Beyond Poker Study
Written by: Scott Lum
When I retired last year and decided to play poker full-time, I made a commitment to approach it with the same dedication as a full-time job. Retirement didn’t mean taking it easy—it meant putting in the effort to improve both my game and myself.
While studying poker strategy was essential, I realized that over half of my study time needed to focus on learning how to learn. I wanted to understand how high-performing individuals achieve greatness.
Here are a few reasons why I dedicated time to non-poker study:
- Becoming a Better Person, Not Just a Better Player:
I wanted to improve my thinking, focus, and physical health. I studied how elite athletes train, the mindset of martial artists, lessons from world religions and philosophies, and how businesses increase productivity. Even if my poker journey didn’t go as planned, these habits would still benefit me in everyday life.
- Learning to Be a Better Learner:
To master new poker strategies efficiently, I needed better study methods. Previously, 90% of my study involved passively reading books and watching videos without applying the concepts I had learned in a disciplined way. The real progress came from the 10% of time spent actively experimenting, putting myself in uncomfortable situations, and training others in poker fundamentals by breaking down complex concepts. Once I developed an effective training strategy, I could easily apply these learning techniques to the new poker strategies which I was working on.
- Turning a Game into a Game:
I wanted to avoid turning full-time poker into a grind. My study needed to stay exciting, driven by curiosity and creativity. I challenged myself with new goals each session to stay focused and push myself to try new things. Even on vacations, I sought out poker tournaments to face different players worldwide, turning each experience into a fresh challenge.
For me, poker isn’t just about making money. It’s about developing the right mindset, focus, and physical stamina to thrive in long tournaments and cash game sessions.
In upcoming posts, I’ll share some of the things I’ve been working on, including how Shohei Ohtani’s training techniques have inspired my poker study, and how world philosophies help me handle the mental challenges and variance in poker.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on X (@dachiwaiian) and Discord.
Let me know if you find this content valuable and what topics you’d like me to explore further.
Check out more insightful blogs from Scott Lum:
Responses