Learning. What to focus on and when.
Posted by Kevin Lawrence
Posted by
Kevin Lawrence
posted in
Gen. Poker
Learning. What to focus on and when.
I think a lot about how I should be approaching my poker learning. It's very easily to get lost in paralysis by analysis in poker. There is so much to learn! I have recently transitioned to the wild world of Las Vegas Live Full Ring poker after playing online 6max. Due to the nature of live poker (commuting, waiting to get in games, needing to play when the games run, etc), I'm left with less time to study. I view this as a great opportunity to take a serious look at how I study and how I track improvement in order to get more value from my study time. I'm hoping to lay out how I approach my playing and learning cycle in hopes to get some feedback and advice on what I could improve, as well as just get a discussion going on the topic.
Current weekly plan:
Monday - OFF DAY. Time to get away from poker. I make sure to get a good workout in, see friends, , run errands, grocery shop,read, and still end up thinking a lot about poker, however not much structure (maybe this is a bad thing? Maybe I should not waste any time reading forums, listening to a poker podcast, watching a video if it's not going to be done with high focus - which my gut says after playing all week I should just stay completely away from poker for today....maybe I just answered my own question here, funny what writing can do :)
Tuesday - OFF DAY. Again I'm trying to get some non-poker stuff done, but today would probably be a good day to block out the first 2-3 hours of my day when I'm most alert for some dedicated poker study time?
Wednesday - Wake up, Meditate, do some affirmations, visualization, exercise, read a little, write a little. Have a little bit of time before going to play for the night. Planning on putting in a long session.
Thursday - Same morning routine, playing today is 50/50 (maybe I should plan on studying first thing and playing a short session?)
Friday - Same morning routine, big grind day.
Saturday - Same morning routine, big grind day.
Sunday - Same morning routine, grinding, but probably not as much as Fri/Sat, depends how I feel/if I have momentum
So it's tough to spend time studying on grind days, because I'm playing 8-10 hours and I don't necessarily think it's best to use up mental energy before I go play for that long. I'd rather focus on playing only to keep my mind more clear, rather than trying to learn something new the day of. So that leaves study time for Tuesday for 2-3 hours, and Thursday probably.
Throughout the week I keep a performance analysis log that I write in post session, it includes things like: What did I learn today? What did I accomplish today, How were results? Recording some facts. Then I try to write down solutions for things that went wrong or just "I'm looking for a solution to..." I hope that this section will help me see what mistakes I make, learn from them faster so that I'm less likely to make them in the future. Then I write what I did well, focusing on positive things only. Lastly, I finish with some goal stuff.
So this leaves me with let's say 2-3 hours Tuesday and 2-3 hours Thursday to study, so I have to be very efficient with what I'm spending time on.
Should I work on mental game stuff and technical stuff at the same time? Or do we think it's better to focus on mental game only for a period of time, set a goal for what I'm trying to accomplish with it, try to get there within a couple weeks, and then move on to something new. My gut says that it's best to work on ONE THING at a time. Does this make sense? If I know I have some mental game stuff to work on, some poker math stuff, technical stuff (i.e. working specifically on 3bet pots IP or playing multiway pots as the PFR), should I do one of those at a time and then move onto something new?
Sorry for the long ramble, but any thoughts on the process would be greatly appreciated.
I'm also have been thinking about trying to find a coach to help me better figure out what areas of my game I should focus on. Any thoughts on who might be a good candidate for this?
Thanks again, looking forward to a discussion on this stuff. Please share anything that works well for you or questions that you have and hopefully we can all work through this stuff together.
Loading 3 Comments...
Sounds like you are definitely on track with having a schedule in place and a good sense of what you need to be doing. One additional thing that might help you is a daily list of priorities from 1 to how ever many items you need to accomplish that day. I have a friend and co-worker that does this in ever aspect of his life from work to chores to leisure activities and he swears by it.
I think a simply daily priority list that you can check off to see how well your are accomplishing your most prioritized goals would be potentially helpful for you.
Cheers!
That's a great plan. I am also playing 6-max full ring live cash games in HM. I know that there is no end of learning poker. To improve my skill in poker Leak Buster has helped me a lot.
Benji,
I think as a professional player I would be tempted to divide my hours differently. You live in Vegas you say, so I assume the games are easy to get to, and easy to get in once there. Most casinos allow phone ahead reservations, which I would always do.
IF you are able to go more than once a day (as in you are not walking, bussing it) I would suggest two things.
Take your most valuable days (nights?) and just camp out in your favorite game. I would suggest taking regular breaks though, and using this time to relax, mentally unwind, stay hydrated, and eat. During each break I would analyze my play. Am I playing my A game? If not, why? And how will I get back to it? Am I taking max advantage of table dynamics? If not, why? And how will I get back to it? Am I in the best seat at the table? Is the table the best one in the room? Are other casinos better right now?
Next I would break my days off up. No real reason to have them next to each other, neh? Take Monday off, since weekends are usually long grinds. Then maybe Thursday to rejuvenate for Friday's start of the grind?
My morning routine would be the self help stuff you seem to like, and then I would carve out an hour to do something productive poker wise. Get your mind going. But do it with a purpose! Have a plan for learning...
This month will be 3bet pot month. I will watch with extra emphasis for any and all things having to do with 3bets. If I am not in a hand, I normally pay attention, but if there IS a 3bet pot, I will take notes. I will record any and all things I can.
I will read forums, watch videos, anything I can find tagged with 3bets.
Next month I will evaluate how I did. Did the extra work on 3bet pots make me more comfortable with these situations? If so, great. If not, maybe I did not study them correctly? Maybe I was already good with them? Just go back and ask yourself did it help?
I would have a list, prioritized with my biggest leaks, and see if I could not get them into some bit size pieces, and then work on them from biggest to smallest. Tommy Angelo calls this working on your C game I think.
After the hour of study I would do whatever I wanted that involved some activities away from poker. Then if it is not an off day, I would head to the casino to play a shorter session. Having a comfort level in shorter sessions is a skill, just like grinding long hours at top performance is a skill. In a shorter session, your reads will not be so honed in. Your image not so defined. You will be forced to play more fundamentally at first. And you will be forced to quit loser! Many players cannot force themselves to quit when behind at a table full of fish. Learn this skill!IT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY !
This is getting way too long, but my idea would be to break your play up more, break your learning up more. Stay fresh mentally. Stay as organized in your learning as you have in your poker.
good luck
which
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