Where to practice my game?

[Dieter01]

We have had a weekly pokergame for a year or two now while I am doing my Masters degree. Over the last month or so I have taken an increasing interest in poker, and started going about things a little more seriously than before.

I have read Lee Jones' "Winning Low Limit Hold'Em" 3-4 times, read Caro's Book of Tells, Sklansky's Hold'em for advanced players (more for info on shorthanded games and low limit than the fancy plays, althoguh I have read that to). I also read a lot of stuff online. Abdul has written a lot good stuff, and I like some of his simulations. I also think I have a better understanding of Mortens Theorem and Schooling now than I had before. And while readin this I stumbled uppon Fekali and others who have written a lot about lower limit games.


OK... So I have done a lot of studying. And I think I really understand what the choir is preaching, at least for being a beginner. So I wanted to get some more practice in and started playing online poker at Party. What a bummer... I have played about 6-700 hands now and my bankroll is empty. At first I thought I had the game beat for sure, but then every straight I had got beaten by a flush, every flsuh by a house and so on. At least it felt that way, and going back and looking at the plays from PokerTracker I honestly don't think I played the hands I lost on very bad.

I also played three 10 hour sessions in Vegas about two weeks ago, all 3-6 or 2-4 limit. Made a few hundred doing that, which at least makes me think I have very, very basic skills. But we don't have a casino close to where I live, so my only real alternative is online play. I am very competitive and I hate to quit a looser. I feel like I should be able to at least hold my own in a game like that. But what if I am wrong? What if I am not good enough to even break even? If it was sports I would just practice more. Put in the necessary hours. But here, its costing me money every time I practice.

Where can I go to play and get the hors in and not loose much money even if things don't go as planned? The play money games online are a joke and not good practice at all. Are there any alternatives? I read about Turbo Texas Hold'em, but don't really think thats the way to go. I really want the game time... Are there any very good promotional deals out there? Anything that could make it more worthwhile to start an account somewhere? Where are the lowest limit games (and are they still good practice or do they become like the play money tables)?

[rayrns]

What limit did you play? It sounds like your bankroll may have been a bit short. Looking for cheaper games where you can get experience cheap? I would suggest Poker Stars. You can start with about $50 and play in the .02/.04 or .05/.10 games and get lots of experience. Then as your bankroll grows you can move up in limits.

[Dieter01]

Yeah, my bankroll has been small. I started with a $50 bankroll and played 0.5/1 games. Not much room for the variance you will inevitably see at these limits.

I checked out Pacific poker also. they have a 25% deposit bonus whereas Poker Stars has none. I played some Pacific Poker play money (thats where I have my limited play money experience from), and really like their software. If they have 0.05/0.1 games that would be perfect... I know I would have to play a serious number of hands to actually get that money at those limits... But its free money and I like the software.

I also have some friends that play Pacific. Do they have some kind of referral program like they do at Party? Any comments on the two?

[Gildersneeze]

Also watch that you don't go on tilt when playing suckers, and at low limit tables, believe me, brother, you'll be playing suckers. There are just some nights where you make all the right moves and someone who obviously has no idea that poker is only part luck just keeps sucking out on you with "any two will do." Sometimes the cards run all over the "wrong" guys.

I had to take a week off from the game to settle myself mentally from this cold streak I'm in. It's still not over, but I can sit at a table with a clear head after four weeks of suckouts, bad beats, and getting rivered when I had the best of it until some sucker with bottom pair spikes his kicker or trips while holding J2o or something to beat my AQ on a Q 2 7 flop.

Just remember, when playing people who DON'T know if they've got the best or worst of it at any given time and just say "pairs are good, right," you're generally playing against random hand almost every time. You're going to have to show them monsters because you aren't going to bluff them out of a pot.

[benfranklin]

One option for a lot of action for a little money is Sit-n-Go's (1 table tournaments). The general consensus is that Party has worse players, but Stars has a much better structure. Also, if you play the $5 SnG, the entry fee is $1 at Party, $0.50 at Stars. For that, you get 30 minutes or more of playing, and a shot at getting back 2X to 5X your investment. Party also has play money SnG's. These are nuts until you get down to 3-4 players, but then most of the people still in are playing somewhat normally, and you can get better short-handed experience here than with any software. The problem with all this, of course, is that you are getting NL experience, which isn't fully transferable when you go back to ring games.

[arod4276]

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Are there any very good promotional deals out there? Anything that could make it more worthwhile to start an account somewhere?

[/ QUOTE ]

Check out www.bonuswhores.com (http://www.bonuswhores.com)

[Gildersneeze]

"The problem with all this, of course, is that you are getting NL experience, which isn't fully transferable when you go back to ring games."

It's also not only No-Limit experience, but tournament No-Limit experience, which doesn't fully transfer over to regular No-Limit games. People will likely play much tighter than average (though you did say they're pretty crazy, and for a $1 buy-in I can see why) in tourneys because when you're out of chips, you're done, with the slight exception of add-on tourneys.

One idea I have for you (and it's worked for my friends and I so far) is to find friends and/or people that are honestly looking to improve their game and play practice games with them. By that, I mean setting a chip amount for buy-in and re-buys, and each player tosses in five bucks (just so people take it seriously). Say for five bucks, you get $100 in chips. Every time you bust, if you want to continue, you can "re-buy" for another five bucks/$100 in chips.

If you want online experience, set up a passworded private Play Money table for yourself and your friends only. Set it to the limits that you all want to learn, and the min/max buy-in to $100.

You're going to have to keep track of how much everyone owes the pot if you're running this online. At the end of the game (or as people need to cash out), you can either create a payout scale (if you do $5 for $100 in chips, each $1 in play chips is worth $0.05 in the real world) or declare it a winner (highest chip count at game breakup) take all event.

My serious poker playing friends and I have gotten a lot of mileage out of this method. The main disadvantage is that you get used to the same players' styles by playing them repeatedly.

[Dieter01]

Does Pacific poker have a referral program? If I get referred by a friend would that get him a bonus that I could persuade him to split with me?

[siccjay]

If you read all those books you said you have read and understand what you have read I think you should just put $50 more into Party and play.

For you to have the skills from those books and to lose $50 at Party .50/1 was just extremely bad luck. As long as you pick the right games I would be willing to bet my life you couldn't lose another $50. Especially if you have read the Lee Jones book 3 or 4 times.

[Nottom]

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As long as you pick the right games I would be willing to bet my life you couldn't lose another $50

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you need to learn a thing or 2 about BR management /images/graemlins/wink.gif