interested in starting to play online...am i ready?

[matix]

two weeks ago i never thought i would want to play any sort of poker for real money online. from when i turned 18 until about a month ago i would play a lot of blackjack at the casinos and that was it. i was always too scared to try out HE even though i have played on pokerroom for play money for a little over a year now (How exciting huh? /images/graemlins/smile.gif ). Last month i tried some 2/4 at the casino i went to most often and for never playing other than play money online and some NL $1 buyins with friends, did fairly well imo. i walked away after about 2 hours up 50 bucks. so screw blackjack, now i want to play HE. since then I've played 3/6. the first time was for a couple hours of me going up and down +/- $50 and left down i think. after this i printed off a lot of info on SSHE and just general info on hold em and started to study up. the next session i had at 3/6 was 13 hours long and i only walked away +50. thats like $3 bucks an hour, but ill take it. i went up and down that whole time i was there but walking away ahead encouraged me even more. so then i came to this forum and have been reading a lot, and continued to read my printed off stuff. so 3 hours ago i got back from the casino with my friend and was -140 on the night. i know there were some big mistakes i made while playing, but i thought i did some things better than the other times i played. it seems like i've been overwhelmed with info from this site and forgot half of the most basic [censored]. that ticked me off a bit that i was so blind at times. the problem with this is that the casino is over an hour away, and if i can make more profit and not waste my time driving by playin online, i would rather do so.

so that's my little history, and now i'm wondering what you guys think i should do...

should i jump into the bonus whoring and see how things go at .5/1??
ive read that .5/1 online plays like 3/6 live is this true? and does it sound like i could handle it? or at least start at .5/1 with the bonus whoring and learn as i go?


im looking to maximize both profit and learning, while still possibly being able to get a larger bankroll by whoring.

any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
and sorry for the idiotic question but can someone tell me more about a raked hand?? :/ is there any hand that isnt raked? and could you give me an example?

thanks a ton!
m@tix

[Pepsquad]

Welcome! Yes, you should start playing online. If you enjoy playing and learning about the game there are many advantages (not the least of which is not having to drive an hour to do it).
From the limited amount of experience with holdem that you describe. I think it would be a bad idea to start at the .50/1.00 tables. For right now, the goal shouldn't be to "maximize my profits", it should be to minimize your losses. Play the lowest stakes your can find. Continue to read these forums and you can slowly work your way up. Good luck with it!

Pep.

[topspin]

My only experience with casino poker was a bunch of 2/4 games the week before Christmas last year. It was pretty dead in Vegas but even without a lot of tourists padding the tables, 2/4 players were still worse than Party 0.5/1. This is somewhat offset by the lower rake at Party.

Where you start is largely a function of your comfort level with funding your initial poker exploits. When I started, I had no idea if I was a winning player, and being unwilling to invest a lot of money I had to start at a nanolimit of 0.05/0.10 (I deposited a whopping $50). It worked well for me because at that level the money meant very little to me, and downswings didn't tilt me as much as they would have at 0.5/1. It basically gave me some time to develop my basic poker skills for "semi-play money", without the absolutely horrible opposition at true play-money tables.

I'd suggest that if you're not a winning player, you should begin at a level where if you lost money (whether due to bad beats or poor play) it wouldn't mean much to you. Whether this is 0.5/1 or a lower limit largely depends on your income level and tolerance for risk. FWIW it won't take long to move up if you're a winning player.

[matix]

[ QUOTE ]
For right now, the goal shouldn't be to "maximize my profits", it should be to minimize your losses.

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks for that /images/graemlins/smile.gif
i think i'm too anxious to remember the simple things like rather than wanting profit right off the bat, minimize the losses.

from what you two have said i will definetely start at .05/.10 tables and see how that goes first.

when would be a good time to start whoring, though? from reading it seems like a lot of the bonuses start at .5/1?? is that right?
if this is true should i just play even smaller limits and hold off on the whoring until i am doing well enough to move up to .5/1 and am able to do well there?

thanks again!
m@tix

[MikeR]

What I'm doing is not counting my bonus money as profit. I'm using it for tournament fees, and not getting it confused with what I'm actually earning at my microlimits. I think this will also give me more experience before moving up in limits with an artificially inflated bankroll.

[jcolter]

I agree with what everyone has said so far. I would advise you to have a tiny bankroll and manage it as if it was something worth losing. That way you can feel out what you can expect to see from variance. If you do it this way I think you will feel more confident moving up in limits when the time is right.

[chunk]

Royal Vegas and Pacific poker both offer 10$ free to sign up without a deposit.
Both sites suck but its a nice way to get in some hands at a level above play money. Also atleast at Pacific Poker you can get involved in some freeroll and $.5 tourneys.

[MelchyBeau]

Buy Small Stakes Hold em and Bonus whore the sites at .50/1 until you get a good grasp of the game. Even if you are a slight loser the bonuses should put you in the + profit range.

Melch

[Greg J]

Hey matix,

Welcome to the boards. I would start off with $255. I would use the $55 to buy pokertracker and deposit $200 in Paradise using the 50% GRANNY bonus. You can either start at the .05/.1 tables until you feel comfortable, and jump up to a higher game that is raked so you can clear the bonus. (Check to see if that bonus expires first, or you can pm Granny Mae and ask her). Anyway, that will get you started, and I would stay there until you get $500. At that Point I would hit up A Party skin (or Party itself), and start bonus whoring. You really need $500 to start bonus whoring effectively. go to this link. (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=inet&Number=1060198&fp art=&PHPSESSID=) This offers some pretty good guideline. Don't forget to get an rakeback deal (check the classifieds).

I also encourage you to post and lurk on the micro forum. I am a regular ther, and we are pretty nice in general. If you say something that is wrong we won't be mean about it -- but we will correct you. Post what you think, and if you get smacked down all the better. Poker is like everything else in life: you learn by screwing up!

Have fun!
Greg

[@bsolute_luck]

sweet! i'm happy to find a thread like this. i'm pretty much in the same boat as matix.

i've played play money on Pokerstars and Empire for a couple months now and am reading the Low Limit Stakes books by S&M right now. i'm lurking around this forums trying to learn where everything is, and i've played .25/.50 $10 buy-ins with friends. But i'm looking to see what i can do playing for money because i play with play money as if it was real, but the other people there don't seem to.

problem: i get all confused when people start talking "bonus whoring" and going to this site for this bonus and that one for this thing /images/graemlins/confused.gif

anyway, just wanted to let you know i'm reading this thread and will try to work through the confusion with your guys help. Good luck matix, just know you're not the only new guy to the game /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[matix]

i tried the Royal $10 free with no deposit but someone playing said you need to deposit $50 to get that? am i doing it wrong or something?

Greg are the .50/1 raked? or do i have to play the 1/2 to get the raked hands going in order to clear the bonus?

and can someone explain what raked hand is more in depth than just a hand where the house takes their rake. is there ever a non raked hand in a raked limit game? if i fold does that count as a raked hand, or do i actually have to play and pay for it to count as raked for me?

and should i use Homers guide to bonus whoring and building a bankroll, or should i use bonuswhores.com's???

thanks!
m@tix

[Pov]

Since I don't see this posted by anyone else . . . if you're someone looking to start with less than $500 (i.e. total newbie), you might try playing Play Money tables for a while. Yes, it isn't realistic and players do things they must know are totally incorrect which sometimes frustratingly messes up the game and may teach you the odd bad habit, but if you can't beat play money, you could be in trouble playing for real money.

It is very common to hear things like "I would do better at higher limits" or "I can't beat terrible players" and they are wrong every time. Everyone is dealt the same distribution of good and bad cards in the long run so ALL of your long term profit in poker comes from your opponents making mistakes. There is no more profitable situation than a table full of people making big mistakes routinely and if you can't adjust your game to profit big off of it then you probably aren't cut out for online poker.

Nitpick: okay, so bonuses and rakeback can be part of your profit too, but they won't overcome the rake by themselves

Edit: I realize the initial poster says he's already played some play money, but he didn't say how he fared and I think this is good advice for many new players who may be reading this who don't have the money to lose their first $200-$300 while learning the game.

[Pov]

[ QUOTE ]

and can someone explain what raked hand is more in depth than just a hand where the house takes their rake. is there ever a non raked hand in a raked limit game? if i fold does that count as a raked hand, or do i actually have to play and pay for it to count as raked for me?


[/ QUOTE ]

If the pot doesn't get big enough, the hand is not raked. The rake schedule will be posted by the site for each limit. Yes, you can fold and still have it count against your raked hands as long as a rake is collected on that hand. You could also win the hand and not have it count - for instance say everyone folds to you in the big blind.

[Greg J]

All real money games at Party/skins are raked. Not all pots are raked -- they have to reach $5. I think Pov covered most everything else.

At Paradise the .25/.5 are raked too, thought I'm not sure about .1/.2. The .05/.1 are not.

[topspin]

[ QUOTE ]
At Paradise the .25/.5 are raked too, thought I'm not sure about .1/.2. The .05/.1 are not.

[/ QUOTE ]

.1/.2 is raked. .05/.1 is not.

[matix]

thanks a lot for clearing up that raked stuff /images/graemlins/smile.gif

i played play money for months without reading or researching at all and had large swings but usually ended up refilling again. then i heard a few things by word and read an article or two and got my play money acount to only increase. then i printed off a bunch of stuff about HE and the play money account was up into the hundred-thousand area and then i found this site and read a lot and its been in the several hundred thousand range up until about a week ago when i blew it all in one night /images/graemlins/smile.gif

i know play money has it's ridiculously bad players on it and anyone who knows anything about HE should walk out a winner and it won't say anything about my real money playing, but i thought it was super useful for practicing countin outs, calculating odds, reading players, etc etc. all of which are important things to have a bit of a grasp if not a large grasp on before entering real money games.

m@tix

[daveymck]

Playing the play money game is a waste of time unless you are learning the basic mechanics of the game.

The advice to start in the penny games is fine but I would say if you have the bankroll (and its replaceable) then starting at .5/1 and doing the whoring trail as you learn is an alternative way to go. If you combine the whoring with study and posting in the Micro forum there is no reason why you cant beat the game/be a break even player very quickly at that level.

As I say its down to bankroll playing the micro micro limits is good to learn the basics and dynamics of the game and for those who have limited non replaceable funds but if you have the roll and commitment to get better the .5/1 is as good a place to start as any.

[matix]

thanks for the advice daveymck!

but i think play money is never a waste of time /images/graemlins/smile.gif the only reasons people play it is to a.) learn the basic mechanics or b.)have fun
and fun does not = waste of time to me

i think what i might do is start at 5/10 centers jsut to get my feet wet, and then try out the 25/50 centers for a bit too, then go to .5/1 games. even if i am good enough to play and beat (with reasearch and reading and stuff) .5/1 games right away i think i would still be a losing player right off the bad (since you reccommend i have a replaceable and decent bankroll). so i'll follow the "not worrying about maximizing profit, but minimizeing loss" advice till i get comfortable.

[dvashun]

I don't see this bonus listed at bonuswhores, can you point me in the right direction?

[matix]

BonusWhoring 101 (http://www.bonuswhores.com/bonus-whoring-101.php)

This is a step by step procedure for hitting most of the sites and when to do them.

To whore a site just click the place you want to whore on the left column of names and then at the top there are usually banners to click to sign up for that whore.

I haven't tried any of these yet, though, so don't take my word on it.

[matix]

my first night with the free 10 bucks from royal vegas was a success

i started off winning a couple of 40 cent pots then a buck pot, then a few larger ones.

i ended up after a 30 minute session +$2 at the 5/10 cent tables. (this winrate is better than my 13 hour casino session where i made like 3 bucks an hour a few weeks ago)

works for me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[TheShootah]

How did you get the free 10$? Do you have to give them a CC #?
Plz elaborate. I downloaded it and registered but no 10$. Surely there is more to it that I just didn't do.

[matix]

make an account there, you need to give them email, but i didnt give them cc# or anything (if i can remember right)

then the 10 bucks just shows up 24 hours later in your account...i think its pretty straight forward...you just have to wait now im guessing?

[TheShootah]

Yeah, I wanted ten bucks instantly! Thanks!

[TheShootah]

IT WORKED! Nice to be playing for something. I am beating the Omaha Hi Lo tables up right now. Hehehe....