The challenge for a beginner

[john smith]

So here's my story. Started playing Partypoker 4 weeks ago. My first week bought in with $50, and quickly turned that into $1000 by eventually multitabling 2/4. Cashed out $500, and lost the remaining $500 when I went on a horrible bad run which caused me to tilt. Bought in $50 more, turned that into $300 or so, and blew it all again. Did this one more time last night. I don't think my poker playing is neccessarily horrible, but I don't have the bankroll to cover the stakes I play and I have trouble controlling the tilt I get from bad beats.

I've decided to take this online poker playing thing seriously and have given myself a challenge of sorts.
It's nothing big, but I'd like to just consistently be a winning player. I plan on doing this by:

1)Getting Poker Tracker and using it
2)Reading some more poker books (I've only read Lou Krieger's Hold 'em Excellence which isn't that great of a book)
3)Making sure I have the proper bankroll to play at the right stakes
4)Bugging the hell out of you guys by posting hands I'm not sure I played right
5)Trying to control the tilting more

I will post updates if anyone cares to read them! Thanks!

[MarkL444]

sure as hell sounds like youre on the right track. why not start at .50/1 and work up?

[gamblore99]

welcome to the forum

[Malcom Reynolds]

You should definitely read Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones and move up to Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller.

The reading list after that I recommend is:

1. The Psychology of Poker by Schoonmaker
2. Inside The Poker Mind by Feeney
3. Theory of Poker by Sklansky
4. Hold'em For Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth

But really, all you need is to focus on the Jones and Miller books. In particular, read Small Stakes over and over and over again. I'm still learning stuff in my fourth read through the book. Psychology of Poker and Inside The Poker Mind I recommend highly to you to help you deal with bad beats and the other psychological aspects of the game, and make sure you are in the right frame of mind when you play the game.

Also, I strongly recommend that you don't try multitabling if you have only played for a month. If you won some money, congratulations! But most people (the experts in this forum included) cannot read one book and immediately be a winning player who can play four tables at once. What is likely is that you had a good winning streak. The first time I read a book I learned how to play tight and had some concept of how to play postflop. I won for a few weeks when I played poker and thought I was a good player. It wasn't until I knew a lot more about poker that I realize how badly I played then, and how much I have yet to learn.

Also make sure you understand the concept of having a good bankroll. Usually you should have 300 BB on hand to deal with the upswings and downswings. That means that playing 2/4, you need $1200. You should probably start at the microlimits (0.50/$1) and make sure you prove that you can play good poker and understand the fundamentals after you've played 10,000 hands or more.

The random nature of the game can have us believe that our bad play is good because we keep winning in the short term. But if you are making losing plays losing is unavoidable in the long term. Likewise, if you are making winning plays, winning is unavoidable in the long term. It takes a lot of experience before you can assess if you are making winning or losing plays.

Good luck!

[john smith]

For anyone who cares, I've set up a blog at: http://ten7offsuit.blogspot.com/

[stillbr]

hey-- i highly highly recomend not moving up to 1/2 when u have only $100 in the acct. no matter how good you are 1 bad run will break you. if you just happen to catch some unlucky cards you will be broke online again. if i was you id deposit $100(200 would be better) play .5/1 until you reach $600. this will teach you some patience aswell. then play 1/2 until you really really know you are beating it(poker tracker)....by now your BR should be at 1600ish and you are good to go...dont be in a hurry man...you will be better in the long run if you just take your time....moving up to 1/2 with $100 BR is a bad idea