Beginner online Poker Player

Ponster

I came across this forum a few months back and was baffled by why 'Poker' had so many sub-forums. So I read the stickies, downloaded a few .pdf files and opened up a PokerStars account.

I played "play-money" online games for a month. I was fun and I learned the very basics but in the end it became pointless because people didn't seem to play by the same rulebook as I did. Where I read that you should fold pre-flop with certain cards I found myself that hardly anyone folded pre-flop when it wasn't real money.

So onto cash online games. I found that up to 50c/1$ it was pretty much the same thing. The amounts at stake were so little that people would check pre-flop with afterwards seemed like the worst possible cards possible.

I upped a level to more expensive games and found that my real $20 lasted about 5 minutes. I found that there was a huge leap from the earlier cash levels to this one. I lost $40 in under and hour mostly due to frustration before I logged off.

I tried to read more sites, follow Youtube poker 'lessons' and study other players histories but all got boring as I wasn't directly involved. Today though I discovered what a tournament was and signed up a $4 tourney. I played a very tight game and amazingly found myself 3rd (out of 10 players). Now it wasn't for a lot of $$$ so there was still an element of people playing erratically though it was easier to spot when 2 out of 10 played like this than 8 out of 10.

I never intend to become a serious player. It's great when I win a few $ but I do see it as entertainment and if I spend an hour playing and I lose a few $ then that's fine. If I win a few $ then ever better but at the moment it's a cheaper form of 'time-killing' than DVDs or drinking. But at the same time I'd like to become a better player. I've read many threads from here but to be honest I have a problem with 'poker language' which I have yet to master and this forum doesn't appear from the outside to be a noobie-friendly place. What do I need to do in order to progress? In a perfect world I could either play with someone in real-life who could coach me but I don't think I have that option in Paris.

How do I really learn from mistakes and my errors without it actually costing me money?

Is there a way to do it on Boards.ie ?

Tight Ted

Ponster wrote: »

So onto cash online games. I found that up to 50c/1$ it was pretty much the same thing. The amounts at stake were so little that people would check pre-flop with afterwards seemed like the worst possible cards possible.

You find that .50/1 is pretty much the same as play money?

zuutroy

Your post is pretty perfect for a noob and will ensure you get good responses.

First thing is to decide whether you want to focus on tournaments or cash games. Your observation that the play is atrocious at .50/1 and that people don't care isn't correct. There are a lot of decent players and it's the first limit where you can make decent money from poker imo. You would have to have very solid fundamentals both pre- and post-flop to win well here and you won't have this if you've played <50,000 hands.

It seems from the amounts you posted that you're not buying in for the maximum allowed at the table. This is important because the deeper stacks, the more your advantage over bad players is magnified and it also allows you to plays speculative hands, like pocket pairs for set-value where you can win a very large pot on the rare occasions when you hit.

If you're playing cash, start at the 5c/10c blinds, buy holdem manager, get a rakeback deal and play tons and tons of hands. Read the stickies here and at the 2+2 forum. It may be too early for you to join a training site but Cardrunners has a very good series for beginners.

The last thing I notice is you don't seem to grasp the variance involved...you talk about winning or losing over the course of an hour. The luck element in poker will only balance out in the very long term...and its unwise to make sweeping conclusions on a sample less than 100,000 hands for cash games (yes that many!) The more important thing is to play every hand as well as you can and continue to learn.

Ponster

Tight Ted wrote: »

You find that .50/1 is pretty much the same as play money?

No, but I find that the way a lot of players behave e.g. when they fold pre-flop and decide not to fold pre-flop, is pretty much the same for free games as for the entry-level cash games.



*Maybe .50c/$1 is too much and I meant .25/.50 but I don't think so.

Macspower

Welcome to the wonderful world of poker

Zuutroys advice is good above...

In addition I would say you should try and build your self a roll and play within limits you can afford to loose... like might be an idea to lodge say 50 euro and play 2 or 3 dollar sit and go tournaments (single table). you'll get good enterainment value from them while learning the game for small money... read some of the stickeys about playing in position and you'll find your self improving over time..

enjoy

DeadMoney

If you are serious about getting better at the game, I would encourage joining a training site. Pokerxfactor for tournaments or cardrunners for cash games. I started playing 2 years ago and I've read a lot of books and forums since. However, I regret not joining a coaching site sooner as I believe this is the most effective and fastest way of improving your game today. Since you are very new to the game though, I would advise reading some poker literature to give you a basic understanding. Most coaching sites are geared at people who already have some reasonable knowledge of the game, but want to improve. Further more, if you are just playing for a bit of fun, keep playing that way. You will certainly live longer!

oleras

nothing to see here..............

zuutroy

^I'd imagine you should delete that.

oleras

zuutroy wrote: »

^I'd imagine you should delete that.

I'd imagine you are proably right......damn copyright laws.....lol

looserock

Ponster wrote: »

So onto cash online games. I found that up to 50c/1$ it was pretty much the same thing. The amounts at stake were so little that people would check pre-flop with afterwards seemed like the worst possible cards possible.

Do you mean everybody was limping in when you say check pre flop, ie putting in the blind amount not raising?

If you're playing at 10 seat tables this may well be the case at .50/$1.

First thing don't be playing in unraised pots, anything can happen, you will never have a clue what the other 8 players who see the flop have.
If you're hand is not good enought to raise with dont play it!!

Also try playing tables with only 6 players.

opr

From your post i get the impression that you think these lower limit games are not beatable as the players don't follow your "expected plays"

If you can't beat these games you will have no hope of beating higher games. I think a good idea for you to get some enjoyment and also maybe make some money would be to set yourself a bankroll building challenge. This way you learn from your mistakes relatively cheaply while hopefully building a skillset and bankroll to play more challenging games.

Here a good post of the type of thing you could try.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054920511

While your playing the lower limits make sure you sort out a good Rakeback deal and bonus. Also if you maybe don't want to deposit more untill you have improved do a search on google loads of sites offer no deposit bonuses.

Below is a really good guide to stuff on 2+2.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055121393

I see someone mentioned joining a training site and if you wanna go down that road here's and excellent post from RJ on them.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055252633

The best thing you can do to learn is from HH's(Hand history's). Read and join the ssnl forum on 2+2 and get involved reading , posting and discussing hh's. Huge amount of my enjoyment from poker in the early days didn't come from playing it was from these discussions. Those moments when some explains how to play a certain hand or shows you a better line that you hadn't thought of.

The last thing i'll say is GET OUT NOW , GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN. This should make alot of sense if you stick with playing for a few more months

Opr

phantom_lord

opr wrote: »

The last thing i'll say is GET OUT NOW , GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN.

my first thought when i read the thread!

Ace2007

opr wrote: »

The last thing i'll say is GET OUT NOW , GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN.

I wish someone had this to me when i started...