OTB #061: Stop Doing "Fake" Study

It's time for some cold, hard truth: people fail at poker because they're doing fake study.

It's a common phenomenon known as "Rocking Horse Syndrome" - it feels like you're moving forward, but in reality, you're going nowhere.

Here are some examples:

• Over-planning your study sessions without focused execution

• Testing new software rather than just choosing one and getting to work

• Bingeing poker content without making notes and applying what you've learnt

• Line checking and not spending time zooming out to look at the bigger picture

These activities give the illusion of work, but won’t elevate your game unless you’re applying real, focused effort.

How to Avoid Rocking Horse Syndrome

The key is to spotlight your high-impact activities—the poker study and training that actually improves your game.

Here are 6 simple steps to identify and prioritise them:

1. Audit your time - track your poker study and training activities for a week. Be thorough and be sure to document everything you do, e.g. hand history reviews, watching videos, listening to podcasts and working with a coach.

   
   

2. Categorise your activities - assign each activity a category:

   
   

   A) high-impact (game-changing)

   B) supportive (helps, but not directly)

   C) non-productive (busywork)

   
   

3. Evaluate their impact - rate each high-impact and supportive task on how much it actually improves your game.

   
   

4. Identify your top 20% - the tasks with the highest impact ratings are your real needle movers.

   
   

5. Reallocate your time - reduce time spent on low-impact tasks and redirect it toward your top 20%.

   
   

6. Review and refine - regularly review your high-impact activities, by adjusting as your game improves and your goals change.

By focusing on these top tasks and cutting out the distractions, you’ll escape Rocking Horse Syndrome and start seeing real progress in your game.

And when you're ready to go deeper on optimising your study time, check out Train & Play Like The Pros. It's jam-packed with actionable, step-by-step guidance for making your study time more efficient, while also helping you identify and fix your biggest leaks and make more money playing MTTs.

That's all for this week.

See you next time.