Originally posted by heelia
I am following this thread with respect as your original blog and all I have to say -> respect! Can you give any tips from your perspective to 6max sng beginner? I mean key things which person realizes even after 2-3 years of play? Are there any? Thanks for your reply even here, or privately.
Thank you for following and glad you enjoy the blog.
There is a lot of things that I can give you as advice but I will try to summarize it into most important points.
- In the beginning phase, study much more then you grind would say 60/40 or even 70/30 ratio in favor of studying vs grinding
- Study every day, review things from previous days always and make things fun for studying (create fun games and challenges when learning/memorizing things)
- Study smart vs just to say to somebody you spent 5 hours studying and then you have no idea what you actually studied those 5 hours!!! (organizing and creating plan is very important - key thing is working on the game plan, pre and post flop, learning what to do 4-6 players ICM , bubble play and HU - you can take each of those areas and study individually to get most out of your progress)
- Variance is inevitable in any form of poker, the sooner you accept it the better you can move on and play your best game or close to best
- Work on your mental game, don't get into spamming swearing other opponents, shut down chat and focus on your best game and learn to play your best even when variance gets "brutal"
- Related to previous point, you need to put constant volume to get to your ITM % and ROI therefore realizing your hourly best so set grind/game target each month
- Think about immediate near and far future goals, set them up and figure out a way how to reach them (This will keep you always motivated and this will never stop moving if you are perfectionist!)
- The sooner you make decision what you want with poker, the better you can start applying yourself (if you want to be recreational player then no need to study hard and do anything just play for fun and stress free, if you want to make a living and become poker professional then treat it as such!)
- If you want to make a living from poker make sure to treat it as job (figure out how many hours a month you need to allocate for grinding, studying, coaching and find a way to match them)
- In the beginning have minimum 180 hours a month for studying+grinding, later on you can do less as your hourly increases (or you can do even more - up to you)
- If you want to become a coach, teach students, be a role model , make sure you act like one! This basically means follow up on your coaching promises, on the grind target you set, challenges that you set upon yourself, have a system/program developed to help your students etc (there is nothing worse then telling people to do something when you yourself are example of laziness and no integrity overall)
- Persistence, hard work, dedication and strong belief in yourself and your abilities is the key to making it long run.
- Make friends with other poker players, preferably close to your level so that you can have plenty of useful strategy discussions along the way
- Never be stubborn, close minded and big headed. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, seek advice from people that you think can help and improve your game.
- If you reach the phase where no article/video/hand review on forum/skype discussion can't do much good to you, consider to find coach who you trust has tons of knowledge and strong work habit as well as integrity and take coaching from him/her.
- Make sure you have 2 types of bankrolls: for your life and for poker. Without this and proper BR management people have gone bust way too many times.
- Be honest, true and realistic with your current skill level and expectations (current,near and far future)
- Finally, don't get stressed if somebody tells you shit or praise you and your game. You are the one that knows how many hours you put in, where you are now and where you want to get and you are the one that takes each step to reach it! In the end you will be the one standing on top of the mountain looking over things you achieved all thanks to your hard work and dedication.
Hope that helped you somewhat.
Let me know if you have any questions, I will be happy to help you out.
(If this fish has no savings left from the old job times, he should consider getting a new temporary job - relying on the younger brother is a big shame.)
