aproach

I prefer "learning by playing", playing alot but keeping a constant 3-1 play-theorie ratio.
Theorie includes sessionreview, posting hands, reviewing hands, reading artikels, whining about my downswings, ...
Sure you can learn about psychology for a month.. but it's only theorie.
You have to maintain a constant level of play, experience loads of downswings, upswings, coolers, ... This will also teach you to apply the newly learned principles in your game one at a time.

Also I would get bored as hell studying the same kind of material all month long ♦

there is always a bigger fish

viewer88's poker blog

_Anonymous_

15.12.2008, 18:36 0

i agree with viewer88, you should play, use the forums for hand analysis and coaching and try to read and work on the leaks in your game.

It's no point trying to just study one topic at a time, mix it up and focus on areas that need work. Don't treat it like a university course where you have to do things by modules, they do that because there is no other way. In poker you can immediately apply what you learn, and improving on everything in small increments is the way to go.

swissmoumout

Joined: 24.02.2007

Posts: 2,976

15.12.2008, 20:42 0

you can't learn the psychology of poker in books. Imho it's different for everyone, so you have to figure it out yourself to have a good understanding of poker psychology.
btw opponent reads (partly) fits into that, since it's part theory, and mostly figuring out how your opponent thinks.

learning mostly through playing (3-1 play-theory ratio or whatever) is also the only way you'll know whether you're made for it or not, because there's no way anyone can reach high stakes without being somewhat predisposed for it, unfortunately

_Anonymous_

16.12.2008, 11:23 0

thanks for the feedback

I am still planning on playing around 75% or the time and studying 25% as I do now. Currently I spend around half an hour studying theory, a couple of hours playing then maybe half an hour reviewing handhistory for the session and I plan on continuing that pattern - just that the theory part will mostly be about that months theme.

Does anyone think this is a good idea or should I just keep studying bits and pieces of everything as I have been doing?

[Closed] study themes needed