How do I go about "learning"

(This first part is basically my background, please skip past the ***** for my actual question)

So I played my first hand of poker while stationed in Iraq (just came back) and was completely obsessed by it after losing my first hand in a horrible fashion with my trusty 94s. But they were freakin suited!!! Then one day I was cleaning a building to make room for our office and found two books on Poker and a bag full of clay chips...and I said "eh" and threw them out without thinking, doh! Two months later my friends girlfriend sent him a carepackage with "Winning at Poker" by Dave Scharf and in order to keep from shooting myself in the face from utter boredom decided to read it through. And I read it again, and again.

Since then I've read multiple books and took a stab at online poker, although for whatever reason I did not actually apply a damn thing I read. I took 6 months off from poker and joined back up 3 days ago at the 25NL at UB and have since about trippled my $30 playing with what I've learned. Now I truly believe that Poker is a beatable game, and I want to learn how to beat it in the most effecient manner possible.

************************************************** *

So, I would like to know how to go about learning as efficiently as possible. Since I just got back from Iraq and don't work and am waiting for school to start I figured now would be the best time for me to learn. I listed the what, when, where, and why's of my study routine as follows:

Actual Play Time: 8-12pm. While I was in Iraq I realized competition was easier during the day over there when it was night over here, almost dramatically so! I always like to take a 30 min nap before I start to play, although this again is a habit from Iraq as the heat would usually make me too tired to play without a nap.
Lurk and Creep this site: 1 hour reading through forum, 1 hour reading through the Poker Training articles
Poker Training Sites: Study one video
Study Hands: Study and analyze my hands from the day before using PT for about 1 hour
Study Winners and Losers: Study and analyze play from the biggest winners and loser from the hands from the day before for another hour
Total Poker time Invested: ~ 8 hours

Notice I didnt add time for studying books. I feel like I learn better doing hands on, and any techniques I can probably learn from the articles here and videos at the sites. Besides I'm playing 25NL and don't really need to worry about advanced concepts like mastering Implied Odds and All-In +EV at this level right away. Or am I wrong?

In b4 someone claims this is a level.

First thing's first. If you have $30, you have no business playing $25NL. Even at $300 you'd be extremely vulnerable to going broke, regardless of how good or bad you may be playing.

Drop down to $2NL, learn how to play, and let each level promote you. If you're at all serious about your game, it won't take very long. Good luck.

Thanks for posting and welcome.

It sounds like you already have a good idea for how to improve. I would suggest that you take a few hands that you analyzed on your own and post them here in the BC for others to critique, with all of your reads and thought processes posted. It doesn't help to analyze a hand when you may be doing it completely wrong and/or logic may be off.

Ditch the books because they're not as helpful as other resources imo. Continue to watch videos from training sites, def +EV. Also, if you want to discuss poker hands and theory in real time with players who are better than you then check out irc (its a poker chat room for FTR and theres a link to it in spoons sig).

Also, read this: http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...re-123008.html

and more specifically, this: http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ers-93053.html

You shouldn't be playing 25NL with ~$90, more like 5NL.

I'm sure others will chime in with their advice but for now, GL

Im not gonna lie, right now I feel like I can play at 25NL - buuuuut I'll take your advice seeing as how I'm the new guy. I'll drop down and grind my way up then as much as I really want to play 25NL lol. Oh the the links are great I'll make sure to read through them thanks and I'll make sure to visit the IRC didnt even know about it

Edit:
OH and do you need a significantly larger bank roll to multitable? And is really necessary to have 100 buy ins at 2NL and 5NL, I just honestly dont feel like I'll lose 100 buy ins in a row at these levels, although I'm sure plenty of new guys say the same thing

If you need 100 buyins at the micro stakes there's a problem. 20 buyins is fairly sufficient for most people up until 25nl or higher for the most part, depending on how many tables you play at a time. But playing 25nl with $90 is suicide. I've lost 3 buyins in less than 5 minutes before playing only a few tables. Shit happens.

Originally Posted by IAmFilipe

Besides I'm playing 25NL and don't really need to worry about advanced concepts like mastering Implied Odds and All-In +EV at this level right away. Or am I wrong?

Wrong -- these aren't advanced concepts, they are fundamentals. You need to understand them even if you are playing 2NL. The good news is that they aren't that difficult to learn You can find threads dedicated to them in the Beginner's Digest.

And is really necessary to have 100 buy ins at 2NL and 5NL, I just honestly dont feel like I'll lose 100 buy ins in a row at these levels, although I'm sure plenty of new guys say the same thing

No, at the lower stakes you can move up once you have 20 or 25 buy-ins. But set a realistic drop-down amount -- like, if you move up to 10NL with 25 buyins but then drop below 20 buyins, go back to 5NL until you have 25 buyins again. Also, the higher the limit, the more buyins you should have simply because your edge gets thinner and thinner (less fish), so you may experience larger swings.

Check your private messages here on the forums