This is going to take a lot of time and tracking, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.
It is commonly believed that in order to become an expert at something, one must practice that particular thing for 10,000 hours. For poker, I believe that can be a bit misleading, because 10,000 hours doesn't necessarily mean actually playing - for all the time spent at a table, a good portion of it is in hands that are folded pre-flop.
I was about to go into a calculation of how many hands I would actually need to play to reach the magical mark, but the more I think about it, I realize there is plenty of value in those hands that are folded pre-flop. As long as the player concentrates on how the hand plays out, there is still plenty of value to be had. This could come in the form of seeing how other players act, and/or how you could have played the hand differently.
This brings me back to the comment I mentioned previously about Greg Merson having seen over 7 million hands during online play. I didn't realize it at the time, but the key word there is "seen" - not "played. So, that makes my calculations a bit easier going forward, as I try to reach 10,000 hours.
However, I don't want to completely ignore what I have already done. While it is an understatement to say I play differently now than when the SFPT first started in 2004, it can't be completely discounted. After all, those tournaments and the hands therein are what helped get me where I am now. I want to keep things as conservative as possible with my estimates; if I end up having actually played over 10,000 hours when I say I've reached that mark, that is to my benefit.
That being said, if I say an average of 1 hour per SFPT tournament, I will credit myself with 91 home game hours. In the future, I will be more accurate with my estimates. If I'm out first, it might be an hour (or less); but if I make it to heads-up, it could be 3 or more.
I also don't want to discount the hands I've seen online, though I don't have any records for those prior to this year's FTP re-launch. So, I will go only by this year and beyond, and again, make a conservative estimate. Call it 5 online hours.
Perhaps my best experience thus far (in terms of value to my game) has come in actual casino play, in a grand total of two sessions: one each cash and tournament. I'm going to call it 1 hour live cash and 1 hour live tournament, and I think that's pretty accurate.
So, that makes the grand total 98 hours. Wow - lots of work to do until 10,000. But that's good, because I have a lot of improvement to make.
It's funny, and also a little eerie: for a long time I have felt that the best way to learn something was to just do it, dating all the way back to when I played Little League baseball. Now, I have a chance to do just that. Combine that with continued reading and research, and I'm excited to see where this leads.
UPDATE: I played some online this afternoon, and was pretty successful: a win in a 27 person SNG (first victory in that size tournament), and a second in a 9 person, 2000 buy-in (highest buy-in yet). I also played a 6 person turbo and finished 5th, thanks to my pocket kings losing out to Ah/10c when the board played out to quad 10's. What was cool about that was the reaction of the winner: an obviously sarcastic "in your face :P, after which we chatted for a moment and wished each other good luck. I like that - a bit of the live game, brought online.
Today's totals: 2 online hours
Running totals: 7 online hours, 100 total hours
Maybe it's me but it seems like 10,000 hours is very arbitrary. 10,000 for who? A person of average intelligence? What if you have an IQ of a 150 and pick up the game and the mathematical aspect of it better. I just don't know. I agree with the paying attention to how the hand finishes out statement though. Too often after I fold I just ignore the rest of the hand or I'm overcome by Cuffe ripping ass an escalating the room into fartcon 5. When I first read the comment about the 10,000 hours I couldn't help thinking about Rocky II. (A movie reference shocking I know.) But I remember Mick saying to Rocky that for a 45 minute fight (15 rounds 3 minute rounds) you have to train for 45,000 minutes which is roughly 10 hours a day for 10 weeks. I think if I played poker for 10 hours a day for 10 weeks I could get pretty good. Or I'd have a psychotic episode.
ReplyDeleteI've done some more research and I realize the 10,000 thing might in fact be arbitrary. I don't know. The idea comes from Malcom Gladwell's book "Outliers" (great read BTW), where the author examines exactly what makes the best of the best as good as they are. I'm talking the absolute elite, not just the very good. It might be that I (or anyone else) can get to "expert" level without practicing for 10,000 hours. It's also important to note that just because one does something for (x) amount of hours, they aren't necessarily going to be successful. It's all about what is done with that accumulated knowledge; having the ability to put it into practice.
ReplyDeleteFor me, as I mentioned in the original post, I feel like that much "learn by doing" will be nothing but beneficial. If nothing else, it will give me the confidence to play against strangers knowing that I might lose, but it won't be because they are better than me. Plus, it gives me something tangible to track and aim for.