Quote Originally Posted by FriskyPirate
How to become a poker player:
1) play 200,000 hands
you won't be noob anymore. to be a pro golfer you go to the range. to be a pro basket ball player you do hoops. to be a pro boxer you spar. to be a poker player online...play poker lots

How to become a pro poker player
1) play 1,000,000 hands per year
meh.. I disagree. Obviously playing a large volume of hands won't hurt, but if you are making mistakes the majority of the time, then you won't improve. To have a perfect jumpshot, you practice it. But you don't do it underhanded.

At 100nl/200nl there are plenty of players that I routinely play against that play >1mill hands per year. This does not make them fundamentally sound at poker. They aren't the biggest fish in the pond, but they have glaring leaks. On Stars, they are referred to as fpp pros, because they basically break even or close to it, and only profit through the bonus/milestones they get from putting in so many hands.

If you aren't studying/learning/reading away from the tables you are seriously affecting your ability to grow as a player. I can easily say the majority of my "enlightment" moments (aha moments, etc) have occurred away from the tables, and I'm sure most people here will say the same.