The Concept of Learning Poker part five

What I am saying of which I have said it several times already and we are only part way through the series is that you must learn to go your own way once you reach a certain point not just in your Texas Hold’em poker career but also in your life.

I don’t read poker books as often as I used to these days simply because I don’t have as much time in which to do so. But these days it is very difficult for me to read any poker book and see material or a concept that will advance my game. It doesn’t have to be poker books either, it could be training websites, magazines or whatever.

Once again, do not get the wrong idea here, I am certainly not saying that I know it all and have nothing left to learn because with a game like poker then you are in a state of constant learning. Anyone who thinks that they know it all in poker will quickly be left behind by the forever changing landscape.

But what I am saying is that these days, it is very difficult for me to read something that will advance my game in terms of the individual framework of my situation and how I work, learn poker and play poker. Of course I am still educating myself when I read poker material but it’s just that it is general education rather than technical game improving information.

I could read a book on five card draw and basically learn something on every single page that I read but this is to do with the fact that I know nothing about five card draw. For ages my level of play at Pot Limit Omaha was quite poor. I began an intensive period of work dedicated to improving my play at this very demanding form of poker.

Even now I would say that my PLO play is probably good but not great as this series is being written. But yet this presents me with no problem whatsoever because PLO is not my main game of choice and falls behind games like NLH and LH.

At the time of writing this series, my objective in the long term is to play more and more live poker. This is not because this will be conducive to earning me more money as online play suits me far better and the play is faster. But live games are far more interesting to me as studying human interaction and behaviour is a wonderfully fascinating topic for me and this is an area that is sadly lacking with online play.

But all this is starting to drift away from the point of this chapter. I have read numerous pieces of poker advice regarding which levels to play at. Questions like “which levels are too high?” and “how will I know when to drop back down?” are asked all the time. These are not easy questions to answer and you already know the reason why don’t you?

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Author – “Winning Cash Game Poker”