The best way to learn poker: Hand Discussions

This week we look at the pros and cons of direct feedback from poker friends, forumites, coaches and webinars.

In case you missed it I have started a series where I weigh up the pros and cons of the main study methods in poker. I started with videos and streams then moved on to poker books. 

This week I am focussing on what I personally consider to be the most effective form of study in poker, which is direct coaching. This could be webinars (if you interact directly with the coach rather than passively watch), hand reviews on forums, talking over hands with likeminded players or one-on-one sessions with a formal coach.

I get the most out of this format personally and as somebody who has interviewed most of the big names in poker I have observed that almost all of them get a lot out of it too. With few exceptions most of the players I have interviewed over the years have cited some sort of hand discussion with their peers as the way their game came along the most.

Exposing your biggest leaks

Why is it so effective? I think it is because more than any other form of study, it gets to the heart of your specific leaks. With every other form of learning you are reliant on your own understanding of the material. You could read a book or watch a video and completely misapply the information. When you get coached directly, you get told what you are doing wrong.

It’s often a bitter pill to swallow and takes a bit of humility on your part to have your game torn down in this way. I know coaches who have told me that some of their students respond very badly to this form of study. However, one of the main lessons Jared Tender taught me is that fixing your biggest leaks will always have the biggest impact on your game.

I actually find it quite liberating to learn this way. I’ve just recently had the best run of results I’ve ever had online but last week discussed a hand with Dara O’Kearney where I did everything wrong. In the hand we discussed condensed and linear ranges, something I barely knew about and had gotten all wrong. It blew my mind at a time when I could have been really cocky. I loved it because it opened up my world to something completely new at a time where I probably felt I knew it all. 

This obviously means that you have to have the right attitude before approaching a player for feedback. If you are just looking for somebody to listen to your bad beat story you are going to get a nasty shock. It’s certainly not for everyone.

Careful who you listen to

The biggest issue with this form of study is ensuring that you are getting feedback from the right person. If you are paying for coaching then you need to see their resume and ask around your peers as to whether this person merits the premium they put on their wisdom. There have unfortunately been a few scandals over the years where questionable players have slapped questionable price tags on their advice. 

Maybe the trickier area to navigate is when the advice is free. It is an incredibly valuable first step and habit to frequent hand review forums like the ones we have here at PokerStrategy. It is a free way to get better players to point out where you can improve and forums like ours have often been the starting points for great players to develop.

But don’t forget, like everything on the internet, you will also encounter a lot of people with not much in the way of credentials but a lot of time on their hands. Make sure you are not taking advice on a $2/$4 hand from the person who is struggling at $0.01/$0.02. Again, it just takes a bit of due diligence and research, as well as a dose of healthy skepticism.

In a way the benefit of a coach is existentially very profound, a good one will destroy your game completely but give you the tools to build it back again stronger than before.