good place to start?

[jaydoggie]

I'm 20, and I have a little money saved up. I don't know how much to invest in a poker habit, or where to start. I'm not looking to make a living from the game, just to play, and hopefully win.

I live in Davenport, IA so we have a card game on our riverboat. 3/6 KILL is smallest limit.

3 hours away in champaign theres a 1/2 home game.

3 hours away in chicago theres alot of home games ranging from 3/6 - 5/10.

2 hours away in Tama, IA there's Meskwaki Casino/Bingo with a wide-range of limits.

2.5 hours a way is Rockford, IL charitable games where they have 5/10 10/20 holdem.

5.5 hours away is Shakopee,MN where there is a wide range of limits that I've played in and beat, but not over any amount of time. (the legal age is 18 in MN for gambling)

And then of course theres all limits online at home. I dont consider myself a lamb in the low limit games that I've played in, however I also dont consider myself an expert.

The advise I ask is how much is a reasonable amount to start a bankroll (I have about $1,500 disposable although I wouldn't want to put it all in a bankroll). What games/limits would be the best to improve my game (home games/charitable/casino/online).

I appreciate the help, I've learned alot about poker that I never knew exsisted since I've been reading these forums. And I do everyday /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

[Allan]

If I were you, I'd deposit $400 or so into an online account. That would give you a pretty good roll for something like a $1-2 game where you could gain a lot of great experience without risking a lot of money. With the other cash you have I'd choose one day a week or so to play a real live session. In this session you could get your live experience and post about hands/thoughts/theories...etc for the posters here to give replies to. Only playing one live day a week would allow you to think real critically about the session too. Also, if you haven't invested in some of the good literature, it is an absolute necessity if you don't want to lose.



Allan

[Bob T.]

I like Allan's plan.

[deathtoau]

The only thing I would caution is that poker is just a game not a life. Play with what you are content with, but just because you have the money, you don't have to put it on the table. Pick a good starting limit, then your starting bankroll should be about 150-300 BB if you want a totally separate roll. Then build your bankroll the oldfashion way, with winnings.

But before you play much live, invest in some good books and do your research. That alone with improve your game.

For what to play, B&M for fish and easy money, homegames for learning and experience and online for practice.
IMO only
Enjoy the tables.

[jaydoggie]

thanks for the replies. i'm in the middle of reading phil hellmuths new book, Play Poker Like the Pros. and i just purchased The Theory of Poker.

Should I read TOP or Holdem For Advanced, or sklanskys Texas Holdem book first, or will it matter?

[Jim Easton]

i'm in the middle of reading phil hellmuths new book

I haven't read this yet, but, from the posts in the Books/Software Forum, this might not be the best book to start with.

Should I read TOP or Holdem For Advanced, or sklanskys Texas Holdem book first, or will it matter?

Read Hold'em first, then TOP, then THAP. THAP touches on some topics that TOP covers in much greater depth. I think it helps the reading of THAP to already be familiar with those topics.

[Allan]

I repost this a lot cause I think it is very good
Allan



Here is a list posted by skp, a prominent poster in the mid limit forum....

Book Reading Order
Posted By: skp
Date: Monday, 6 May 2002, at 4:49 p.m.

HPFAP is not a book for beginners (as the title implies). Half the book made no sense to me when I first started playing. IMO, Jim's book is a more appropriate one for someone relatively new to poker.

I would recommend that players looking to play hold 'em read the available literature in this order:

1. The Krieger books

2. Sklansky's original hold 'em book

3. Theory of Poker

4. Jim's book

5. HPFAP

6. Ciaffone's Improve your Poker, Feeney's book, Cooke's book etc.

7. All other 2+2 books on live action poker

8. Mike Petriv's book, Carson's book etc.

Perhaps, you could start with Lee's book instead of the Krieger books but I can't really say because I have not read Lee's book. I do note that it is well-respected within the poker community. I also don't know how useful 2+2's Fundamentals of Poker (or whatever it is called) is as I haven't read that either.

Once you have gained experience and have read all these books, you should reread Theory of Poker and HPFAP again. The material there will suddenly become comprehensible to you - it's almost as if you will come to the realization that you have "arrived" as a poker player once you are able to understand what is said in these two books, particularly HPFAP.

[jaydoggie]

very nice. thanks