How do you "study"?

[captain2man]

Just want to get a sense as to how fellow 2p2's "study" a certain book....I have a feeling that studying means different things to different people.

Thanks.

[Poker Plan]

Read concept

Think long and hard about concept

Review hands with PT and see how concept applies

Play hands at a much slower pace on Poker Academy and apply the concept to each decision

Repeat as required

Move onto next concept

One at a time- or your mind will be blown


Ian

[kazana]

The "one concept at a time" is the best tip.
I'd even go so far as to say, only read one chapter per week, and try to apply it before even thinking of reading the next chapter.

I'm skipping the poker academy part, but basically the rest is identical.

[xvipah]

I'm no expert by any means.

But I just basically read the book, and apply the things I remember. Then I re-read it and apply any new things I remember.

Though, that's a bit of a false statement, first time around I made sure to study the opening hand charts and the odds(pot, implied, chances of making hands and so on). After that it was more of a free for all.

[Texibus]

Application of theories in book, and figure a way to work them into my game. It's all about digestion of the material. I also like to go to fellow friends and mentors with material I've read and discuss with them

Discussion with fellow poker players is a very important to bringing your game to a greater level than where it was.

[mikever]

practice practice practice. seriously, it's taken me a year and a half of intense study to become a winning player. Then again, i am a slow learner, so you might do it in less time. But, it is very rare for someone to start out a winning player, and it usually takes a LOT of time and study.

Of course, the best route is if you have a friend who truly is a good player, who will sit down with you and show you exactly what they do. That's the best way to learn.

As far as how i study, ill spare you the details. But i've read around 20 books, thousands of posts on 2+2, hundreds of articles, played thousands of hands, watched a plethora of videos, thought about poker strategy all day long for the last 2 years, even dreaming it, and after all that, i am only now becoming what i consider to be a good player.

[Poker Plan]

[ QUOTE ]
thought about poker strategy all day long for the last 2 years

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what it takes. This will weed out the long term winners from the losers. Make no mistake- it's a very, very tortuous journey and many will fail. There is no quick fix or short cut. That's what I LOVE about the game. There's absolutely no personal politics involved- you can either "make the grade" or you can't.

Apologies for the slightly off topic rant.

Ian

[abat]

This is pretty much what I am doing. I find Poker Academy really useful simply because I can think things through at my own pace.

[Spy]

I have a few questions this topic has brought up for me that i'd like to throw in:

First, as far as things like Poker Academy and other software goes, i've never used them. How helpful are they? Which are the best and are they worth the money?

Second, i've got a lot of friends who play poker, but none do so seriously. In other words, i'm not going to be able to learn a whole lot discussing poker with them right now. How do you recommend introducing advanced poker concepts to these types of players? I have to help them improve before I can benefit, but i'm not sure how to introduce the complexities of the game.

[pfapfap]

Practice practice practice.

I have some home games that I use as proving grounds for concepts I want to apply in larger games. And I only play live. A lot of my game has to do with the feel of the table and observing people, as my technical game isn't good enough to stand on its own. Plus, I get bored online, which translates to loose.

And play hella tight as you get the feel for the game. After only a couple of weeks of playing limit again, this time studying and paying attention, I have a reputation as an incredibly tight and strong player... and I feel like I'm playing loosely.

Also, read read read. I'm a fan of the "read it all, learn some, try it out, read again now with experience, learn more, repeat" approach, but the focusing in on one thing at a time concept is good, too.