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Craft Pillar: Grind Volume & Deliberate Study for Poker

Tournament volume and hours of deliberate study. Quality with quantity — the formula for moving up in stakes and sustaining long-term results.

35% of overall score

What makes up the Craft Pillar

Grind

50%

Tournament volume is the engine of results. The Playbook tracks daily count, adherence to your schedule, and whether you are hitting your weekly targets.

Study

50%

Study is measured in HOURS, not sessions. The AI Coach tracks topic distribution, session duration and correlates study patterns with performance improvements.

Applied frameworks

Deliberate Practice — Ericsson 1993

Concept

Volume alone does not create expertise. Practice must be deliberate: focused on specific weaknesses, with immediate feedback, outside the comfort zone.

Playbook Application

The study tracker helps you log what you studied, for how long, and with what focus. The AI Coach identifies if you are doing deliberate practice or just going through the motions.

Periodization — Micro/Meso/Macrocycles

Concept

Elite athletes structure training in cycles. Constant high volume without recovery leads to burnout. Structured alternation produces sustainable growth.

Playbook Application

Your weekly schedule defines grind and study days. The Coach monitors if your actual behavior matches the plan and flags when you are overtraining or undertraining.

Fitness-Fatigue Model

Concept

Performance = Fitness minus Fatigue. Every grind session builds both skill (fitness) and tiredness (fatigue). Peak performance requires managing the balance.

Playbook Application

Monthly and YTD reviews show long-term trends. The Coach identifies when volume is producing diminishing returns and recommends recovery periods.

Exercises the AI Coach recommends

1

Weekly Volume Target

Set a realistic tournament target for the week (e.g., 200 tournaments). Track daily against target. The goal is sustainable consistency, not record-breaking weeks followed by burnout.

Ongoing
2

Focused Study Session

Pick ONE leak per week. Study it for 45-60 minutes with full focus. Review hands, watch training videos, or use a solver — but only on that specific topic.

45-60 min
3

Post-Study Application

After each study session, play 5-10 tournaments specifically looking for spots to apply what you studied. This bridges the gap between theory and practice.

2-3 hours

Questions about the Craft Pillar

It depends on your schedule and stakes. The Playbook does not prescribe a magic number — it helps you set YOUR target and measures adherence. Consistency at 150/week beats erratic swings between 50 and 400.
A 15-minute session scrolling through hand histories is very different from a 90-minute deep solver analysis. Hours ensure quality is captured. The AI Coach flags when average session length drops below productive thresholds.
The Craft Pillar adapts to your schedule. Set realistic targets for your available hours. Even 3 tournaments and 30 minutes of study per week can score well if done consistently. The system rewards adherence to YOUR plan, not some external standard.

Start measuring your Craft Pillar today

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