Learn Texas Holdem

Question: I have been trying to learn the game for about a month now. I started out getting my butt kicked, of course.

I have read about everything on your site, along with being on my 3rd book. I started playing in the 35 - 40 man tourneys for $1 online. I figure, you have to start somewhere. I would barely make it into the top half most of the time. Then I read a book on strategy. It gives you examples and then tells you what you should do. I think that it helped my game because the next 8 times I entered....I have a 1st, a 2nd (in which I had to quit because my daughter was in the tub), two 3rd which one I had to quit because I was at work and lost my privacy, and 2 more I made it to the top 10. I see the improvement, but is making the final 10 in a 40 man really as good as it sounds? I mean, it's a loose game because it's only a dollar.

I guess my question is this....is there anything else I can do to speed up my learning? I play online at least a couple hours a day, and I usually read for another 1 or 2. Should I read more and play less, or get the experience on the tables? What sites seem to be the most friendly to the rookies?

I love your site. I've learned a lot from it, and enjoy watching for updates.

Steve M.

Answer:

That's a good question, and one that applies to all levels of players.

Of course, playing more is helpful, as is reading, but playing alone won't necessarily make you better. Let me give you an example. There are older players who have been playing low limit holdem, like $3/6 or $6/12 for years upon years, without ever progressing. You have some of them that don't care in the least bit about reading poker books and then you have some who base their entire strategy, verbatim, on what the poker authors write. Neither is correct or will get you the results you want. There is a difference between idle practice and practice that has a clear goal. Let me give you another example to illustrate this. I was learning how to bowl last year. My first instinct was to go in and bowl as much as possible. The problem was though that this was idle practice, if anything I was reinforcing bad habits. After reading some and watching a video or two, I would go back in and have set goals for what I wanted to accomplish. Pretty soon my scores were showing a big difference. The reading and other research enabled me to view my form through different eyes. Weaknesses were addressed and my strengths reinforced. So the first point is that you need to focus your efforts. The more you do focus, the more meaningful your play time will be. How you focus your time in poker is to read some concepts and then try to apply them to your game. You keep doing this and eventually it will be automatic.

The next thing you can do, along with the focused practice, is to try and get a deeper understanding of the game. Application is the highest form of learning. The first level is just rote memorization, like learning hand charts and what to call raises with and what not to. To improve your game, start asking questions like, "why shouldn't I call with this hand in this situation?" or "why am I supposed to raise this hand now?" What this does is force you to start thinking in terms of concepts and not rigid rules. Pick apart everything you take as being true and learn the reasoning behind it. By doing this exercise throughout your career, you'll not only strengthen what you already know, but you'll also come up with some new stuff. Let me give you an example or two:

Book A says that calling for draws in no limit holdem heads up is an unprofitable situation. Is this true? It certainly can be true. But isn't it also true that if you can break someone completely for all their chips, then maybe taking a stab at a draw can sometimes be worthwhile?

Book A says that certain hands aren't playable after someone raises preflop. This might be true, but it is important to also look at who the raiser is. If you have noticed that the player has raised too much preflop, there is a good chance that the hand he is playing now isn't a premium one like the book warns against.

Book A says that calling postflop with a small pair is a long shot draw and should be avoided. True, two outs is nothing to draw to, but then again, what if I think my little pair is currently ahead?

For every rule you learn, there are 10x as many exceptions. Poker at a high level, when you are up against other experts, becomes much tougher because for every action an opponent makes, you have to qualify that move with as much information as you can, in hopes of making the right counter move. What has this guy been raising with before? How often has he been raising? Is he angry or calm and cool? Has he been winning or is he running badly and getting frustrated? All of these things eventually take precedence over what you initially learned. Granted, it is going to be a long time before you'll have to use this much information when playing to win, but it doesn't hurt to start learning now.

One thing that really separates a newer player against the expert player is that the expert knows how to play against anyone. If the guy is overly passive or overly aggressive, tight, loose, weak or tough, the expert has an answer that exploits the opponent's weakness. When you first start out playing, you are kind of trapped because you don't know enough. So the next step is to try to learn different styles of playing that your opponents may have and learn how to counter that strategy. You don't play the same way against one type of player as you do against another. For example, a weak Ace is a sure fold against a tighter player, but against someone who has raised the last 10 hands in a row, you probably are wrong in folding. Watch other player's play as much as possible and pretty soon you'll be able to predict how they'll act.

Another important tip is to make sure you reinforce good play despite of the short term results. Let me give you an example from my game. I called a player down with a really weak hand, bottom pair, and I had him beat the whole way but he caught a card on the river to beat me. Now, what should be going through my head? Should I be thinking, "well I'll just not do that next time since it cost me!"? No! The correct thinking is, "good job, you made a tough but correct call with the best hand the whole way, and he got lucky." There are a lot of things in poker that make you suck back in and regret your play. You need to be able to objectively view the play outside of whether you won the pot and pat yourself on the back when you did something right. Another tip is don't be afraid to lose. The difference between a tight aggressive book smart player and a tough expert player is that the tough expert is willing to put his money where his mouth is. Usually the booksmart player will error on the side of caution while the tough player will rely more on his instincts and pay off a hand if he thinks he is the winner, even if it is costly. Now don't go crazy here; that isn't what I mean at all. What I mean is that you should strive to free yourself from any rigid rules that preempt you from thinking. Use your mind. You'll be wrong sometimes, sure, but in the end you'll be a better player.

In your specific situation, the first thing I would ask myself is, "why am I winning and why am I losing?" Make some notes and go over them when you get done playing. Are there hands where you aren't sure if you made the right decision? Research those some and work them out in your head. You wouldn't think that writing something done that you already know does any good, but trust me, it does. One of my biggest assets as a player has been this site because it has forced me to formalize my thoughts about the game. Another thing I would do is to start watching other tournaments online. Find some big tournaments and watch how the best players play; this is a huge resource. I would recommend that everyone do this. One thing to keep in mind when watching a larger limit than your own is that generally the game will be more aggressive and loose. There will be fewer players in preflop, but much more betting. That doesn't mean you should necessarily do the same in your own game, just watch. There are reasons for everything and if you progress high enough, you'll eventually understand. This brings me to my last, unorganized, thought on how to progress: Don't take anything for granted. Don't assume something is true or something is wrong until you have worked it out yourself. Just like anything else, there are plenty of people with advice. Listen to what they have to say, but then go home and question it.