“Learn something, do something” is a great life concept that we can, and should, apply to poker.

However, many of us watch poker videos, subscribe to training sites, read books, listen to podcasts… but our skills are NOT improving.

I think this is because we don’t purposefully practice the things we learn.

Well, I'm going to help you efficiently improve your poker skills today.

Watch the video for this podcast:

Download this podcast episode #412 and follow along below as you listen.

Poker Education = Entertainment?!

We treat poker education like entertainment. But no more!

Treat your poker education like anything you learned as a kid…

Learn Something, Do Something

Remember when your dad taught you how to tie your shoes?

• He showed you how to do it.
• He guided your hands.
• Then, you repeated tying your shoes 10 times.
• Now, you were expected to do it on your own from that point forward.

Why don’t we treat poker education this way?

Here's a 3-step process to help you learn something, do something.

Step 1: Choose ONE Strategy Topic for the Week

FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Success.

Bouncing around in your studies isn’t efficient and it can be overwhelming:

• 3bets today.
• Facing cbets tomorrow.
• Poker math the next.

You’re better off focusing on ONE at a time.

Write your ONE strategy topic in your poker journal.

• It can be a broad topic: “3bet bluffing”.
• Maybe a narrow topic: “3bet bluffing from the BB versus the BTN”.
• All of your study and play this week is focused on this ONE strategy.
• This FOCUS will help to avoid overwhelm and efficiently turn yourself into the player you want to be.

Step 2: Study and Play with Purpose

Find 2 items to study this week (from a poker training site like www.ThePokerForge.com, Google/YouTube search, podcasts, books, etc.)

• For the first 3 days this week (Mon/Tue/Wed), learn from one of the items.
• For the next 3 days (Thu/Fri/Sat), learn from the other.

In your journal, record the following:

• Item name and URL
• Watch/listen/read and take notes
• “Learn something, do something” is key, so create action steps that force you to practice what you learned.

You might be asking, “How do I create action steps?” Here's an example:

• Perhaps a 3bet bluffing video taught you suited Aces like A5s-A2s and AKs-ATs were good for 3bet bluffing.
• Ask yourself, “How do I practice this?”
• Your answer might be: “Every time I’m facing a raise while holding A5s-A2s and AKs-ATs, I must consider whether this is a good spot to 3bet and if so… pull the trigger!”

Now that you've studied and created 1+ action steps, it's time to play with purpose! So fire up the tables and play a session where you do your action step.

Step 3: Repeat Until Success

So, you’ve played with purpose for 1 session… have you mastered the strategy already?

Probably not.

It often takes 2+ play sessions of continued focus on ONE strategy at a time until you feel confident with it.

Stick with the same piece of content for as long as necessary: Re-consume, revise notes, repeat action steps and even create new action steps as ideas strike you.

Focus on the strategy as you play, but also center your PokerTracker 4 database studies around it.

Take your time, there’s no rush. Feel confident and see great results before you hit a new strategy topic next week.

Take Action!

Do the 3-step process this week:

Step 1: Choose ONE Strategy Topic for the Week

Step 2: Study and Play with Purpose

Step 3: Repeat Until Success