None of those websites existed when I started playing.

I played a lot of small stakes SnGs to work on my game.  From there I began befriending really good poker players, and talking to them got me to a point where I could compete.

i think what he means–and this is an assumption and may be off–is that he was already friends with some of them, or at least when he became friends with them, they were more or less at the same level.

just think about it: if you’re really good at something, and a stranger comes along and asks you to take time to teach them how to be as good as you for nothing in return, what would your answer be?

i’m not trying to be cold, but rather suggest that the best way to befriend good players is to find people whose game you respect playing the same games that you are playing, or people you already know who are talented, etc. exchange AIMs with these people and talk with them as much as you can. send them hands and have them send you hands. sweat them while they play and ask them questions, etc.

that was a big part of my growth as a player. i lived with a friend who also loved poker–halowax–and eventually joined a small, private poker forum where i met RFB and eventually panda and many others with whom i spent countless hours chatting on AIM about hands and situations.

i also spend hours everyday reading strategy forums. even if you’re not comfortable posting, you can take the time to just read thread after thread after thread and get into the heads of other players and figure our their thought processes. a great thing about strat forums is that you can often learn as much from a bad post as a good one. what i mean is that figuring out for yourself why a post is bad can be as enlightening as figuring out why a post is good.

in the end there is no magic recipe for becoming a winning mtt grinder. it takes a LOT of hard work and practice. to say that someone has forgotten where they came from is a bit off, imho, because i don’t think many people became winning players with the help of some sick grinder mentor. it’s more a matter of finding good players at your levels and in similar situations who share your goal of getting better and moving up, and helping each other to do so.