#42: How Many Years Does It Take To Become A 'GOOD' Poker Player?

#42: How Many Years Does It Take To Become A 'GOOD' Poker Player?

A month? A year? Five years?

The honest truth? It depends.

Poker isn’t like school, where you study a subject for three years, give your exams, and boom, you’re certified. Becoming a good poker player is a mix of practice, patience, a thick skin, and yes, lots of hours staring at flops, turns, and rivers.

The 10,000-Hour Theory vs. Poker Reality

You’ve probably heard of the “10,000-hour rule,” popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, the idea that it takes about that long to master any skill. If you’re doing the maths, that’s about 5 years if you grind poker 6 hours every single day. Sounds brutal, right?

But here’s the twist: in poker, “good” doesn’t mean you have to become world-class right away. Being “good” could simply mean you consistently make fewer mistakes than most players at your table, you understand basic strategy well enough to avoid spewing chips, and most importantly, you enjoy the process.

Year 1: The Rollercoaster Phase

The first year often feels like standing in quicksand. One day you feel like a genius after stacking someone with a perfect bluff, and the next you’re sulking because your aces got cracked. But this phase is golden, it’s where you develop discipline, learn to control tilt, and start building your bankroll management habits.

Years 2-3: The Growth Years

By this stage, you’ve read some books, followed training videos, and you’re no longer playing every hand like a cowboy, you’re picking your spots. You notice leaks in other players more clearly. This is when your “good” game starts to shine.

Year 4 and Beyond: Where the Grind Meets Art

Around here, you start recognising recurring patterns, you’re not just learning the game, you’re living it.

Take Daniel Negreanu for example. Today, he’s one of the most successful poker players in history, but he didn’t just stroll into fame overnight. It took years of grinding, questioning, and refining before he reached the polished version of “Kid Poker” that fans admire today. His story proves that consistency beats talent when it comes to longevity.

And it’s not just poker. Serena Williams didn’t become a tennis legend in one summer. Steve Jobs didn’t launch the iPhone as his first business idea. Success, whether in sports, business, or poker, is always messy, uphill, and full of failures that later look like stepping stones.

So, How Many Years Really?

For most people, it takes 2-3 years of focused play to reach the point where they can honestly call themselves a “good” player. But the truth is, the journey never ends. Poker is like life, you don’t just grow for a while and then stop. You keep learning, adjusting, battling, and sometimes, laughing at your own ridiculous plays.

At the end of the day, poker doesn’t reward the fastest learner. It rewards the most patient grinder.

So next time you shuffle up and deal, remember, every session is one more brick in the wall of your poker journey. Don’t count years. Count lessons.

And who knows? Someday when someone asks you this question, you’ll smile, stack your chips, and simply say, “It took me as long as it needed to.”

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