Drills to improve....

[yocalif]

From various conversations with pro players, I have picked up that during their initial learning phase or whenever they decided to get serious about being a Pro poker player. Several had used practice drills to improve.

Specifically I'm interested in Texas Holdem, I play mainly mid-limits, and want to improve to be able to play the higher limits.

Can someone point to a resource for practice drills, or if no one knows of a resource, but created their own drills, could you please give examples of what you created.

I remember reading a article several years ago on the internet where a Bay Area pro, when starting out, created a series of drills that dramatically improved his decision making. Unfortunately my hard drive crashed and I lost the link. If anyone knows of that link. As I seem to recall, the pro started out as a Stock Day trader, and found poker a more reliable source of income.

Any help would be appreciated.

[yocalif]

Can anyone offer assists????

[Piers]

You need to always know the size of the pot and what pot odds you are getting when you need to make a decision. You could go to some online site and watch the quickest game you can find, keep track of the pot size and the odds each player has when they make a decision.

I believe that someone posted some outs problems a month or two ago. Can't remember if it was here or RPG. Or you could try just dealing out three and two cards and seeing how quickly you can work out the chance to improve. In fact that would be quite a good computer program to knock up. Flash a couple of hundred flops in front of you give your self a second or two to get the outs/odds needed and see what score you get. Repeat until you feel you don't need to improve.

[yocalif]

Thanks for your suggestion....
I have done most of what you suggest........
I have drill cards for the outs and odds...
Drill cards for the groups.... and relative position....
I have made these up myself....

But I think there is much more to drill for..... especially on calculating odds in various situations...

I am always amazed when hearing pros say something like he is a 5 to 2 underdog.... and they do this almost as a reflex.

Lately, I have been committing to memory the odds of Pocket Pairs holding up vs X number of players.... I am doing this more for Tournament play than ring... but it is helpful there too.

I can see the obvious situations like when the opponent has X number of outs that represent X odds to 1.

What about various poker guidelines, for example this one could have saved me in a limit tourney last week...

This applies to limit poker mostly.. On the river if your hand can beat a bluff CALL, usually....

Has anyone made up a list of poker guidelines that they have committed to memory?

So again any more helpful information is appreciated....

[ZManODS]

Im sorry but what the hell is the RPG website, ive seen numerous postings about it.

[cero_z]

I think you're going about this the wrong way. What you ought to do is improve your overall understanding of poker through reading, playing at limits where you can't get hurt too bad, and discussing poker with people whose play you respect and whose results show them to be proven winners, and by thinking about the game on your own. This advice is basically right out of Malmuth's essay "Poker Magic", from Poker Essays (1). The title refers to the idea that's underlying some of your comments, I believe; namely, that there is a "secret formula", or a set of concrete guidelines that can be applied by rote which will make you into a winning player.
The drills you mentioned on converting outs to pot odds, etc. are helpful, and practicing them (or just playing) will in time make that calculation 2nd nature to you. The important thing is that you're approaching poker with the attitude that you want to learn; consequently, you will observe and remember what goes on at the table and analyze it later.
I know that everyone learns differently, and so if flash cards work for you, by all means use them, but "guidelines" like "usually calling on the end in limit poker..." are not going to get it done. To show an exception to that one specifically, you will quickly determine that there are some poker players who simply never bluff. Against them, you must have a better hand than a bluff catcher to call their river bet.
IMO, the fact that there are limitless scenarios which you may encounter at the table is what makes poker such an interesting and complex game. This somewhat unwieldy amount of information makes it tempting to try to reign it in with a set of rules. Again, the attitude you display tells me you have an excellent chance of becoming a good player. Good luck.

[yocalif]

cero_z
I understand your point and your approach to learning may work for you.

The example about limit poker and calling a bluff, had a comment at the end "usually". That one word, was intended to sum up all the possible exceptions, without lengthy explanations.

My approach is based on the same concept that any professional athlete uses to advance in his chosen sport. Practice, drill the fundamentals, the basics, know them cold, next execute by reflex not by rote, and then when you need inspiration to make the right decision in those critical moments, you will have a rich foundation and a reference to draw from.

I have about 6 or 7 of the better books. But I am told that one particular book that I don’t own has many drills. In several of the books, are knowledge tests. So apparently some of the best authors seem to agree that drills and committing to memory specific bits of knowledge are important. Poker books are sold because the knowledge can save a new player hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars attempting to learn what others have already learned. Doyle Brunson, has said many times that after “Super System” was released, the game became tougher. Super System readers who applied and studied the knowledge available in Super System or similar books, apply that knowledge and the level of the game has become more difficult.

You said ask players who I respect. That is exactly what I am doing with this thread, is asking if any have used any specific drills.

Beyond drills and memory work, reading an opponent or attempting to put him on a variety of hands, developing a image, etc. Those are areas that have to be learned through experience as you have correctly pointed out.

[anatta]

One thing that I have found helpful is a hand reading drill I do on Turbo Texas Holdem. I put the game on manual, all computer players, and I read their hands. I use different lineups, tight, loose, etc. I set the limit at 10-20 to make it easy to see if I am correct in counting the bets (its easy to divided pot size by 10/20). I start by putting them on a range of hands pre-flop based on their profile and I go from there.

Its fun when you get to the end and say, ok he probably has 99, I would say he folded QJs, and then look and you are 100% right.

[mdlm]

that there is a "secret formula", or a set of concrete guidelines that can be applied by rote which will make you into a winning player.

Here is what we know for a fact: It is possible to write a computer program (which certainly qualifies as a set of "concrete guidelines") that kills online low-limit poker. We know this because Botman, a 2+2 poster, has done just that.

And if you believe, as many do, that low-limit online is approximately as hard as mid-limit B&M then this program is better than all but the top 500 or so players in the world. And that would qualify as a secret formula in my book.

[Jimbo]

Mdlm stated "Here is what we know for a fact: It is possible to write a computer program (which certainly qualifies as a set of "concrete guidelines") that kills online low-limit poker. We know this because Botman, a 2+2 poster, has done just that." Cmon mdlm, just because an anonymous poster got bored one day and wrote a few posts hardly qualifies it as a fact. As a matter of "fact" when pressed to elaborate on any verifiable details the Botman refused to answer and disappeared. I understand that his approach agrees with the Holy Grail of Poker which you are seeking but that hardly makes it a fact.