Editor’s Note: This is a regular feature where ACR Players get to ask questions with our Pros.
Question: “I want to improve, where do I start?”
As a super world-famous legend and top 5 poker player of all time, it’s no surprise I get more messages from people on social media than I can keep up with. This may have less to do with being world famous and more because I take forever to write responses (Mostly due to the fact that an eggplant emoji goes into the same inbox as “My brother is on his death bed and wants you to say hi”, or else I’d reply to them all.) Whenever I do get time to chip away at the inbox, however, it seems I always see the same questions.
The No. 1 question is “CAN I GET A LOAN PUSSY?”. I must apologize to ovariesblaster69 and others because I am here today to answer the second most frequently asked question, which is usually something along the lines of, “I want to take poker more seriously but where do I start?”
Typically, they know the rules, already play some low stakes stuff, but now want to actually learn how to win regularly. Or as one of my messages stated, “I just want to get good enough to beat this piece of shit Shawn in my home game.” Well, the purpose of this article is to tell you exactly where to invest energy and money early in your poker study journey (and also to rek Shawn).
Nowadays there are seemingly countless websites, computer programs, Youtube channels, streams, apps, and even something called books – all designed and marketed as poker study tools. It can seem really daunting to figure out where to start. Many of these tools cost money, sometimes quite a bit. This whole “costing money” thing can really be a problem when you suck at poker. It makes the fear of choosing incorrectly feel like not only a potential waste of time, but also a potential waste of money you may not have.
I went from a casual fan and losing player/ hobbyist to WSOP bracelet winner/winning player, and you can too. I also have seen what has worked and not worked in other players and friends as I have grown more immersed in the poker space.
- YOU ARE ALREADY ON THE RIGHT TRACK.
I know this may seem annoying and vague, and I promise I will give you more specific places to start studying in a little bit. However, this is important to take in first. By even reading this article and seeking where to start, you are ahead of the game. I know it may not feel that way, but I meet a TON of poker players, both casual and pro, as a result of my Youtube channel. In my opinion, the vast majority of poker players you encounter at your typical casino or online at low stakes simply do not study. What I mean by that is actively working on their game. Many players study for a brief time or learn some basic tricks that either start to work for them or seem to work for them. They then rest on their laurels either by winning smaller than they could be or by just telling themselves they’re running bad when losing.
I start with this point to encourage you. You may feel very behind and overwhelmed, but with some effort and consistency you will be shocked how fast you will get comfortable at the poker table.
- DO NOT BUY BOOKS.
I decided to start taking poker more seriously in early 2019. My vlog had been having some success at 8 months in and I knew/hoped I would be in the poker world for the long haul. I had not really made efforts to study poker to this point. “Tai Lopez is right”, I thought to myself, “I need book knowledge”. So, I went on Amazon and looked up physical poker books. I ordered a few that had good reviews. I got about three paragraphs into the first one and encountered some irrelevant poker term never used in today’s game (I forget what exactly). But that’s when I realized, in my horror, that the book was written in 2007 and literally threw it in the garbage. I had wasted my money.
That’s when I learned my first major poker DON’T:
Generally speaking, physical poker books are not a good idea, BUT if you are going to buy one, make sure it was written no longer than 1-2 years ago. Why? Because the meta game of poker and understanding of strategies is changing rapidly. This has always been the case, but especially in recent years due to the solver/GTO revolution. This is so much so that you may actually build a foundation on faulty thinking by reading older books. Poker strategies evolve so fast that books from only 6 years ago almost certainly will be filled with outdated and bad information.
This is such a known phenomenon that we had a whole comedy bit about it on a show I did this past summer called High Noon. The producer would bring in old poker books and I would almost immediately find information so outdated it was instant comedy. (For example, a chapter dedicated to how you should try to play against women and “people from the ghetto” (No joke).
- ACTUALLY I TAKE THAT BACK- BUY THIS ONE BOOK.
Ok a little amendment: There is one exception to my previous point. Of the books I bought at the start of my journey, I found one true gem and this is actually where I recommend starting. The book is called “Essential Poker Math” by Alton Hardin.
This is the only poker book I am aware of that has objectively timeless information. Also, it is readable for poker players of ANY skill level. You will never be too good to read this book. The reason why this book is timeless is in the title. It explores the basic math of poker – and helps you to conceptualize what “equity” and “EV” mean. Concepts that will never be in conflict with solver advances. In fact, the lessons in the book are a perfect primer for the solver world. If poker study were college – Essential Poker Math would be a prerequisite course to GTO. That is not why I am having you read it – its lessons will help you immediately, no solver required.
The book goes over calculating pot odds and equity in such great and simple detail. I have re-read the book a few times myself just to re-freshen. It breaks down real, practical tips you can implement into your game immediately. You may think you know these things but unless you are literally Phil Ivey, this book will help you.
When I first read it, I thought I fully understood pot odds and the concept of equity. But after reading it I was only then able to actually take these concepts from paper to the table. This helped me a TON. Training your brain to think conceptually about the odds in poker correctly (as a percentage vs. binary outcome) is a mandatory foundation. It’s not very complicated math, but its stuff you CANNOT avoid if you want to learn poker and it’s broken down in a simple way. So, start by skipping your next session if you have to and pay the $22 or whatever it costs.
- START AT THE START YA DINGUS!
Pre-flop! It seems obvious, right? When I was brand, brand new I was shocked to learn that good players only play about 1/5 of starting hands in Hold Em. You probably already know this. But think about what that really means – that 80% of hands you’ll play only involve the first street: pre-flop. While the most money is made or lost on river decisions, the foundation is, well, at the start.
“But Ryan how do I learn pre-flop?”
Google it bruh. Type “pre flop charts” and you will find tons of poker coaching sites that offer pre-flop charts to study. You’ll need to consider pricing, but some are free. What I know is that ANY of them will help you tremendously. This is the type of spot where people get frozen in all the choices. They are afraid to spend money on a bad product or afraid if they cannot afford the best, then it may not be worth it. But to quote Donald Trump “WRONG!” (Ill quote Biden to balance it later – shut up).
Whatever you may think of Trump, he’s correct here because every site basically has the same ranges today. Additionally, you do not need charts for every single situation at this stage. Only a few fundamental ones which depend on what I will lay out in the next section.
But where exactly do I start? Pre-Flop is a giant broad category. Do not dive in just yet. Time to make a choice first:
- PICK A LANE: TOURNAMENTS OR CASH GAMES
A common misconception that new players have is thinking that all forms of poker are the same. At this stage, before you dive into pre flop charts, you should decide which area you want to focus on first – tournaments or cash games.
Tournament and cash game pre flop (and post flop) strategies are pretty different. Not different enough that one won’t help with the other, but I strongly recommend picking a lane, a least to start.
For cash games, seek out the pre flop charts for the depth you play at – either 100BB or 200BB being the most common. Start by learning what hands to raise or open with if it folds to you and take it from there.
For tournaments, I recommend doing the same thing but at first start with 30BB ranges (WITH ANTE- MAKE SURE THEY ARE WITH ANTE). Also see the next section.
Now, memorizing charts is not the most fun thing ever. Again, you may think you know some of this, but you don’t. The first time I got to see current solved pre flop charts I was immediately able to clean up two massive mistakes I was making. For me, it was opening little pocket pairs off 30 and 20BB stacks too often and not opening hands like K4s or Q7s from the CO.
- TOURNAMENT PLAYERS: GET A PUSH FOLD APP
No matter how good you are ever going to get at poker tournaments, you will ALWAYS consistently find yourself short stacked enough where you will need to be either going all in or folding.
This is crucial to learn and maybe even so important in pre-flop tournament learning that I would not even consider it a mistake if you learned these ranges before going to 30bb ranges.
There are free Apps like Snapshove which can help you learn all in or fold ranges off different short stacks.
I started by memorizing 10BBs and adjusted from there. At first using that same chart for 6-13BBs and then later zooming in a bit.
Some of it can get complex and scary when charts add in limps or min raises off super short stacks, so I recommend finding specifically push fold charts. That are ones that simplify push or fold without the option to limp or min raise.
- DO IT WITH OTHER PEOPLE
My friend Daniel Lazrus has taught me more about poker than I can put into words here. I actually met him in 2019 during my Colossus run. Today he is a great player with over $1.5 million in tournament earnings, two WSOP bracelets, etc etc.
For the first year, Daniel built the entire foundation for his game from a Johnnie Vibes Facebook group. This was a 100% free community he found where other players were seeking to get better at poker.
Discussing hands with other players, especially at first when everyone is still better than you, is so helpful. It makes it fun and you can learn how other players think. I posted some hands on Reddit early on (and got rightfully ROASTED) with the same intention – to get opinions for free from other poker players. Make poker friends digitally or in person and improve together.
- NOTHING IS A WASTE
Say you think I am an idiot and don’t go in this order of study, or you spend money on a training site that you end up not liking, it’s never a waste. Yes, there are more efficient ways to study vs others. But do not have fear of making the wrong choice. It is all good.
I have literally never once spent money or time on poker study (and I have spent probably $10,000 on poker study tools and coaching to this point) that I have regretted. Not once.
I will say I don’t recommend getting an individual coach just yet as some of them CAN be a waste of money from what I hear (none of mine were). But as it pertains to sites or videos or preflop charts – even if it feels like a lot of money at the time, it has ALWAYS been worth it for me later.
- AFTER THAT IT’S NOT SO LINEAR
Only a few months after I decided to take poker more seriously, I was lucky enough to finish 3rd in the $400 Colossus at the 2019 WSOP for $208k. It was crazy. I got super lucky and played like shit for most of it. After this score I was in a financial position to hire a coach and double down on my investment in my poker study. What I learned once diving in is that further improving at poker is not what I imagined. It is not linear. It IS linear in the sense that you will get better continuously, but there is no start and finish. That is, poker at the higher levels is a puzzle in which you get random pieces one at a time to start putting in. I have given you 2 corners of the puzzle: the Math and Pre-Flop. After that, it’s one piece at a time. Good luck bruh.
