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The Effectiveness of Forums
In recent times, online forums have been hailed as the way forward for developping your game and becoming a better player. While I don't dispute that they can be helpful, surely the only way to become a winning player is by, well, playing more hands of poker?! I know people who spend hours of their day reading forum posts and threads getting peoples opinions on hands and strategy but is this not a second hand substitute for actually playing the game? Of course, it's always good to get peoples opinions when you come across some strange scenarios and, for this, it can be extremely useful to get a wide spectrum of views, but for the most part forums merely reiterate the obvious and can trick(if that's the word) players into thinking that they have a better grasp on the game than they actually do.
And yes, I'm aware of the irony of the fact that I'm posting this on a forum!
Anyway, I'd just like to know if other people's opinions on this and if I'm just being terribly cynical or not?
Comments
Its not just about playing hands and getting better, that only works if people know what they are doing wrong along the way. Some peeps could play a million hands and still never learn a real understanding of the game.
Whilst I agree to a certain extent that we can improve our game the more we play, I must point out that this is only true, if you already have a good understanding of the game.
There are many bad players out there who will continue to play badly unless they read and listen to advice from others and there are also many good players out there who will never be world class unless they learn from others.
Right or wrong, there are many different ways to play a hand. Looking at how others on the forum play their hands (Some much different to others) we can incorporate some of these concepts within our own style of play and thus hopefully improving us as a player.
Poker Players are continually fine tuning everything about their game in a desire to be the best that they can be and the forums are just one of many ways to do this.
Poker is much more than basic ABC, players have their own personalities and style and this is where we can test players views of playing a hand differently and see which suits our personality and style.
There is no right or wrong way to play, only player opinions, its how we incorporate those opinions into our own game that makes us a better player.
Yeah of course, the only way to get real experience is to play the game, but you can learn ALOT of the foundations from forums/books/training vids and talking to friends (which essentially is what a forum is).
Yes you can't just read forums and go out and be a brilliant poker player but oyu can't do that with any style of learning. And learning by doing nothing but playing is gonna be VERY time consuming and VERY expensive
There have been so many things I've learnt through the forum that I'd probably never have learnt otherwise. Simple strategy tips for different formats of the game, bankroll management, how to use basic sharkscope for table selection, Irishrovers blogs at the start of this year, DOHHHHHHH's micro stakes cash guide, hand histories in the clinic, and I dare say at some point I'll make use of JohnConnor's DYM guide.
Just so many small things that have helped stop me from going bust.
Then there's the more social side as well which puts playing on a more personal level instead of just playing against internet avatars, particularly some of the team banter.
Although having seen some of Hitman's facebook pics there's a lot to be said for a plain avatar.
Still got to play to make the money though.
It's not wildly exciting but I'm effectively learning for free and having a bit of fun at the same time which can't be too bad.
I managed a 5 month 'downswing' this summer, but a small tip on the forum, not aimed at me, lit up what I was doing wrong and I've recovered those losses and more in the last 2 months.
You have to acknowledge you want/have to improve your game before you can take in any related information via any channels before you start to actually improve. Having an open mind about poker lets the information flood in and you can use that for your own benefit.
From my own experience watching poker on TV, reading books, reading forums and watching training material have done a lot to help my game.
But the number one learning tool is self-analysis, looking back at hands and see how you played it and getting input from other players especially more experienced than you is key to improving as long as you have an open mind and are willing to take on board other players views.
On this forum in the clinic I have benefited from insightful comments, which even though you can never be told how to play poker these little snippets of advice can be taken away and researched and introduced into your own game and only when you see the benefits first hand will you start to understand the other lines you can take and WHY it’s the better play.
You cannot just play and learn if your just making the same mistakes over and over again.
+1 for forums - without them online poker would be a very lonely place
Plus the Sky community forum is the best there is )