So then I say...
People who want to better their poker game are often told that they need to play against tougher players plain and simple. The reason for this piece of advice is that you’re supposed to learn so much more from playing against better competition provided you study their moves.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always great advice because there is no way you can study a better player when you don’t know what they’re thinking or what cards they’re holding. And, as uncomfortable as it might make some players, the only way to truly get better by playing against tougher competition is to ask them questions afterwards. Otherwise, you’re just going to be losing more money by facing off against better players.
This first thing you need to do is make sure you’re an amicable person at the table because, if you’re not, then no good players are going to want to discuss anything with you. Try to befriend as many good players as you can either in live play or online, and then talk to them about poker afterwards.
Once you’ve befriended and identified somebody who is better at poker than you figure out whether or not they can communicate their thoughts clearly to you. While some players may be far better than you at the game, they might not be able to clearly explain why they do what they do at the table.
This all goes back to the concept of how great players don’t always make the best coaches since they aren’t good at explaining their skills. Sometimes a great $10/$20 No-Limit player can provide much better advice than somebody who’s got a WPT or WSOP title to their credit.
When you find somebody that can definitely talk poker then bring up clear mistakes you made in the game with them. Using specific situations you were involved in is so much more important to the learning process than simply using hypothetical situations. Most people are more than happy to tell you what you’re doing wrong since it makes them feel like an authority figure on the game.
Definitely true that you should seek out weaker players before battling the good players. Good players are playing weaker players (yourself perhaps!) and therefore you need to find a good table for you too.
Good article and good advice!
I drop levels on any given day to play a weaker group of players, say your playing $1/$2 but see that the .25/.50 is weaker and more exploitable your profit variable is likely to increase with the weaker players.
you should actually TALK with better players and PLAY against weaker players.
Learn from the best, take money from the rest.