My learning plan.

Every day I'm on this site I realise how much I've got to learn. Every day I think I'm a little closer, I realise I've got further to go. These are good things.

There are three parts to my poker learning.
1. What I know I know.
2. What I know I don't know.
3. What I don't know I don't know.

This post was for me to state the first two and hopefully get a starting point for number 3.

Stage #1. The basics.
Learning the game and how it operates. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Stage #2. The game.
Checking hands with outs. Betting hands with none. Raising with the best hand. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Stage #3. The fundamentals (GSIH Stage).
Realising tight is right and why.
How to get the most money in the middle when you have the best of it. Basic pot odds etc.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Stage #4 The higher thinking (SSH and HE4AP).
Check raising to protect. Raising to knock out opponents. Hidden outs. Waiting for the turn. Playing overcards. Semi bluffs. Reverse implied odds etc. etc. etc. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

This is the stage that most of us are at. Including myself (I'm at the start of this one). This is a stage that is very large. It takes a long time to know what to do in certain situations and mastery of this stage makes you a winning player at almost every level. There are a handful of micro players who have mastered this level (we all know who they are). They may disagree from time to time, but the fundamental reasoning behind their decision is rock solid - unlike mine. I've got a long way to go.

Stage #5 This is an extension of #4
But this time with a heavy weighting on the Villian.
This stage is using the mastery of stage #4 against any opponent. Self explanatory.
The mastery of this level, involves playing 100's of 1000's of hands against many different opponents.
Once you've done this, it generally means you have established in you memory, a set of protocol for any given situation against any given opponent.

Shillx showed me a glimpse of this recently when he posted a number of different lines he uses in certain situations.

I dont know how to post a linky, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated by all.
[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] I'm definitely not here yet.

Stage#6
I only just grasped the premise for this stage the other day. This stage is turning -EV situations into +EV.
For all those who think they're reaching stagnation in their poker learning, this one slapped me. I will do my best here with an example.

I got to thinking about this when I was thinking about the void between pot odds and pot equity. Pot odds tell us when to call, pot equity when to bet. So I thought about all those partial bets that were going missing.
eg. if we have 30% equity in a 3 way pot, someone missed their edge when it gets checked to hero. It's -3% EV for a bet but what happens to the .3 of a bet we would have made if we bet, when we check. Is that -30%EV. Obviously not. But it got me to thinking about a situation somewhere in one of my poker books that touches on the subject of Stage #6. I can't find it, so I've made up this example.

5 villians to the flop for 2 bets (10sb)
3 to the turn for 2 bets (8BB)

It's checked to you.
Hero has 25% equity at the moment. Not enough for a bet.
-8% EV.
BUT if you bet, you think there is a chance Villian A will raise and knock out Villian B.
If Villian B is knocked out your equity rises to 40% but your contibution bet is 50% of the betting for the round.
40% equity - 50% contribution = -10%.
-10%EV x 2BB (because it was raised) = -.2BB. Bad decision.
NO. GREAT DECISION.

You increased your chance at winning a now 12BB pot from 25% to 40%. You gained 15% of 12BB = +1.8BB. Massive. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

This bit could be wrong. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
So for a 1.8BB gain for an outlay of only -8%EV initial bet(.08BB). .08\1.8= .04 4%. You only need to have a 4% chance of this happening to make this bet correct.

Now it seems to me, that these situations must come up a lot more often than I could ever have imagined. Regardless of whether my calculations are correct; these situations definitely exist.

Mastery of this stage, is (I imagine) what world class players aspire to.

Anybody else like to add a stage? Any comments?

All I know, is this site is helping me a lot with Stage #4 and I've got a long long long way to go there.

But I do have a plan. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Vagrant]

Stage #5 This is an extension of #4
But this time with a heavy weighting on the Villian.
This stage is using the mastery of stage #4 against any opponent. Self explanatory.
"The mastery of this level, involves playing 100's of 1000's of hands against many different opponents.
Once you've done this, it generally means you have established in you memory, a set of protocol for any given situation against any given opponent."

I think it is impossible to have a set protocol for every situation. Rather after 100s of 1000s of hands you should be able to analyze the situation and recognize the effect of each play you can make and the best +EV choice very quickly.

You also left out the levels of thinking. What type of opponent am I against? What type of player does my opponent think I am? What type of player does my opponent think I think he is?