By Adam 'snoopy' Goulding
If there's one thing that I've learnt from my 4 and a half years in the game, it's that you should never stop learning. As my former English teacher once said, "The biggest room in the World is the room for improvement," and, although on reflection he was slighty kooky, the ol' fella certainly had a point. Whether you're a complete
amateur or a seasoned pro, if you stop trying to better yourself, thereby ignoring the vast array of tools available to the modern poker player, then you're always going to struggle.
In a recent interview I undertook with Simon 'Aces' Trumper, the Late Night Poker legend said, "Don't believe off the back of one win you are suddenly a great player, I am still learning 11 years into my career. If you really want to succeed, work at it."
This is great advice for any rookies out there. I myself won an event (yes, hard to believe I know), probably predominantly due to luck, and subsequently considered myself to be invincible. I stopped educating myself on poker and, as a result, my game suffered, yet, due to the previous win, I simply put it down to bad luck rather than
user error.
However, all this is easier said than done, so what exactly can you do to further your game? Here are my 3 main suggestions:
(1) Read Books
A relatively cheap and accessible source, poker literature is a great way of honing your skills. Not only can you accrue a diverse range of views, but you put them into practice by following the examples that are often sited near the end of the book. Lindgren, Hellmuth, Cloutier, Greenstein - they've all got one out there somewhere, but
my tip would be to pick up Doyle Brunson's 'Super System' or Dan Harrington's 'Harrington On Hold 'Em', two superb reads that accommodate both tight and aggressive players alike. Reading is a simple and effective way of learning more about poker, so there really is no excuse. Read, read, read, and then read some more.
(2) Watch TV
Sounds fun, huh? Well, it can be educational too. Simply watching the pro's play and listening to the commentator's analysis of the various hands can be a great way of learning more about the game. 'The British Poker Open', 'The World Speed Poker Open', and the 'Do It Like...' series are all worth watching, but my personal fave would be
the Online Series of Poker, especially if you're an online player, as the amount of hands witnessed are vast and the analysis is endless. On the flipside, I'd be wary of the WPT and WSOP shows - both thoroughly entertaining in their own right, but, due to a ruthless approach to editing, create an illusion to what actually happens at these
events. Not every hand is an all-in!
To watch these shows online go to
http://www.pokerchannel.co.uk
(3) Browse Forums
There are so so many giblets of information available on the Internet that you'd be foolish not to take at least a fleeting glance. Forums in particular (such as blondepoker.com - ahem) are stuffed full of useful advice, tips, and analysis. Whether you want to ask about a specific hand, share thoughts on certain scenarios, or discuss what
games you should play, then the forums are the place for you.
So, there you have it, 3 simple but effective ways of improving your game. However, make sure that the initial message is set in stone -
Never Stop Learning.
