beginner's help

[AJay2000]

I also posted this on the 'poker theory' forum, but since I play small stakes and you all seen to be knowledgeable and helpful, I thought I'd seek advice here as well. Read on!

I've been playing online since March of this year, and I'm beginning to learn the intricacies of the game, but I can't seem to get up. I'm down a significant bit since I started playing, and I would like to start keeping statistics to try and analyze how I'm playing and hopefully begin to start playing better. The two questions I have are:
1. How do I keep stats?, and
2. What do they mean?

I would also like to be able to post hands on this forum to elicit adivice, but I also don't know how to do that either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[ramjam]

Try wwww.pokertracker.com

[sthief09]

- www.pokertracker.com (http://www.pokertracker.com)
- use Excel to keep track of your sessions

[AJay2000]

thanks guys. As I've seen, I should wait until I get until about 10,000 hands to really begin to see how I'm doing?

[sthief09]

after like 300 or 500 hands you can see how you play preflop. it'll take a lot of hands to get a good idea of whether you're a winning player.

[Evan]

What games are youplaying online?

[AJay2000]

I started on party poker, and I think I began at .50/1, but I began moving up quickly, and not because my bankroll was getting bigger. I began reading several books, and I thought I was beggining to understand how to play, but I moved up to 2/4, then 3/6, and while I won at first because I got some good cards, I lost a bundle quickly. I worked my way back up playing in single table tournaments, almost got back to even after a few months, but couldn't quite maintain it. I am now on Ultimate Bet, and I feel pretty comfortable with the games there, but I have a tough time at party poker because no matter what level I play (although I haven't played 3/6/ in a long time there) I feel like I get sucked out way too often. I am now playing .50/1 at UB trying to build my bankroll.

[Evan]

It sounds like you might be under rolled. You want to have at least 300 BB (big bets) available in your poker bank roll. So if you were playing .5/1 you should have $300 available for poker. As long as you have enough money you shouldn't be worrying about bad beats. Part of becoming a winning player is not caring about the outcome of any individual hand. As long as you play each hand correctly, the swings will work themselves out in the long run.

[MrHorace]

Being a beginner myself, I'll offer these recommendations besides sthief's and others.
<ul type="square"> Read all you can stand, and then some. Small Stakes Hold 'Em, Internet Texas Hold-em, Winning Low-Limit Hold'em, are three I recommend to start with.

Drop down in the limits in which you are playing. Everyone recommends a 300 big bet bankroll to begin play at the limit. So if you are playing 0.50/$1, you need $300. There is also talk on this forum of when to move down if you lose a certain portion of your bankroll. I don't remember details, but if you get down to 150 big bets bankroll in a short time, drop down to next level.

Read, read, read, and post, post, post in this forum. [/list]

You're reading this forum, and asking for help, so that's also huge. Good luck

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a tough time at party poker because no matter what level I play (although I haven't played 3/6/ in a long time there) I feel like I get sucked out way too often. I am now playing .50/1 at UB trying to build my bankroll.

[/ QUOTE ]

You simply do not understand how to make money in poker. To the original poster, disregard what I quoted immediately, for these are the words of somebody doomed to .5/1 for life.

[AJay2000]

Evan,

Big thanks for your advice to up my bankroll. Sure, I have enough in my bank account to play .50/1, but once I deposited $300 in my Party Poker Account and started being more discerning about which tables I played, I saw immediate improvement. I began playing the hands the way they NEEDED to be played, while holding on to my starting hands requirements, and not only won some big hands early, but I was up 50 BB in my first two sessions. Thanks for the advice!!

- Jay