How much time do you spend playing/studying?

[spoonitnow]

How much time do you spend playing/studying?

This is geared more towards newer players. I'm just curious.

[swiggidy]

8h playing
2h reviewing hands
0h studying

/not new, but not good

[ProZachNation]

This is a spoon trick question post. Correct answer not enough.


My reply (in all honesty) not enough.
1:10 ratio of studying to playing for me.

[spoonitnow]

This is a spoon trick question post. Correct answer not enough.


My reply (in all honesty) not enough.
1:10 ratio of studying to playing for me.

That too, but I was really just curious.

[swiggidy]

You should probably mention that reading FTR doesn't count as studying.

[okiman]

Definitely a NL cash game newbie (switched from LHE last month).

Over the last month
Playing: 6-8 hrs/wk
Studying: 4-6 hrs/wk
Reviewing Hands: <1 hr/wk

Having recently switched over from LHE though, I really need the studying time. I was/still am such a NL cash game moron, it's sad. I really need to kick up the time spent reviewing hands and start posting.

[wellrounded08]

I haven't measured it, however I will tell you this:
At my last job, I avg. got home at 5. Consider all time spent until 1 AM pokertime minus 1.5 hours, and only 4 days of the week.
Weekend, consider all poker time from 8AM- 1AM minus prob. avg. 5 hours

I think that poker time should be further split however.
Playing
Studying
Bullshitting with other Players

And my AVG ratio for that is prob 2:2:1

I started a new job yesterday however,a nd the schedule for that is all jacked up. 12 hour shifts, but not 5 days a week...So we'll see what I can work out there.

PS. Mission Accomplished Spoon.(AMIRITE?)

[wellrounded08]

You should probably mention that reading FTR doesn't count as studying.

FTR falls into two of my catagories:
Study:Bullshit

Depend on where at FTR you are at imo.

[JinxT4]

You should probably mention that reading FTR doesn't count as studying.

What's your definition of studying?

[sarbox68]

approx 18hrs a week playing... around 5-7,500 hands on average...

another 2-4hrs studying... reading, FTRg, hand historying, picking specific thing to work on while playing, etc.

... altho' I think playing can merge with studying depending on how you play... botting 12 tables ain't gonna learn much for the average noobie... playing 1-2 and dissecting every play of every hand -- that smells like studying to me

[daven]

My time on FTR I only classify as studying if I am actively searching out info on a specific type of play etc. Most of my hand posting isn't studying - although I spend some time thinking through the various responses once the thread has died.

Also, playing can be a form of study = active learning etc., depending on how you are playing, how much you are thinking/applying/noting things as they happen vs mashing buttons.

Ignoring that - I go in cycles of playing:studying.
These are estimates, cos I don't record the hours I spend studying - although I can look through the notes I made and the dates I wrote them and figure out roughly how many hours it involved.

July 10:1
August 1:1
September 6:1
October I plan on it being about 3:1

[tom]

prob 30 minutes a day of looking at FTR poker threads
when I'm reading a book more studying goes on, and when I'm not busy obviously more goes on as well
go back and look at database about 30-1 hr every week or 2 prob, sometimes 3
get to play maybe 7-9 hours on a good week right now
I wish I read some threads with more concentration and thought on my part to get more out of it and consider it closer to studying...

also studying happened a lot more when I started each stake(5nl & 10nl) then after a few k hands and I had a good win rate going I stopped a lot of it
aka now I'm more focused at getting a roll to play 25nl

I play 28 hours a week. 4 hours every day.

I post hands on FTR, does that count as studying?

[DaddyDeez]

i play 500~ hands a day now ( last week only 200~ =x)
not sure what counts as studying but probly lacking alot in that dept.

[daven]

I play 28 hours a week. 4 hours every day.

I post hands on FTR, does that count as studying?

wow! and no.
I hope you're in some rake races yo - apparently mods delete details in threads now cos someone got upset so I'll send you some info in a pm...

[daven]

I play 28 hours a week. 4 hours every day.

I post hands on FTR, does that count as studying?

wow! and no.
I hope you're in some rake races yo - apparently mods delete details in threads now cos someone got upset so I'll send you some info in a pm...

oops, 10nl - just checked your posted hands of late. When you move up you should look into this further, pm not sent.

[Robb]

I go for weeks of 0 : 5 study to play ratio, then a week of 10 : 2 . Probably every two months or so.

I've come a long way in poker discipline in the last year, but the routine study habit isn't there, yet. Posting on FTR is NOT studying, though it has its place obviously. You can spew a lot of BS on FTR without learning anything. I know from experience.

[spoonitnow]

I go for weeks of 0 : 5 study to play ratio, then a week of 10 : 2 . Probably every two months or so.

I've come a long way in poker discipline in the last year, but the routine study habit isn't there, yet. Posting on FTR is NOT studying, though it has its place obviously. You can spew a lot of BS on FTR without learning anything. I know from experience.

This is why I save my studying for a notebook.

Thanks for the answers guys.

[Monty3038]

Honestly, I spend about 1 hour per day on FTR while at work, posting, reading, trying to understand, so in a way it is 1/2 studying. I spend little to no time lately studying hand histories, I spent more time studying them when I played SNGs but in FR I am having trouble 'grasping' studying whole hand histories... as each hand is a new 'game' (except for obvious tendancies of villian).

I have been working on 'study playing' though, as mentioned before. I spend at least one session (about 2 hours per night) a week playing one table only and studying it intensely while playing, watching players, watching history, etc...

And I'm a break even player, imagine what I could do if I applied myself. (That was for me... I need to get off my ass and apply myself).

[cowboyardee]

at least 1:1 studying to playing. Sometimes I study more than I play. However, I really don't do either nearly as much as I feel like I should if I were to begin taking poker seriously.

I beat up on atrocious players, usually in live games. And drink for free. That doesn't make one a good poker player. So i read a lot too.

[sarbox68]

I beat up on atrocious players, usually in live games. And drink for free. That doesn't make one a good poker player.

But it can make one a happy player... all depends on your motivation.

... and I'm not trying to be a smart@ss...

Aside from those noobies with "Slevin Syndrome," there's usually a blending of "I want to get goot" (maybe to make moniez, maybe 'cause their competitive, maybe 'cause they have dreams of going pro...) and "This sh!t is fun". I think this is a very important balance to keep for most...

Two main things can make this sh!t definitely not fun...
1. Consistently losing moniez
2. Consistently being told you suck

There's only one cure to #1, and that's to get better... and for some, before they get to that point they stop 'cause, well, the sh!t's just not fun. That's cool - and Gears of War 2 is out in a few weeks so I'm sure they'll find something to do...

There are those who are committed to getting better, but are equally committed to it still being a fun way to spend their time. They already do something for 50-70 hours a week that's not much fun -- it's called a job. And a lot of these same people aren't looking for poker to be a second one of those...

These are the folks where I think it's critical to recognize why you enjoyed playing in the first place. Keep the sh!t balanced. This ain't graduate school unless you want it to be... and even then you can be on the 6 year plan if you cool with that. Just don't bring the whine about things not moving fast enough when you the one that picked the Pinto...

And poker is a marathon, not a sprint... and prolly the longest f-in marathon you ever done. Doing your best mental & work ethic 440 and then crapping your pants by mile 2 is not in your best interest. Pace yourself. Read some. Study some. Play some. And keep it all in the context that makes you wanna come back and do some more even when your roll takes a 5 buy-in poop.

This is honestly one of the things that I think FTR really got going for itself as a site. People rarely wield the "suck" hammer indiscriminately. Past the noobie forum, it's all fair game. But there's a lot of support for keeping it real and fun for the tadpoles like myself...

[chardrian]

I don't do enough of either.

I do take time to actually think and try to write out my thought process when I post hands or respond to them, so I do consider it to be studying in a sense.

Although I don't keep an exact record of how many hours I've played I am guessing that I've only averaged somewhere around 100 hrs/month of playing. Probably about 5-10 hrs/month of studying.

[ponyboy]

I probably don't play enough but I only have time to play about 1 hr a day (if that) and currently I'm just experimenting with 2 tabling never mind 24. I would love to play more but I prioritize things differently with three jobs (one full time, two part time) and a girlfriend.

I study (meaning read books and go over hands) constantly and I'm always asking questions trying to get my game better I think. I'm a very logical person which doesn't always work with poker. I think that learning about poker also helps me with my people skills and my sales skills (my real job) because you learn instincts and strategy.

[Gefunkt]

Lately my daily averages have been roughly 1hr play 0.5hr study 0.5hr read FTR. I define "study" as analyzing hand histories, running scenarios, and reading books while taking notes. I've been busy with other things the last two weeks and will continue to be busy another week and a half, after that I plan to at least double the poker numbers.

[Miffed22001]

15hrs grinding
4hrs study (on the abck of spoon telling me i sucked)
2hrs looking at HHs ive marked to examine

[bigstock2001]

I spend about two hours every day looking at hh and play about 200-300 hands a day.

I honestly do believe that what i do on ftr is studying. I have watched several videos by bigspenda and bjsoust. I have read several articles on stratagies.
I save all posts that i did not really understand the first time to a word document and take them to work with me to study. I also BS alittle on here to but mostly i am all about learning.
I agree with sar that you have to find a happy medium. I learned how to play this game about 3 years ago. I have fell in love with it and my passion has grew to be able to make a living at this in about 4 years when i retire from the military. Unfortuanely I spent the first two years learning by just reading ebooks and playing. Until about the last 3 months things didn't start clicking. So i agree you have to find your motivation. I also think spoons article on willpower goes hand and hand with this post.
Don