FROM TREAT YOUR POKER LIKE A BUSINESS
Here are ways to maximize your practice time:
•Watch videos actively: Go to Stoxpoker and CardRunners, which are by far the most reputable teaching sites on the Internet. Watch videos from the coaches who specialize in the game you want to master. Diligently take notes while you’re watching. I’ve noticed people watching videos who are treating it as though they’re just putting in time. They’re like those students who show their faces in college and take C-minuses. That might get you your diploma, but it won’t get you anywhere in poker. You’ll get eaten alive. You need to hang on to every word these coaches are saying.
•Simplify: Now what do you do with your notes? You review them, and simplify them when you go to play. In reality, you can only focus on one or two ideas when you’re playing. When you can get everything mentioned by the coach ingrained in your game, you move on, but not before. It’s like a golfer who reads an article and tries to implement eight swing thoughts his next time on the course. Good luck! More than likely, his swing will look like a guy falling out of a tree.
I once had a guy write to me who said, “Hey Leatherass, when are you going to do a new video? You haven’t done one in a couple weeks.” I wrote back and said, “I have a new video coming out in a week or two, but in the meantime I have 70 other videos on the site that can tide you over until my next release.”
“I watched those, too,” he wrote.
“How long have you been a member,” I asked.
“Two months,” he replied.
Don’t get me wrong, I felt extremely flattered that he watched more than one of my videos a day for two months. My best friends don’t even want to spend that much time with me. But there’s no way he could have digested even 20 percent of what I told him, let alone be able to implement it. It’s much better to take notes and slowly install what you’ve learned.
*Use forums effectively: One of my most common bits of advice is to suggest people study the situations they most commonly struggle with. That’s one thing that Tiger Woods does better than anyone: attack his weaknesses. He’s extremely honest with himself about where he’s falling short, and he practices that weakness until it’s a strength. These are commonalities among all greats, regardless of their field: they are unfailingly honest with themselves, and they address the areas where they’re coming up short.
If you look at 90 percent of forum posts, they’ll focus on these “cooler situations,” like a hand where they got set over-setted. I’ve got news for you: I’m going broke there. Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson are going broke there. You are most definitely going broke there.
Instead, you should be focusing on the fact that you flopped middle pair or a draw on 50 percent of the pots you played, you had somebody betting at you, and you didn’t know what to do. You’re continually making that error. Most players make a dozen or so small mistakes every hour, and that is what’s holding them back from what they can be.
After every session, you should write down the smaller situations that bothered you, then post those things in the forums. Keep your eyes peeled for the response. Sure, you’ll get some jackasses who will poke fun at you, but who cares? You’re in the business of making money. If you wanted to make friends you’d be on Match.com. Don’t worry about the dummies.
*Organize groups: You should get people together who share your passion. I’m still in daily contact with my original group. They’re some of the best players around today, and we still email each other hand questions and get opinions. We live in Southern California, Northern California, New York, South Carolina and Oregon. That’s the beauty of the Internet.
If you really want to improve, go into the forums on Stoxpoker or Cardrunners and write a heartfelt letter to the community. Say, “I’m not very good, but I work really hard and I want to get better and learn. Who’s interested in joining me in an email chain, or IM group, or conference call twice a week?” You can cover more ground working as a group. One guy can watch one of my videos, another can watch Jared Tendler’s, another can watch Nick Grudzien’s, etc. You distill those videos down to their core two or three ideas, and pass the knowledge around.
You might end up improving and making some great friends — at least I did. Having that communication makes it a more exciting and less-lonely endeavor. You have a buddy system where you’re dragging each other up and working like a team. It’s not a long shot by any means that you could get this up and going. Trust me, if you pour your soul out there, you’re going to get more back than the sound of crickets chirping.