Poker skills are groups of techniques.
What??
When you start learning poker, you don't sit around studying every single strategy for hours without playing.
Instead, you start sitting at the table (or firing up the online client).
Then you hit a roadblock. Maybe you don't know how to handle a certain board texture or how to adjust to a 3-bet.
So, you look up that specific thing—maybe a video on defending against aggression or a chart for hand ranges.
As you repeat this while playing hands, you might not understand the entire game of poker, but you start building a group of techniques that allow you to crush at your level.
In poker, you really only need to know a few core concepts to dominate: ranges, position, and pot odds.
Once you grasp those, you can compete against most players and win consistently.
The same holds true with every part of poker, from cash games to tournaments.
When you're building your skillset, you don't acquire "poker mastery" all at once.
You don't even acquire "tournament strategy" in one go.
You have a goal: survive and thrive through each stage of the game.
You study a technique: how to play preflop at different stack depths.
You study another: how to navigate the money bubble.
You study another: how to pressure opponents at the final table.
You study another: how to calculate ICM pressure.
When you combine all of those techniques, you achieve Level 1 of being a dangerous tournament player.
The lesson:
Play more hands.
Learn more techniques.
Notice if you're making progress toward your goal.
Try, fail, and persist until you make a deep run, then repeat.
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After years of grinding, I'm finally applying this approach.
The most common question I get is, "Okay, I like the idea of becoming a better poker player, but how do I actually start improving?"
Almost nobody is teaching the absolute beginner steps to start building a profitable strategy (when you have no idea where to start or how to study).
Stay tuned.