advice for a newbie?

[scotty34]

I am currently 18, turning 19 this coming January, which makes me legal in my jurisdiction to gamble. I love poker, and play a lot of home games, as well as the occasional trip to the casino. Once my birthday comes around, I would like to start playing online poker (texas hold'em). I consider myself to be a respectable player in live games.

I am looking for any and all advice for starting to play online poker (with the intent of winning... eventually). Answers to any of the following questions (or suggested articles or books containing answers) would be greatly appreciated.

Around what limit should I start playing? (starting bankroll of around $200) I have read Homer's post on bonus whoring, which seems very useful - comments?

Is there any good way to tell when to move up a limit?

I would expect the use of bluffing will change considerably from live games. How is this noticeable?

Is it easier to make money playing tournaments or ring games? (or is it just preference?)

Are rake rebates trustworthy?

Any other tips, comments, or suggested readings to start me out?

[john smith]

Be sure to take your time moving up, DO NOT move up until you have a proper bankroll for a limit...

Play a lot, and read a lot. I highly recommend Small Stakes Hold em by Sklansky and Winning Low Limit Hold em by Lee Jones.

Most importantly, have fun!

[jdl22]

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Around what limit should I start playing? (starting bankroll of around $200) I have read Homer's post on bonus whoring, which seems very useful - comments?


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If you're only starting with 200 I would strongly advise using Homer's guidelines as you will build a roll much faster whoring than actually earning it at micro/nano limits even if you are a solid winning player, which at this point you probably aren't given your described lack of experience.

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Is there any good way to tell when to move up a limit?


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It is often reccomended that you keep a 300 big bet bankroll and move up when you have 300 bb at the next level. I think for a beginner this isn't so solid because you may not be ready to do that. If you are playing at whatever level and have the roll to move up and feel completely comfortable playing at the level you're at then you should move up. Make sure this last requirement is met or you could suffer upon moving up. When I say completely comfortable I mean that you feel confident and understand fully what is going on. If you are often confused and it seems nearly every decision is a tough one you are better off staying where you are or even moving down. Also, once you move up if you take a big hit and often feel confused or flustered at that level it's probably best to get more training at the lower level you were playing at before.

As for where to start I would say use Homer's guidelines and start at the lowest limit that allows you to clear the bonus at a reasonable pace. This varies from room to room. Once you have built your roll up and accumulated table time you will have a better feel for where to play. It's much better to start too low than high especially when money is tight and you can't simply reload your bankroll should you lose it all.

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I would expect the use of bluffing will change considerably from live games. How is this noticeable?

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I don't play much live, but bluffing is often the most overused play, especially for beginners. Don't fall into the trap of constantly thinking your opponents are bluffing and pay them off when you can only beat a bluff. Also, don't get into the trap of bluffing too much. Generally at low limits you can't get away with a lot of bluffs because players call too much. That's actually a good thing believe it or not. Take advantage of this by getting value from your good hands and don't try to bluff players that always call. For more info on this I would reccomend reading Psychology of Poker by Al Schoonmaker which describes how to play against various types of players. If you haven't read some of the strategy books I would reccoment those first of course but Dr. Al's book is great for a beginner and covers what I have described here very well.

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Is it easier to make money playing tournaments or ring games? (or is it just preference?)


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I think ring games, others may disagree at say it's just preference. The problem is that the variance in tournaments is very high so you need a fair amount of money to play them. I'm referring to multi table tournaments here. You may go without cashing for several tournaments losing all those buy ins and then one final table and you're set. The problem with this is that you risk going broke during the time you don't cash. When starting out it's better to build your roll consistently and not try to make large variance moves until you have a larger bankroll and could sustain some losses.

A very popular way to make money at lower limits is one table tournaments, or sit n goes (sngs). Go to the 1 table tournament forum and read the stickied faq for more info. If you are reasonably good and play using a solid strategy you can earn a lot by playing in $10 one table tournaments and without much risk. I think whether ring games or SNGs would be better for you depends on your preference and on which you have more skill playing.

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Are rake rebates trustworthy?


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Discussing rake rebates here has been restricted because this forum was for a time inundated with nothing but requests for affiliates and discussion of rake back. I am not an affiliate so I can give fairly neutral advice on this. With a short bankroll bonus whoring is much better than rake rebates in terms of earn so until you build your roll up some I would reccomend not worrying at all about it. The time to do so is when you get the Party and skins part of Homer's whoring advice. At that stage you should look at www.rakerebatereview.com (http://www.rakerebatereview.com) and www.moondoggpoker.com/Affiliate (http://www.moondoggpoker.com/Affiliate) as well as looking in the classifieds here to find someone you're comfortable with. You will probably get a number of pm's since you asked this question here. I would reccomend ignoring them and using the neutral sites I've listed above as they give more unbiased information.

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Any other tips, comments, or suggested readings to start me out?

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Post a lot in the strategy forums (this isn't one of them), and make sure you read the books. If you haven't begun this already I would reccomend that you follow the 5 book sequence suggested by Clarkmeister. See this (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=books&Number=929929&Forum= f19&Words=&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=928263&Searc h=true&where=bodysub&Name=12&daterange=1&newerval= 1&newertype=y&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#Post9 29929) thread for more info. Don't be afraid of posting something wrong. You probably gain the most by posting something that's bad and having it be corrected. Also, criticism of hands you post or statements you make might seem harsh at first. Remember that the other poster is trying to help and try to develope a thick skin about it.

Good luck and welcome to the forums.

[scotty34]

thanks, dont think I could have asked for it to be put any better

[Freakin]

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thanks, dont think I could have asked for it to be put any better

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Agreed. That post was incredibly thorough. Here's the post that was mentioned by Homer (The king of Bonus Whores). Building a Bankroll (for Newbies) (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1060198&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=3#Post1355685)

Good luck, and let us know how things are going.

Freakin

[GrannyMae]

(The king of Bonus Whores)

with quite a large following.

homer has singlehandedly cost many casinos tens of thousands of dollars through his posts here.
(we are all so proud!)

i'll bet if they had his real name he would be the first player on the global, internet-blackbook. the thread the other day that had the casino mention in the title (which was a joke), got a hit rate we have not seen since ramashiva.

long live homer's casino whoring posts. guaranteed to be flaming in 8 hours or less.

http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/b0/pray.gif