There are two ways to get better results. The first is to get luckier. The second is to get better. If you find a way to get luckier – patent it. If you want to get better, here are five things you can do:
- Make mistakes and learn from them aka the school of hard knocks.
- Read a lot and hope that those you read have ideas that you can effectively implement.
- Talk to fellow poker players and hope that they are interested in actually helping you – and that what they do you can also do and profitably.
- Attend seminars and purchase film study programs from” power” winners. This is a vastly untapped reservoir of knowledge.
- Pay for professional help which is certain to include hiring a personal coach.
The disadvantages of learning through mistakes are numerous.
- You often “learn” that a mistake is “correct” because the random nature of poker often rewards mistakes. This is extremely troublesome because it may take months before you come to recognize the original mistake. Moreover you usually have to make the mistake many times before it becomes clear that it was/is a mistake.
- Taking a corrective strategy for your mistake is often bereft with additional errors because you are implementing trial and error solutions.
- The inevitable occurrence of variance, slopes, and tilt produced by mistake creates an emotional impediment to corrective strategy.
Learning from mistakes can be the most expensive way to improve. Imagine for a moment, the financial cost of the three disadvantages listed above. Then consider this – one preventable mistake in a tournament with a $35K prize fund will cost $1000 if it prevents you from min-cashing and over $7500 if it costs you a top three finish.
The process of learning by reading requires learning the skill of critical reading. Authors make money selling books. Mundane academic books do not sell well. Books promising the Holy Grail and Master Plans for success have always sold well. In poker, such books “sell” a whole new cycle of mistakes. Make no mistake, there are many excellent books available – and an equal number of very poorly conceived books. Even the good ones usually require “application assistance.”
Your fellow poker players are sometimes far more advanced, and almost always can offer fresh and differing insight. This information can be very valuable. The following caution signs should be observed.
- These players may not be true friends; they may be very astute predators.
- These players not may not be as astute as they would have you believe. They may be “friendly figure skaters” who are more interested in the self-gratification of appearing to be advanced player. They may be more concerned with earning your respect than in your advancement.
- These players usually do not understand your game and your emotions. They may be in capable of helping you integrate what they know into your game.
Attending seminars and purchasing study films, if produced by respected professionals, are highly recommended. They offer an organized and quickly assimilated information gathering system which may prevent – or correct – many common mistakes. They are, however, impersonal, and are therefore inherently limited.
Professional coaching is personal and is probably the fastest and most effective way to learn – and it still takes time. In selecting a coach these are important considerations.
- Look for referrals from players who are happy with their coach.
- Look for a coach who has an established record of success as a coach. Just being a good player does not qualify someone to be a good coach. Moreover, great players are not usually good coaches.
- Look for someone who is willing to devote the time to understand your game. Avoid those coaches who want to re-create you in their image. Cloning is not a recipe for long-term success.
If you find a good coach, stick with him. Remember that Tiger Woods’s slide coincided with the replacement of his entire “team.”
