I take a lot of personal enjoyment by reading up on poker strategy and adding the techniques I learn to my table arsenal. One of the issues I run into, however, is that if I don’t make myself a list of particular things I want to learn about, I can come away from a reading session with more information than my mind will be able to effectively digest. Building your abilities as a poker player should be like any other type of life improvement where you write down goals that you hope to achieve. This makes it easier to focus on specific tasks, rather than randomly going through instructional material with no aim or purpose.
Choose Your Method
Making a checklist is extremely straightforward, but first you need to decide how you want to record and track this log of goals. Really it comes down to what type of system you think you’ll be comfortable with. If you’re a little more old-school then you might be perfectly happy with using pen and paper, though those of us that play online are more likely to want to use something our computers offer. My personal computer offers a built-in widget that acts as a checklist manager, which allows me to write down my goals and mark them as completed right on my desktop without having to open up a separate file in a program (such as what Word or Excel would require).
Make the List and Stick to It
Now that you’ve picked a preferred checklist method, the next step will be to begin adding items that you want to accomplish. I would recommend that you only set five to seven goals at a time, otherwise it might be too hard to actually concentrate on learning. Lastly, all you need to do now is to make sure that you stick with your system. Check off topics as you learn them and add new ones in their place. Eventually you’ll be very used to the process and increasing your skills will become second nature.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
