Also I taking notes much more now always including the date and the format of game. On Full Tilt I also use colours to indicate what sort of player I think the person is.
The biggest help to me has been the time I have invested in learning the game rather than playing. It is taking a long time particularly because I have a day job (and a partner, house etc) so I only have so much time to put in each week and it can be frustrating because I don't get to play as much as I would like but in the long term I know it will be worth it.
Most of my time is spent watching vids from this site, reading ("Small Stakes Hold'em", "Play Poker Like the Pro's", "Professional Poker" to name some of my sources) and watching poker on TV (WSOP and WPT).
I am amazed by how much I have learnt even though I have only scratched the surface. Starting hands, board textures, odds (pot, implied, reverse implied)... where do I start? where do I stop?
You just have to start somewhere and accept that it takes time, a lot of time... oh and patience too! More than anything I have learnt that becoming good at poker is not an overnight thing. It doesn't happen from reading one book. So I am no longer in a rush, if it takes a year, two or more so be it. As long as I am enjoying it and continuing to improve.
I am still playing SNG's because I really enjoy the format. However I have been playing micro stakes Limit cash games to put in to practice what I read most of which centers around this format. I have been winning fairly consistently because can better identify the players who are consistently looking to donate their chips. I am finally starting to see the light even if it is only the size of a pin prick
