How to Learn

I've been playing poker for a while now, most of the time online, or a 5$ buy-in tournament with my friends. I consider myself a little above mediocre, but can play very well when dealt good hands (obviously). I try to improve the way I play by playing a lot, and trying to be careful of where I push my chips in. I know about the better pre-flop hands, and am a very conservative player, playing with nothing lower than k, t, and occasionally a, 9 or a, 8. I was wondering how I can learn, and become a player that can eventually get to a final table of 5000+ people. Would any books help? Which ones are the best to learn from?

A solid beginning book would be Doyle Brunson's Super System.

The NL Texas Hold 'Em section of that book is very briefly and effectively paraphrased here. (The Matro57 Approach)

Only book I ever bought is Hellmuth's. It covers limit hldem well and a little on NL, Omaha, Omaha H/L, stud and studH/L. Overall a good book with solid advice for eginners and average players alike.

i think one great way to learn the game is by watching it on tv. you see so many hands develop and what both players elect to do. also on tv you get to see the odds for players on most broadcasts which helps too. after doing this you obviously have to play and put together what you learned. so i'd say a could combination of observing and then playing and over time you will continue to improve into a good poker player.

Nasty1303 It is a great way to learn, but I think the best way is to get out
there and play. experince comes with time, watch will give you a basics
knowledge of the game you can only see so many hands on tv before you see
the sameones over and over again. if you are at a table you might not see
the same hand in hours. on tv they only show key hands at one table. they do not show ever hand. whats a good hand to one person might be junk to
someone else.there are alot of way to learn the game like books,Tv,videos, but until you find your own game that when you will get better. if we
only played the hand we saw on tv the same way they played them
we would all be pros or broke one or the other.
because no two plyer are the same. finding your own way to play and getting good at it is the best way to learn. this is just my thoughts
experince this is the way to go

To win a 5000+ tourney you have to be very lucky. This will obviously be a freeroll, and you have to get enough good hands to compensate for all the people going all-in. The more people that go all-in the more chips your oppenents have, and when you have a smaller stack they will bully you with thier chips. This means you will be seing a lot less flops and the blinds will grow, your stack wont, and then its too late to come back unless you win multiple all-ins in a row.

My advise is to read books improve your game and play in higher stakes tourneys rather than high number of entrants tourneys.

cowboy they shoud stop calling the big freerolls freerolls they are luckthon.
like a marathon of luck,its how low you can get lucky for before you get
knot out.

Exactly my point cil lol

Cowboy what do you think about low stakes 1 table Sit & Go's (5-20$ buyin). I've heard some players feel like they are all luck because the blinds go up so fast so it comes down to a bunch of all-ins at the end.