Re: How did YOU get good?
The only way to improve is to play poker. You can become a top player by playing and never reading, but you'll never get there by reading and not playing, as others have mentioned. I play mostly NL games. I think that it is great to read poker books, and I read a lot of them. But, to improve, you've also got to take risks. I don't know if you've played a lot of NL games, but NL is very much an implied odds game - it lends itself to profitable non-by-the -book play. Experience allows you to be more creative in how you play. What I do is set an hourly rate goal for each blind level I play. So for you, if you're playing .25/.50 NL, the goal might be to make $10 per hour (the goal is kind of arbitrary, and can be revised). I then play until I can make my goal with 300 hour minimum of play time.
What I found playing this way is that playing tight doesn't cut it. To make my goals I've got to play looser and more aggressive. I've got to make a lot of moves and put opponents to the test. And I get busted all the time. But after some time you get a 'feel' for the game that the authors can't relate to you through texts. Or sometimes they say things that you don't understand until you've got more experience. I remember the first time I read Super/System I thought it was garbage. But now I think it is the best book on NL hold'em. (although I haven't read Sklansky's new NLHE book yet)
Don't be afraid to go broke. Get busted, let your opponents think you're an idiot, and find out what works.
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