Does Practice Make Perfect or Just Permanent in Poker?

Practice is Important for Learning but Not Paramount

For around 20 years regular deliberate physical practice was widely considered to be responsible for 80% of growth from amateur to expert, thanks to a study by Ericsson, K. Anders, and others published in 1993, where researchers came to the conclusion that “high levels of deliberate practice are necessary to attain expert level of performance”. 

But the more scientists study this subject in the following years, the more it becomes clear that skill development is only partially based on the amount of practice with other aspects of learning and personal traits having the often more important role in the ultimate success.

The first ground-breaking confirmation of this was found in 2014, when a unique meta-analysis by Brook Macnamara, Zach Hambrick and Frederick Oswald appeared in Psychological Science.

Researchers analyzed 88 different studies of practice and performance in different areas, and found out that while deliberate practice is important, it actually doesn’t make a big difference between level of skill on its own. 

The calculations shows, that depending on the area the variance in performance is:

• 26% in games
• 21% in music
• 18% in sports
• 4% in education
• <1% in professions

The research findings also suggest that physical practice is the best way to reinforce learning and information processing patterns, regardless of whether the giving instructions are wrong, effective, or the best solution. So, if you start training with the false input or the wrong approach, the practice will only reinforce the faulty thinking pattern, which can become deeply ingrained up to the point of permanence — and then literally require “rewiring” your mindset to correct it.

By the way, notable differences in the importance of physical practice for performance explain why so many people who strive to get better at something through persistent practice, repeating the same thing over and over again, end up falling short.

We can see it in poker with our own eyes. Many grinders work hard and consistently for years, but only a small percentage consistently win. And a significant portion of that small percentage practices at a similar volume or much less. The reason is quite simple yet not so obvious: it is not an amount of practice that matters for success but its nature.

Three Pillars of Effective Learning

The meta-analysis also concludes that effective learning is a combination of a lot of factors with three being the most influential and equally important.

The first is the preliminary investigation of the subject. A 2013 study of online Axon players found that the best performers in the game were those who combined learning about its mechanics outside of gameplay with practicing the game itself. For poker players, this includes studying solver and calculator manuals, as well as learning probability theory and other mathematical foundations on which the game is built.

The second is mental practice. Also known as mental rehearsal, this term describes the practice of visualizing the subject being studied and the actions required to perform the tasks associated with it, without physically doing so. For poker players, this involves mentally analyzing hands, running through various concepts and strategies in your head, and mentally engaging in exercises to get inside your opponent’s head.

The third is, of course, hands-on or physical practice as the application of theoretical knowledge directly in work, which in the case of poker players literally means playing poker.

Practice in Poker is as Effective as You Make It

Playing poker and practicing spots in simulators alone aren’t enough for effective practice. To achieve success, you need to combine the various elements of the learning process listed above, as well as follow additional tips based on this research:

1. Take the time to learn the fundamentals of poker, as well as the tools you’ll be using, before actively using them. Don’t rely on AI to handle everything for you — using it for analysis prevents your brain from processing the necessary information, so ultimately, it doesn’t actually learn but simply consumes the content.
2. Make your practice varied. Your brain needs to get positive emotions and satisfaction from learning. To achieve this, you need to, on the one hand, choose a learning scheme that will bring it pleasure, and on the other, avoid becoming stale and bored with the methods by mixing them.
3. Cross-check the practice fundamentals. Before introducing new exercises and information into your practice, even if they were given to you by an experienced coach or a trusted friend, you should test them with several people who possess the appropriate expertise. This will reduce the likelihood of serious errors and prevent you from perpetuating faulty practice patterns.
4. Prepare to make mistakes and embrace them. Research shows that optimal learning always involves mistakes, because without them, the human brain cannot fully understand what is right and why. For poker players, this part is especially difficult because making the right actions doesn’t always correlate with winning and vice versa.
5. Respond to your curiosity. It stimulates your brain to explore a subject deeper and from different angles, and also helps you find new interests in familiar activities.

Remember: practice itself can’t make perfect but the perfect practice significantly increases your chance to achieve success that simply does not exist without some imperfections.