Almost every player wants to improve and almost none has a plan. They watch videos, read forums, open a solver now and then… and months later they play exactly the same. Studying poker works like training any other skill: clear goals, active practice and a way to measure progress. This guide gives you a method and a weekly poker study routine you can start today.
Four principles for studying poker well
- Active beats passive. Watching a video feels like learning, but you retain little. Answering questions, rebuilding ranges or analyzing your hands forces you to think and sticks much better.
- Little and often. 30 minutes a day beats 4 hours on Sunday. Memory works best with spaced reviews.
- One topic at a time. This week, big blind defense; next week, 3-betting. Mixing everything leaves nothing.
- Measure. If you don’t know what you get wrong, you don’t know what to study.
Start with preflop
Preflop is the ideal starting point for three reasons:
- It comes up every hand: each session you make hundreds of preflop decisions.
- It’s finite: there are 169 hand types and a limited number of spots. It can be mastered.
- It shapes everything else: a bad preflop range leads you into tough postflop spots with hands you shouldn’t have.
With a few well-learned charts (opens, blind defense and, if you play tournaments, short stacks) you eliminate a large share of an average player’s mistakes. If you don’t have your charts, start with preflop opening ranges by position.
The three types of study
| Type | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Theory | Learning new concepts | Articles, videos, books, solvers |
| Training | Practicing what you’ve learned until it’s automatic | Range quizzes, rebuilding charts, drills |
| Review | Analyzing how you actually played | Hand reviews, stats, sessions with a coach |
Most players spend almost all their time on theory and almost none on training. It’s like reading about swimming without getting in the pool: you understand the technique, but it doesn’t come out at the table.
Recommended split
A good starting point: 30% theory, 40% training and 30% review. Adjust to your level: the newer you are, the more weight preflop training should get.
A sample weekly routine
For someone who plays 3–4 sessions a week and can study about 4 hours:
| Day | Study (≈ 30–45 min) |
|---|---|
| Monday | Theory: the topic of the week (for example, BB defense). Read, understand and create or adjust your charts. |
| Tuesday | Training: quiz on the new charts until you’re above 85–90% accuracy. |
| Wednesday | Review: 10–15 hands from your last session related to the topic. |
| Thursday | Training: rebuild-from-memory mode and review of older charts. |
| Friday | Free, or a playing session applying the topic. |
| Saturday | Weekly review: stats, doubtful hands, what still isn’t clear. |
| Sunday | Rest or light review (10 min of spaced-repetition quiz). |
On top of that, a 5-minute warm-up before every playing session with a quick quiz on your ranges: you sit down with your charts fresh in your mind.
Burn EV covers the training part: you build your charts, practice them with quizzes and spaced repetition and see what you get wrong. Try it free for 14 days.
How to review your hands
Reviewing hands is how you connect study with your real game. To make it useful:
- Tag hands during the session: the ones you hesitated on, the big pots you lost and the ones where you didn’t know what to do.
- Start with preflop: should the hand have been in your range? If the answer is no, you’ve found the mistake.
- Write down your reasoning before checking the solution or asking.
- Turn every mistake into something to train: if you misplayed a BB defense, that chart goes into this week’s training.
How to measure your progress
Money results are a poor short-term indicator because of variance (we explain it in what EV is). Measure what you control:
- Range accuracy: percentage of correct answers per chart. Goal: over 90% in common spots.
- Speed: if you get it right but slowly, you’ll hesitate at the table.
- Weak spots: which hands and charts you miss most. They should change week to week.
- Consistency: study days per week.
In Burn EV, the advanced stats show your accuracy per chart and a heat map of hits and misses per hand, and your ELO sums up your quiz level.
Poker study mistakes
Common mistake
Collecting material instead of mastering it. Having 300 downloaded charts is useless if you don’t know the 10 you use every session.
- Only studying when you lose: study works through consistency, not reaction.
- Jumping to advanced topics without mastering the basics: ICM won’t save you if you open badly from UTG.
- Not applying what you study: every topic should end in a chart or a rule you use at the table.
- Studying without measuring: without data, you repeat what you already know and avoid what you don’t.
For the memorization side, there’s a detailed method in how to memorize poker ranges.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours a week should you study poker?
3–4 well-organized hours lead to big improvements. Consistency (a little every day) matters more than total hours.
Where should I start studying poker?
With preflop: opening ranges by position, big blind defense and, if you play tournaments, short-stack ranges. It’s what comes up most and the easiest to master.
Is it better to watch videos or practice?
Both, but active practice (answering, rebuilding, reviewing) is retained much better than passively watching content.
How do I know if I’m improving?
Measure your range accuracy, your speed and your weak spots. Money results take a long time to reflect improvement because of variance.
Read next: the most common preflop mistakes.