Study Metodology- Any Tips?

I'm starting to take my poker playing more seriously and am curious about how others study poker. Coming from a chess playing background I have a weath of material and a good understanding of how to study and practice it. However, in poker I'm not so clear on how to set up a study program to help me improve my game. Presently I'm rereading SSII and TOP for the twentieth time and have been devouring many of the forums available supplemented by playing and going over what I feel are key hands.

I'm curious if others here have set up a study program for themselves and what their methodology is.

What game/stakes are you playing?

Originally Posted by Fnord

What game/stakes are you playing?

I'm starting at a level I can be comfortable with. $5 SNG, $5MTT, and .25/.50 NL. I've had some success and have brought up my initial bankroll nearly 300%.

Essentially I'm interested in how people go about studying. I realize poker isn't something that can be studied in a vacuum and simply playing is the best lesson of all, however I'm sure there are some techniques such as sitting down and dealing out cards for 20 minutes to get an idea of hands and flops, using hand calculators etc...

I know there are tools out there but I'm primarily interested in how people choose to go about studying and what they think is important to pay attention to. I'd like to come up with some system that allows me to accelerate my learning curve and overall feel for the game.

Cash NLHE is VERY different from tourney NLHE. I wouldn't mix up to two game types much as a new player.

i read harrington on the shitter.

Originally Posted by jukejointroach

i read harrington on the shitter.

LOL,

do you suggest this study metadology with everything? I may try it with my uni subjects... =p

Originally Posted by renegaderob1

Originally Posted by jukejointroach

i read harrington on the shitter.

LOL,

do you suggest this study metadology with everything? I may try it with my uni subjects... =p

i read HoH1 and 2 on the toilet. I play goot.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Cash NLHE is VERY different from tourney NLHE. I wouldn't mix up to two game types much as a new player.

Pretty much, in a cash game (assuming you're playing within your bankroll) you can and should wait around for premium hands. In tourneys, you can't rely on the cards to win you the tournament. If you're serious about studying, there are dozens and dozens of poker books at your local bookstore.

i belive noone fully understood the topic's meaning.
i have my method , which i dont know if it might help you:
start studying the parts of the hand.
preflop and everything there is too it, raises, position, limping , folding etc...
flop play, turn and river (kind of particular place where many techniques used in the flop/turn can no long be used).
get a hang of them alone, only playing poisition and your cards reading betting patterns and trying to put your opponents on something. while at that you can try to look at some odds (pot, implied etc.) which might help you alot along the way.
after you feel confortable with that, you might try reading some advanced books on any subject realted to NLHE cause i belive that only then will you absorb the complexness of the moves spoken of in the book!

cheers hope it helped.

One you get comfortable with the basics, then there is little books can teach you. Basics being pot odds, implied odds, position etc. All you can do from that point is develop your "feel." Feel is just the sum of all your experience, being able to recall something from the past that will help you in your present situation. There's no point in buying 20+ books and reading them all, although if you want to you can, after you have the fundamentals down, keep practicing.

i got into chess for a while, and read a little, picked up the basics and whatnot. it didn't do a damn bit of good until i started playing 4-5 matches a day. mostly against friends, but still. i was playing.

like tom says: you can learn your pot odds calculations and memorize starting hand charts, but until you sit down and play (a lot) it wont do a damn bit of good. you have to put all that knowledge together and make some sense of it.