Where to start ?

[Colcovatti]

Hi,

I'd like to know which internet poker room is the best to start at playing online Texas Hold Em ? I've read many reviews that state that Party poker and Empire are the best to start (many loose games). Is that indeed the case ?
Is tournament play a good and cheap way to learn to play well ?
Is there an educational point in playing below $.50/$1.00 limit games ?

Thanks.

[pudley4]

If you're just starting out, I would suggest Party or Paradise for low limits. They have many many low-limit games going constantly, so you'll always have games to play.

Tournament play is usually very different from ring game play. If you're just starting out, I'd suggest starting in the low-limit ring games (.50-1.00)

There's education at any limit - the games from .50-1.00 and down are all pretty similar though.

If you haven't done so yet, I'd purchase at least one beginning book - Sklansky's HoldEm Poker or Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit HoldEm are great books for a beginner.

[Fishy]

the softest site is Empirepoker or Partypoker. If you want to learn good fast, the best is to get a cheap coach, I'm free, here is more details from my site:

http://www.geocities.com/n_a_weelnam/Poker.html

[BruceZ]

[FishyResponse]

[Smackdab]

Party and Empire the best for loose low-limit games right now.

May want to check the $5 or $10 single tables there. Low buy-in tournies give you alot of bang for your $$$. Until you develop a good tourney strategy based on conditions play tight/agrressive and you should have no problem getting in the money often enough .

PS I prefer the $10. Players about the same as the $5. Downside to $5 tournies is the 20% fee. Tough to overcome that.