The following article is an unpaid op-ed contribution by poker pro Alec Torelli of Conscious Poker. His thoughts and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of PokerNews and its affiliates.
I first began playing no-limit Texas hold’em in 2003 in home games with friends. I was still in high school, and social media, blogs, training videos, and solvers didn’t exist. The best (only?) resource on how to learn poker was books. Eager to hold my own against my friends, I picked up a copy of Super System, and the simple exploits of continuation-betting when I was the preflop raiser, playing draws aggressively, and occasionally limping from early position to trap with big pairs was enough to win their lunch money.