ratio between 1) playing 2) learning (books/hands/vids/forums)

[supersix]

How many hours of poker should I play (1) for every hour I spend learning about it through books, posting hands, watching vids, reading forums and essays (2)?

5? 10? 20? 50?

I know that people are different and this is hard to generalize, but still, what would you say, what's the most effective way to improve?

Also, does anyone think that you need to spend more time learning about poker than actually playing it? As a beginner you should, perhaps?

I'm interested in your opinion.

[Cry Me A River]

This is an exerpt from my Well thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...age=0&vc=1

I think most importantly, I know best how I learn. This is different for everybody. Getting back to cardrunners, for some people watching videos is an excellent way to learn. I know it's not for me.

Whenever you're going to learn something new, the most important step is picking the best way to learn. That's simply a personal matter of figuring out how you best absorb new knowledge and skills.

I know I learn best by doing. (tinkering, experimenting, making mistakes)

Next I learn best through discussion, the Socratic method, argument and comparing diverging ideas.

I also learn really well through reading (these last two are actually pretty close and can easily be flipped depending on the quality of book/discussion).

In particularly, I do really well by combining these methods. ie: Tinkering with reference material handy. Or tinkering while talking about it. Or all three.

The least effective way I learn is through a Lecture. In school, classes and teachers were pretty much irrelevant to me unless there was really good discussion. I'd already learned everything from the books and working it out on my own.

This is different for everyone. Some people are really exceptional with one and crap at all of the others. Some are decent at all and have no real preference.

Once you figure out how you learn best, learning becomes an awful lot easier.

[pkbj1632]

I use the "brute force" method.
read and see all at my reach: forums + books + articles + DVDs + youtubes + and whatever. sometimes even i observe the NL400 + NL600 in my poker room, just to see the high guys play.
I dont care if i dont understand something, i just keep reading/seeing. In fact, i think i dont understand 60/70% of the things i read, but I grind on it.
In this way, in the bottom of my mind, is created some type of understanding of the issues i am reading, some type of "unconcien knowledge".
Then, in some way, i realize i know a lot more from the start.

i use this way in every issue i am involved: from my work in computers, to muy hobbies ( history, and now Poker) and all in beetwhen..

Work for me.. try it, maybe work for you...

[Arrg]

Right now I'd say I spend 3 hours reading (books, forums) to every hour of playing. I take time, take notes, try to digest what I read. I'm going to have to switch the ratio, or go 1:1 to get the nitty gritty experience I need though.

[lucky_mf]

Everyone learns differently. Aside from the Super System chapter on NL Hold'em I've not found books to be all that useful. Being good at poker (particularly the shorthanded unlimited bet variety) is all about figuring out how your opponents are playing and devising strategies to exploit their play. While books might give you a foundation on which to play, they don't teach you how make these adjustments. Based on this school of thought playing is the best way to learn. Depending on your level, I think there is also tremendous mileage to be gained by watching good players play and listening to how they reason (ala Cardrunners videos).

Lucky