What Have You Done to Improve Your Poker Play?

[x patrice x]

Basically the same as every year – learning by playing

I play as many tournaments and hands as possible.

 

[Shadow6969]

For me, 2025 was less about grinding more and more about playing better.
I focused on quality over volume: fewer tables, more attention. I reviewed hands consistently instead of just bookmarking them “for later.” I started tagging emotional mistakes separately from technical ones, which helped a lot with tilt control. I also worked on preflop discipline, tightening bad opens and being more intentional with 3-bets rather than auto-clicking.
Outside the tables, I spent more time studying why lines work, not just memorizing charts. Finally, I became stricter with game and energy selection—only playing when mentally fresh.
Small habits, done consistently, made the biggest difference.

 

[Happy Bobi]

It's that time of the year when we reflect on our behavior over the past year. Let's share any tips or steps to take that can make you a better player.

So, in terms of improving your poker game, what have you done in 2025 to increase your skills?

I started spending less money on the game and focused more on freerolls. This allowed me to build up my bankroll quite productively, and I intend to continue working in this direction next year.

 

[TheniT]

Lately I've only been analyzing my results as a way to improve my game; perhaps it's time to create some more up-to-date material.

 

[Snake2007]

To improve my game, I plan to play more.

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

For me, 2025 is not a bad year overall) I learned not to panic after defeats😅

 

[tuitui]

It has been constant learning for me as I started actively playing this year. Lots of watching YouTube and reading and discussing about poker. Playing for huge amount of hours, trying to get some sort of routine in to the playing. So I have done all that I can. I will try to figure out some sort of new year's resolution concerning poker today. 🤔

 

[Stringy]

played less hands

 

[fuzzycatdaddy]

I created a more solid set of pre-flop ranges and then I took notes of various different situations I was facing in live games where I wasn't sure if I was playing optimally (i.e. Position: CO, JTs, facing pre-flop 3 BB raise from UTG+1) and I ran it through ChatGPT to see what I "should" have done. It's been especially helpful for understanding my EV in less common situations (i.e. Button A6o with 2 limpers aheads or AQs against a min raise in UTG and 3-bet in MP)

Just improving my pre-flop strategy has made a huge difference in my overall success, but it's an incremental learning. You feel like you need to know everything all at once but if you're starting with a solid base and pay attention to the patterns where you're not sure you are making the right decision, then you know what the next "focus" area to learn is.

 

[schtiuky]

play as much as i can

 

[hobojim1247]

I read and watch videos everyday. I usually find videos that deal with topics and situations that I am having trouble with. Videos are usually by Jonathon Little on Youtube or one of the pros he employs to write on topics for him. My favorite teacher is Matt Afflick at Pokercoaching.com
If you join Pokercoaching.com you also get access to over 2000 hand quizzes buy various pros and their analysis or you answers in addition to the courses and webinars they have. It has helped my game immensely. For this coming year I will be playing a lot more.

 

[Ekuul]

The entain sites have a built in analyser for your game. E.G. party poker. It is absolutely brilliant.

 

[skaterick]

ive tried to stop falling in love with aaxx in plo and plo8 in MTTs . without strong side cards and a helpful flop those good looking starters have cost me my stack more than i care to admit . i will also attempt to cut out the needling and be more pleasant in the CC freerolls .

 

[Mario7]

So, in 2025:
- I have joined Cardschat and completed the 30 day course here
- I watch several youtoube channels on regular basis: Hungry Horse, Johnattan Little, Life Poker Guide, BlackRain79 + several others occassionally
- I have bought 2 poker books (in the end of the year, so just started reading): "The Myth of Poker Talent" by Alexander Fitzgerald and "Mastering Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em" by Johnattan Little
- I learn by practising, played 150K+ hands in 2025

 

[belizebum]

I invested in a poker course and have been trying to study/review that daily. Try to implement what I learned that day, so it stays fresh. I have been practicing my bluffing. Some days I think I am improving and some days Replay sucks...lol

 

[Matt_Burns88]

I wouldn't say that I have done anything just yet, but January has been a bit of a reset for me in terms of poker as I have just returned to the game after barely playing for the last few months due to the arrival of my son.

I have a couple of resolutions to try to improve my game this year and beyond:

• Have a realistic schedule and stick to it
  • This will be to play one evening session a week and study two hours a week. If I can fit more in around family and work life, great, but there's no point saying I want to grind 100 hours a week when it's just not possible.
• Study more effectively
  • Stop watching videos that don't apply to me or are too advanced for my game at this time
  • Full database review and leak finding
  • Post session hand reviews
  • Opening and facing an open range drilling
  • BvB drills
  • In position v BB and out of position as BB postflop

 

[nelomec]

It's that time of the year when we reflect on our behavior over the past year. Let's share any tips or steps to take that can make you a better player.

So, in terms of improving your poker game, what have you done in 2025 to increase your skills?

I studied a lot, saw some mistakes I made, and I'm trying to improve, trying to play more aggressively and narrow my range in each position.

 

[mattiebumpo]

I meet with a group of women over Zoom to study poker. Some of it is GTO and other topics that are over my head but it nice to have people to discuss hands with and to study topics that are outside of my comfort zone. It has helped me widen my ranges and mix my play up a bit more.

 

[thejuice1]

play less lol... not hardly at all, just less. its good to get away from time to time to freshen up your game. i feel when i am playing too much, i seem to get more bad play tendencies to come out than good play. ive been playing poker many many many years now, so i definitely know quite well what good (doesnt mean i always play it lol) and bad poker play is... i think the key, at least for me, is too not play too much and get too exhausted. each hand is its own entity.. play one, on to the next one, with no memory of the last one (other than noting what the players involved in that hands tendencies were)... dont get too high of a big hand and dont get too down after a bad one.

 

[ramdon p358]

Something that has helped me improve is watching tournament streams on YouTube. I feel I've improved a lot by watching streams of tournaments like the Triton Series and the GGPoker final table streams.

 

[Oxinthewater]

I'm coming back to the game after a long break, with much of my poker knowledge from either the early 2000's or 2020 specifically, so I'm taking the very modern approach of talking to ChatGPT about poker , specifically talking about certain hands and asking me to evaluate it through both a 20th century lens (old school) and a modern theory heavy lens - there are occasional nuggets in the responses that I can hone in to broaden my thinking, develop new heuristics etc

 

[csabika94]

I read a lot of books.