How To Study Poker - The Poker Mindset

Improving your game every day is vital for your poker success. Also, poker can be a very expensive game if you don’t posses the right skillset, and don’t know what your competitors know. Here are some of the best ways to study poker:

1. Watch training videos

There are an increasing number of poker training sites now and for the most part they offer poker training videos from players who are crushing the games. Subscription fees are usually not so high, and this learning method is good for both auditory and visual learners. The world of poker is dynamic and trends are evolving at a rapid pace. If you want to continue being a winning poker player you must keep being ahead of the curve.

2. Review your hand history

For successful poker players reviewing the hand history should always be in the study routine. It can also be done as a pre-session warm-up, so that you will have a clear idea what areas of your game need attention.

3. Read poker books

This is the oldest approach to working on your skillset. There are a lot of poker books available for purchase, but make sure you don’t read anything outdated. Read the books that are the most recommended on forums. Take in consideration that now there are many strategy articles available online, which can also be extremely useful.

4. Discuss hands with friends or on forums

Having poker friends or joining a study group can also be a very good way to improve your strategy. Sometimes another person can spot leaks that you would not have noticed by yourself. Another benefit of poker friends is that you can motivate or help each other get through hard times.

Poker players often like to use forums to discuss poker strategy. Posting your hands for review along with analyzing the hands of other players can help improve your strategic understanding.

5. Hire a coach

This is usually an expensive method, but it’s also the best and fastest way to improve your game. Private poker coaches help players analyze their poker game and spot mistakes. Poker is a game of small margins and having a coach will help you a lot.

6. Use poker software

In order to gain an advantage on your opponents you can use poker software, such as equity calculators, solvers or tracking software(PokerTracker 4, Holdem Manager 2 or Hand2Note).

7. Review your stats

Note: At the beginning of my poker career I learned to play from Pokerstrategy.com. It is the largest poker school in the world. There you can find poker strategy articles, training videos, live coaching sessions, news about the poker world, new promotions and a forum where you can discuss hands or ask for help. What is really good about this site is that they offer lessons for all skill levels, from newbie to pro. For beginners it’s probably the best place to start your poker education and become a better player.