What helped you improve the fastest as a beginner?

Hi everyone,

I started learning poker recently, and I've already learned that there is so much more to the game than just getting good cards.

I would like to know what helped you improve the fastest when you were a beginner.

Was it:

• Watching YouTube videos?
• Reading poker books?
• Playing freerolls?
• Reviewing your hands after a session?
• Learning from other players?

For me, playing tournaments and watching YouTube videos has helped me understand poker much better. Every session teaches me something new.


What made the biggest difference in your game?

learning from good players helps quite a lot . they see and understand things many of us wouldn't even notice .

At the start, open range charts have helped me the most.

What mainly turned me from a typical fish into an at least decent player was coming across a site called The Poker Bank, which both had poker articles and training videos. This is, what introduced me to ideas like raising draws instead of just calling, isolating limpers instead of limping behind and so on and so forth. The site still exist but is rather outdated now, since all the content is at least 15 years old. For someone starting today I recommend the CC 30 day course.

I second what fundiver said about the CardsChat course. Beyond that, watching some pros play and talk about their hands is helpful.

When I first got serious about poker in 1999 there was pretty much only books and friends to learn from ; now there is so much available online it is trivial for someone to become a decent player. From what I see since I started back playing a few months ago, ( I basically didn't play at all the last seven years, after playing for a living from 2003-2009, and not much after that ), the level of play online, in general, has increased dramatically from what it was twenty years ago. Of course at very low limits or freerolls you are constantly walking through minefields, but even there I think there are far more good players than I would expect. Based on my limited recent experience I don't think I could play for a living now online, certainly not making the kind of money I did back then. When I became obsessed with poker I bought Doyle Brunson's Super System, ( a kinda poker bible back then ), a few books by Sklansky, Mike Caro, were the most helpful I remember, but I pretty much read everything I could get my hands on. I remember going in bookstores and just sitting down and reading poker books for hours. Look around at posts on here and you will see many recommendations for online instruction.

Choose tables where you have an advantage and play strong hands quickly more often.

fundiver199 said:

What mainly turned me from a typical fish into an at least decent player was coming across a site called The Poker Bank, which both had poker articles and training videos. This is, what introduced me to ideas like raising draws instead of just calling, isolating limpers instead of limping behind and so on and so forth. The site still exist but is rather outdated now, since all the content is at least 15 years old. For someone starting today I recommend the CC 30 day course.

Click to expand...

Thanks for recommending "The Poker Banks” site! Its honestly such a great, timeless resource for learning the fundamentals of poker. I feel like as long as the basic rules of Holdem stay the same, concepts like bankroll management, position, pot odds and understanding your opponents will always be important. Those fundamentals never really go out of style, no matter how much the game evolves.

I also really like that the 30 day course from CardsChat is available as an extra resource. Its a nice way to go a little deeper and actually build on what you have already learned, especially if you are still getting comfortable with the basics. And the fact that its completely free makes it even better. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking to improve your game without spending a ton of money.

For me, I started with YouTube videos, which helped me understand the basics and get a feel for the game. But later on, I think I learned the most by watching other people’s streams. Seeing how experienced players think through hands in real time was really useful.

While content has been tremendously helpful, I have to say losing hands has made me more aware of my mistakes and giving ideas how to improve.