Newbie question

[newalchemist]

Is there any poker site where a novice can "sit in" and just watch (kibbitz) the play?
Also, does anyone know of a (shareware/freeware) Hold'em program that I can use to get the hang of the game against computer opponents?

[D.H.]

All of the major poker sites allow you to just watch a game without participating yourself.

Turbo Texas Hold'em seems to be the software that most people would recommend. Haven't tried it myself though.

Good luck!

[Mangatang]

Another alternative to playing against a computer simulation is to play at the free money tables. All poker sites have free money tables that you can play. These are free to download, as opposed to Turbo Texas Hold'em (which cost about $50). The free money tables are good for you to get used to the betting and the how the game is played (if you're totally new to structured poker), but the play you will find will not be representative of real money play, just because there is not real money at stake, so people will play crazy just for the fun of it.

What may be a better idea is to deposit a small amount on a site that has super micro-limit games ($.02/.04 or .05/.10). That way you can play real money, but not risk any significant amount of your own money. Pacific Poker, I know, has a good range of micro-limit games.

[bisonbison]

Turbo Texas Hold'em is what people recommend, but frankly it ain't that good. I mean, it's better than Hoyle Casino, but it doesn't compare at all to playing against actual people. Plus it costs about 80 bucks. If you have the money to spend, I suggest you deposit it on a site with penny tables. You should be able to play for many many weeks, and the experience of playing real people for real money is more instructive than anything else.

[Webster]

Turbo Texas Hold'm is an excellent tool - you can set up tables exactly to Party Specs.

Playing pennies will only inforce bad habits with the 70% flops and I would stay away from them like the plague.

If you put in 5000 hands at TTH you can beat 1/2 easly on Party and do better then break even at 2/4.

It's well worht the $80 if you are serious and want to learn the game correctly. Granted it's not perfect but it'll get you to 2/4.

[Mangatang]

I disagree. Playing real people at the micro limits is still playing for real money (just smaller amounts). There is no better learning experience than building your own bankroll from scratch.

Also, I regularly see 60-70% seeing the flop at the $3/6 games I play, so the micro limits aren't that far fetched.

[Webster]

Well - yea - Playing Pacific IS like playing a bunch of people in play money LOL. However - you get zilch in bonus. AND playing people playing 70% of hte hands is not realistic except at one site.

There is no reason to ever play below .5/1 if you are serious in poker.

[Hedge Henderson]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no reason to ever play below .5/1 if you are serious in poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, dang. I guess I should just quit, then. As a poor grad student, I don't have near the bankroll to play $0.50/$1.00. I'm glad you told me, though. Otherwise, I'd be spending many precious hours having a ball and learning at the nickel/dime tables. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

--

Webster gives a lot of great advice here, but I wouldn't necessarily follow him on this, newalchemist. A lot of people who are "serious" about poker started out playing for pennies, and some people who aren't start out at the 10/20 tables.

Before you play with real money, hit the play money tables on any or all of the sites that offer them. Play for a while to get a feel for how the cards come and some practice on making quick decisions. Play the penny poker after that if it's all you can afford. You'll learn a lot, especially patience. For a lot of people, it's much more frustrating to be beaten by poor players than by good ones. Still, you need to learn how to beat the poor players. Most of your money is going to come from them (at any level).

[cold_cash]

I played at the play tables forever before I deposited any real money. If nothing else, it will give you a chance to think about and practice things like calculating odds and maybe profiling a certain player or two.

If YOU take it seriously and treat it like real money, I think it can be a great learning tool, even if though it's super loose and not "real".

[newalchemist]

Many thanks for all your inputs.

[stir]

Just to add to what has already been mentioned, you might like to know that you can get experience with the play money game at pokerroom.com and you do not have to download software to your computer. However, this site does have some problems with slow connections and disconnects, that some find very irritating.

In any case, you can learn a great deal about the rudimentary aspects of the game by playing with play money as long as you wish before risking any money of your own.

[RED_RAIN]

My little brother is learning while I teach him with the play table playing limit 5/10 at party/empire for play money and read the forums all the time. If you have the money to, I started at .5/1 but I had played NL for about half a year and killed the .5/1 game. I only deposited $100 at empire to start.