How Can I Make the Most of My Book Learning?

I've read like four or five poker books so far and I've got a huge "to read" list, but I'm still not sure if I've truly learned from the books I've already read. Right now I play 4nl, and I can be up 4+ buyins in an hour or two, but only during peak times when everyone is playing. When I play during the day, against the regulars, who play much more tightly, I can expect to break even at best.

How can I really make sure I'm applying what I've read about? Should I just play a couple 6max tables at a time until I get better at making reads/assigning people to ranges? Against the regs I have a really hard time because I pretty much never see their hands, and when I do it's the stuff you would typically expect a tight player to raise, suited faces, pocket pairs, etc.

I just feel like I'm constantly getting outplayed on the flop since I can't just value bet them like I do the fish. If they stick around after my cbet, I'm likely beaten and that's like 5+ bb down the drain after I've spent the past half hour carefully getting six or seven of them. Then one or two of them plays back at me, and I end up losing a good 10bb+ because I don't feel comfortable taking TPTK through three streets to showdown if they're going to be charging me a lot of money to get there.

I'm just not sure how to get from book smart to street smart. I figured the best way to learn how put people on ranges would be to play a couple of tables against people who actually have them. Maybe it just takes more practice. I've only really been playing for just under three weeks now, so maybe I am being really naive here. Am I?

Originally Posted by siltstrider

I've read like four or five poker books so far and I've got a huge "to read" list, but I'm still not sure if I've truly learned from the books I've already read.

Work on one or two things at a time.

Originally Posted by siltstrider

Right now I play 4nl, and I can be up 4+ buyins in an hour or two, but only during peak times when everyone is playing. When I play during the day, against the regulars, who play much more tightly, I can expect to break even at best.

Stop playing when you don't have an edge. What's the point of pushing blinds around, especially at 4NL? Table selection is more important now than before. If you're at a bad table, leave. If there aren't any good tables, go to another site or come back later.

Originally Posted by siltstrider

How can I really make sure I'm applying what I've read about?

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Originally Posted by siltstrider

Should I just play a couple 6max tables at a time until I get better at making reads/assigning people to ranges? Against the regs I have a really hard time because I pretty much never see their hands, and when I do it's the stuff you would typically expect a tight player to raise, suited faces, pocket pairs, etc.

I don't see a problem here.

Originally Posted by siltstrider

I just feel like I'm constantly getting outplayed on the flop since I can't just value bet them like I do the fish. If they stick around after my cbet, I'm likely beaten and that's like 5+ bb down the drain after I've spent the past half hour carefully getting six or seven of them. Then one or two of them plays back at me, and I end up losing a good 10bb+ because I don't feel comfortable taking TPTK through three streets to showdown if they're going to be charging me a lot of money to get there.

When you feel like you're beat, most times you are. Fold unless you have a decent read or the odds are in your favor.

Originally Posted by siltstrider

I'm just not sure how to get from book smart to street smart. I figured the best way to learn how put people on ranges would be to play a couple of tables against people who actually have them. Maybe it just takes more practice. I've only really been playing for just under three weeks now, so maybe I am being really naive here. Am I?

Perhaps. But you gotta get your feet wet sometimes. Playing poker is endless practice, so get used to it if you plan on sticking it out. Three weeks? Holy christ on a cupcake, you're still a poker infant, barely out of the womb.

In my experience, I've found two solutions to getting better and it's not really rocket science. The first one is: play more hands. The second? Yeah you guessed it, play more hands.

Wow. I think you're expecting too much too soon, but it sounds like you're off to a really great start. In fact, I'd say you're way ahead of most people after their first 3 weeks.

In general, you attack tight players by using position and by not paying them off when they have monsters. But are there really tight regs at 4NL? Table select better, imo.

Originally Posted by baudib

Wow. I think you're expecting too much too soon, but it sounds like you're off to a really great start. In fact, I'd say you're way ahead of most people after their first 3 weeks.

In general, you attack tight players by using position and by not paying them off when they have monsters. But are there really tight regs at 4NL? Table select better, imo.

There are tight regs at 2NL, but they practically play their cards face up, so it's not a problem, same at 4NL too...

Originally Posted by AdamThePirate

Originally Posted by baudib

Wow. I think you're expecting too much too soon, but it sounds like you're off to a really great start. In fact, I'd say you're way ahead of most people after their first 3 weeks.

In general, you attack tight players by using position and by not paying them off when they have monsters. But are there really tight regs at 4NL? Table select better, imo.

There are tight regs at 2NL, but they practically play their cards face up, so it's not a problem, same at 4NL too...

and at 10nl, and 25nl, and probably beyond

practice makes perfect.

In poker, practice wont make perfect, but it will improve your game. After a while of practice, go back to the same books and read them again to spot where you are leaking and refresh your memory on theory concepts.

Repeat.

Get a few more books.

Repeat process.

Repeat process.

. . .

yeah, endless repeat.

Oh, and when you have time, read FTR and post hands where you found yourself not knowing what to do. REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT!


You do look like you have the correct state of mind and focus to learn good poker, and you are probably much better than anyone else is after 3 weeks, so just be patient and... repeat

Originally Posted by AdamThePirate

Originally Posted by baudib

Wow. I think you're expecting too much too soon, but it sounds like you're off to a really great start. In fact, I'd say you're way ahead of most people after their first 3 weeks.

In general, you attack tight players by using position and by not paying them off when they have monsters. But are there really tight regs at 4NL? Table select better, imo.

There are tight regs at 2NL, but they practically play their cards face up, so it's not a problem, same at 4NL too...

at 100NL they learn to cbet

Thanks, guys. I have another small question that isn't really worth a thread. Is it normal to for my rake generated to be nearly equal to the amount of money added to my bankroll, or is that indicative of some massive leaks and errors on my part?

My total rake this far is $211, while I've only added about $220 to my bankroll, with $35 of that coming from my deposit bonus. This is over 54.6k hands at 4nl this month. Then again, I've had some huge 7+ buyin up and down swings, so maybe it's to be expected with those swings. Then again, having such big swings at such low stakes should be a red flag, shouldn't it?

Originally Posted by siltstrider

Thanks, guys. I have another small question that isn't really worth a thread. Is it normal to for my rake generated to be nearly equal to the amount of money added to my bankroll, or is that indicative of some massive leaks and errors on my part?

My total rake this far is $211, while I've only added about $220 to my bankroll, with $35 of that coming from my deposit bonus. This is over 54.6k hands at 4nl this month. Then again, I've had some huge 7+ buyin up and down swings, so maybe it's to be expected with those swings. Then again, having such big swings at such low stakes should be a red flag, shouldn't it?

1. don't be results oriented
2. any positive winrate is a good winrate
3. you can ALWAYS do better, so keep studying the game