Evolution - from Fish to Formidable inside a year.... (?)

[AthenianStranger]

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Generally you can just type "Sup Bro?" at the table and the 2+2'ers you want to avoid will identify themselves anyways lol.

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I don't get it.

[excession]

- Read every poker book in the book store (ignore Ken Warren)
- As sawseech said, try to get poker to automatic. I think when Brunson said to listen to your "gut", he meant play enough hands to know which is the right play.
- The PT hand review is great, I'm doing that as well
- Get Poker Ace HUD, very helpful
- Datamine your stakes
- No offense to other poker forums, but I ignore them. From what I've seen, only 2+2 has the right mindset, other forums don't get the essense of poker.

I'd agree with these apart from the last 2 - datamining your stakes may improve your win-rate, it won't improve your reading ability (the exceptions may be if you datamine for 15 mins before sitting down or if you mine so you can practice making notes on players using PT).

Whilst 2+2 is great and has a huge number of fantastic threads, there are other net resources and forums that are pretty useful too and have a lower noise:signal ratio...

[Mercman572]

I'm on 100NL now and I'm on my 8th month, i consider myself a decent-good play. Players like Xorbie have learned much faster. 6 max will greatly expedite your learning process, but you definitely need a roll to be doing it, especially if you are learning. Flop play and beyond isn't common enough in full ring I feel, switching to 6max has really forced me to adress playing on all streets since you're involved in so many more hands. Read Pot & No Limit Holdem as well.

[crosse91]

I have done what you want to do in 10 months, and allthough not completely rolled for 1k, i do play it.
My biggest advice is not to read read read. But rather play play play, post, and then play somemore

I have not read TOP, and really have only browsed Rueben and Ciaffone's book...this board will help you out much more so than any book, espically if you take an active role in it.

[UOPokerPlayer]

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I have done what you want to do in 10 months, and allthough not completely rolled for 1k, i do play it.
My biggest advice is not to read read read. But rather play play play, post, and then play somemore

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This is probably the best advice. I've moved from 25nl to playing 200 and 400nl in 5 months. Playing is the best way to learn. Taking an active role in the forums is a really good idea. When it comes down to it, I think the way I learned the most is by losing money. Nothing stings like getting stacked, but that'll teach you not to do it again. Also bonuswhore, a lot. This'll inflate your bankroll and if you're a losing player, (which at many point you probably will be at different levels,) it'll help you keep your head above water.

crosse, how fast did you move between levels? and how many hands do you get in? I think playing the hands is my biggest problem. Also, read TOP.

[crosse91]

over the summer, i played enough to move up about a limit a month, and i don't follow the buyin rule, i'm more of a 10-buying and take a shot, or play an extra table of the next limit and one or two less of my current level. For example, when i started to move up to 400nl i had about 4000 bucks, not 8 because that just seemed silly and self-restricting to me. I've followed a 10 buyin rule ever since deposited 50 bucks and played the stars 5$ tables. I dunno if that answered much of anything-if you want/need specific details PM me. TOP is by my toilet..waiting to get read in little bits.

[scrapperdog]

Hmm going to the 1k tables in a year is quite a goal. I would suggest setting smaller goals that can be met in the short term. As it is you are setting yourself up for failure.
Yes you can become a good player in less than a year. The moderator of this forum has been playing Less Than a year. However, he is not playing 1k buy in tables as far as I know. Not that it cant be done.... people do do it. But I would suggest setting a new goal every 3 months and seeing where you are at every 3 months instead of having a monster yearly goal that the majority of players are not gonna be able to meet.

[FreakDaddy]

xorbie live eats and breathes poker though. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Good luck on your goal. If you are young, have little to no bills, no girlfriend, kids, friends or life, it's very reasonable that you could make the 1k tables in a year. I have a girlfriend, child, friends, bills and a life and I've been playing NL Holdem(other forms of poker longer though) a little over a year now and I still play 200nl-25nl. So it's possible, but I'm a genius and I'm a serious student in my off time, and I still wouldn't sit at a 1k table. Just kidding about the genius part... sort of.

thanks for the encouragement and advice [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

my original goal to hit 1000NL inside a year I think is still possible - but I set this three months ago when I was still young and naive - we shall see - I shall keep going and see how far I get and how long it takes - I'd happily put in 2-3 years of work if I knew I was going to make it there in the end.

Re: identifying 2+2ers at your table - I have spotted a few at $50NL - and there are a good few regulars I have noted - most seem pretty solid players. I like the challenge of playing against better players - if I continually play weaker players it makes it much harder for me to improve.

Re: HUD - I use this most of the time already - occasionally I turn it off try and work out whos playing loose/tight etc and then turn it on and see how close I got. I don't wanna always play on t'internet and being able to tell a LAG from a TAG or a sLAG from a Rock without handily superimposed numbers is a useful skill I need to develop - hence sometimes playing "naked".

I am inspired by people like Ed Miller who learnt from scratch in around a year flat. It can be done - and I not going to fail through lack of trying...

Anyway enough typing for now - off to hit the tables .

Thanks again.

http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/odds_chart.php Here's the best out's odd chart i have found, there's also some other good odd's related charts on this site gl