Beginner player seeking advice

[vegrevillain]

I've been playing 3/6 and 4/8, Half Hold em/Half Omaha for about 6 months now and always at local poker rooms. I've also been studying Hold 'Em Poker for Advanced Players. I by no means have a full understanding of the book, but I think I comprehend parts of it and I definitely feel that it's helped me improve my knowledge about the game. My goal is to adopt a tight and aggressive style as suggested by the book. And so far in my miniscule career i've been breaking even, having small rushes and small dives.

My question is are these low limit/passive loose games a good place to learn and become a better card player? Or should I be seeking out a different environment to hone my skills? Honestly I am not sure if i'm really improving or not, considering my money is pretty much always at the same level.

I realize that I've barely logged in any time at all at the tables and experience is probably the best tool to improving, but I am having a blast playing- although I hate omaha-and this is something that I'd really like to get better at. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This is my first post, I hope this isn't out of context for this forum.

[TxSteve]

I'll jump in and try to say it first...

get Winning Low Limit Hold Em by Lee Jones

Great book for everyone...but especially people who are somewhat new to the game...

and yes...nearly everyone will tell you that the loose, low limit games absolutely CAN be beaten...easier than the higher limit games...you just have to expect larger swings in your bankroll

[Stu Pidasso]

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I am having a blast playing- although I hate omaha-and this is something that I'd really like to get better at. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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High-Low Split Poker by Ray Zee. It Two Books In One!

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My question is are these low limit/passive loose games a good place to learn and become a better card player? Or should I be seeking out a different environment to hone my skills?

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1)Allot a certain amount of time for poker each week. You do not want poker to become your life.
2)Spend half of that time playing, and the other half studying poker(including bankroll management).
3)Buy into an online site for 5 C-notes and make sure you get a %20 deposit bonus. That will give you $600 (300 big bets at .5/1) Start playing .5/$1 online. You won't make a bundle, but that is not your goal right now anyways. What will happen is you will get a tremendous amount of practice in and at .5/$1 your not going to get hurt. Once you can beat the small stakes games online, you should have no trouble with $10/20 brick and mortor games.

If you need someone to refer you to party, send me a PM.

Stu

[The Dude]

If you play exactly as suggested in HPFAP, you will be giving up a ton of EV in 3-6 and 4-8 B&M games. There is a good section in that book about loose games that will give you some guidance in adapting to ultra-loose games.

Playing online is a great suggestion, for a few reasons. First, you can get good practice against better players at lower limits. In my experience, I have found online games ot be equally as tough at less than half the stakes. If you can beat a 4-8 game online, you will beat a 10-20 game live.

Second, intenet poker gives you the advantage of easier play analysis. Through PokerTracker you can log each and every hand you play, and it tells you what hands you are winning with and frow what positions, what % of flops do you see (and what % you raise), and what % of showdowns you win, plus endless more. It calculates your hourly rate and standard deviation and every other stat you need to know.

Lastly, with online play you can record every detail of a hand, so you can post it here on 2+2. Posting hands you play and getting advice from those here is a great way to improve your game. (Pick and choose whose opinion you will always trust, take everything else with a grain of salt.)

It is important to spend time studying, but I think a 50/50 time split between playing and studying is a bit high. You should spend about 25% of your poker time studying when you first start. While you are playing, try to find specific concepts to apply what you've read (even for hands you are not in).

Finally, be sure to focus while you are playing. When I first started, it was easy for me to "zone out" for hours at a time when I was playing. I was logging hours at the table, but I wasn't giving it the attention I needed to improve my game.