How can watching the pros on TV make a small stakes player better?

[PokrLikeItsProse]

Just hope that you see TV tables of one or two pros and a bunch of clear amateurs.

[Jordan Olsommer]

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What, if anything, can I learn watching the pros to help my game? I want to learn from the pros, not fall into a FPS trap. Is this possible?

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That'd be akin to a student with aspirations of med school trying to learn something by watching a surgeon do an advanced operation; you might learn a few superficial things, but in general there are just way too many variables which they're considering that you're not privy to to make any kind of conclusions you draw valuable.

On the other hand, I *highly* recommend the Negreanu/Lindgren commentary tracks on the WPT Season 2 DVDs, because that's pretty much all they do is provide further insight into what's going on in the pro's minds.

And they make fun of people too.

[rheaume]

can watching a yankees game help a little leaguer become a better baseball player?

IMO the commentary is more useful (on the whole) to a poker newcomer than the actual play or watching the players

then again, if you're talking small stakes vs thousands and millions of dollars at stake (like the WPT and WSOP), it's really quite irrelevant. how often do you see a raise/reraise/rereraise/fold on the turn in a small stakes game? i don't think i ever have.

trying to apply the principles of TV poker to your small limit game is akin to reading the NL section of Super System and trying to apply that to a 25c bb nl game. no, wait... it's even worse than that

take it for what it is - it's entertainment, not PBS

[DyessMan89]

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can watching a yankees game help a little leaguer become a better baseball player?

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Actually, thats a pretty good comparison. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Anyways, besides possibly late tourney tactics, theres not much to be learned here. I think many people make the mistake of watching poker on tv and then rushing out and playing superaggressive 24/7 and losing all their money in the process. Poker is all about adaptability. Very few strategies for this type of tournament will help you in Small Stakes holdem. Its like apples and oranges.

[Iron Tigran]

It is not an efficient way to learn, as the same situations are shown over and over. Events like Turning Stone, where every hand of heads-up play between Ivey and D'Agostino was shown, can offer more insight.

One tactic I learned from TV (which I might have learned from a book; I have read very little on NL) was the idea of calling a bet on the flop with nothing, simply looking to bluff on the Turn if the flop bettor checked. I tried it in some SnGs and it sometimes worked. If nothing else, it made me think about some NL tactics.

[HouseBlouse]

I think TV does nothing for my game, its just fun to watch.

[NYCNative]

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can watching a yankees game help a little leaguer become a better baseball player?

[/ QUOTE ]Actually, yeah, it could. It depends on what you're watching though. It won't help you hit a 90 MPH fastball but it will help you to watch hwo the pros back up the cut off man properly and other fundamentals.

I guess that's why poker won't work in this respect: Athletic events still involve fundamentals whereas solid fundamental play at the final table of a tournament surrounded by pros will get you run over. So you don't see the fundamentals on TV and those fundamentals are what you need to win at smaller stakes.

[CieloAzor]

For me personally, the WPT has been a great learning tool. NL tourneys are my bread and butter and I feel like watching WPT broadcasts has helped all aspects of my play. There's a wealth of information there...you just have to apply it correctly.

There are some other poker shows that offer a lesser amount of help, and some that are basically useless. When I watch Poker Superstars II, it's for entertainment value only. The blinds almost force them to be all-in every hand after a while, and it doesn't seem like anybody at the table cares who wins.

[radek2166]

Yes, be more like Gus Hansen. Play any 2 cards and bluff alot.

[Vincent Lepore]

Dan Harrington recommends that you sit on your hands. He doesn't mean your cards, He literally means to sit on your hands when playing poker. What he is referring to is that you should take your time before making a decision.

The good players on TV do that. They wait and reconstruct the betting before making a key decision. Not all of the players on TV just the players that are considerd top players by the poker community in general. Don't listen to Sexton or Van Patten when are extolling the laurels of various players. Listen to some of the folk on this forum especially Sklansky when he rates the top players. (not the smartest players, the top players).

Limit players make quick decisions. A mistake is not very costly in limit cash games (in tournaments it's different a mistake can be very costly). The point is that from watching good players on TV in difficult situations you may learn something about how people respond when faced with tough decisions. That is about all.

Vince