How to effectively learn to play poker?

[Ucasside]

I've been playing poker casually with friends but want to get more serious. What's the fastest way to improve my skills? Should I just grind games or are there better training methods?

[Wenadis]

The quickest way to level up is analyzing your play and learning from mistakes. Watching pros helps, but nothing beats practicing against poker bots - they play perfect strategy so you'll see where you're leaking money. Some advanced training sites even let you customize bot difficulty. Check out this resource for AI opponents: http://aifarm-bots.com/ . Just don't get too dependent on bots - real players are much less predictable!