Foreign. My name is sky, and I appreciate you spending some study time with me. I'm here to help you make money in online poker by teaching you key strategies and getting you to take action. Thank you so much for listening today. And a preemptive thank you for noodling on this episode. So my definition for noodling in poker, it means you're actively thinking through a hand as if you were involved in it.
You, even when you're not, noodling is something you should be doing every time you sit down to play live or online. Cash, game or tournament, doesn't matter. Ditch those distractions and pay attention to the action. Noodle on what you would do even when you aren't involved. And this is a great thing when you're like, card dead and it's been three rounds and you haven't been dealt anything that you can play. Awesome. You don't have to wait for playable cards.
Every single hand is a training rep where you can be noodling on your strategies. And this is one of the fastest ways to improve. And of course, it doesn't require playing more hands, studying longer, or buying another book. It simply requires that you stay mentally engaged in the hands that you're not involved in. Now, most players, they fold preflop, and they just immediately check out of the action. They pick up their phone, they scroll through social media, maybe they watch espn.
Especially if you're live, right? Those ESPN screens are always up there. There's some kind of game or news going on, and you're doing that until the next hand is dealt with. Then you jump right back into the game. But you're cold. This habit kills improvement. A better habit is to noodle on strategy during every single hand at the table. So a very common spot, you fold under the gun, the button opens, the big blank calls, and the flop comes. King, seven, deuce with two spades.
So instead of checking out, you noodle on the situation. Oh, what range does the button have? What range does that big blind caller have? Would I see bet bluff as the button on this flop? And how much would I bluff? And if I were the big blind, is this a good spot to check, raise, bluff. And if I do do it, what size would I make it? Let's imagine he bets half pot. Would I go 3, 4, 5x? So you're not passively watching the hand play out, and you're not rooting or guessing on the outcomes.
You're solving problems and you're getting in those strategy reps that strengthen your instincts. Now, noodling works because poker is built through repeated decision making. When you noodle on a strategy, your brain runs the same process just as if you were actually playing the hand yourself. They don't have to be your chips for learning to happen and your emotions don't get in the way. You're not involved, so there's no fear, no ego, no like attachment to the outcome.
You can think clearly and objectively, which is the mental state that sharpens pattern recognition. Now, over time, the more you noodle, you start spotting familiar patterns like boards that favor the aggressor or the caller. Actions and bet sizes that signal strength or weakness turn, cards that invite that pressure, and spots where barreling is lighting money on fire.
Noodling also helps to build your observational skills because you're locked in on your opponents on the actions on the cards that come on, their ranges, on the bet sizes, on the stack sizes, the pot size too. The observations that you make while not involved will lead to exploitative reads. So you can be sitting there, you folded your hand, but you're watching for things like who seems to make well timed three bet re steals, who c bets too often and what sizes do they use.
Who gives up on the turn and who can't seem to find the fold. Who attacks weakness and who backs down when they're pushed. And because you were paying attention, when you get to showdown, you can replay the action of the hand and really understand your opponent's logic as the hand played out. So every hand you noodle through is intelligence gathered that you can use against your opponents. So I want you to work to build a noodling habit. And two things make it easier to always be noodling.
Number one, having one strategy focused for the session and number two, ditching distractions completely. So during your pre session warmup, pick one skill to noodle on all session. If it's three bet bluffing. Ask yourself on every hand, what hands would I three bet here? What size would I use? What's my plan if he calls? Or four bets. And of course, ditch the distractions because poker time is poker time. Put your phone in the other room or do not disturb it.
No TikTok, no X. All your browser tabs are closed, the TV is off and wipe your honey do list from your mind before you begin your session. Now it's time for you to take action. If you have your database in front of you, review five hands that went to showdown where you folded pre flop for each one, noodle through the hand as one of the players the preflop raiser or the preflop caller. What reads do you make on your opponent? What would you do on each street? What would your bet sizes be at?
Showdown? Validate any reads you made along the way. And then after studying, I want you to practice one table session for one hour. Play with one a strategy, focus and couple. Commit to this rule. Every hand is a noodling hand whether I'm involved or not. When you fold pre flop, pick a player in the hand and noodle on how you would apply strategies from their seat. Do this on every street. The more you noodle, the faster your instincts will develop. Alrighty.
Thank you so much for listening today. Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.