I'm ready

[Winwood]

Hi,

I have been an avid reader of twoplustwo for about 5 years and first of all I wanted to say thanks to all you posters for really great advice, discussion, and argument - I have no doubt this website is responsible for immproving my understanding of the game.

I have been playing HE very infrequently online for about the same amount of time, usually small tournaments, occasionally some micro limit stuff. Results I guess are so-so, probably overall I'm down a few dollars. I've also read a few books - Sklansky, Jones - so I guess you'd call me a keen beginner with a grasp of the basics (starting hands, position, pot odds)

I have recently decided that I am ready to take the plunge and invest some real time and money. My initial thought is to start with $200 and play $1/$2 on Party Poker - and see where it takes me. I hope it will last me a while, maybe be the start of a big bankroll. But before I do this, I've had the inspired idea to seek advice here, and hopefully improve my chances of lasting more than a couple of hours [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I have some specific questions, but what I'm really after is, thinking back to when you first started out, any tips or lessons you learned you'd like to share. Its about not knowing what you don't know - you know?

My questions are - Is Party the right place?; Is $1/$2 the right game to start with?; Is $200 a big enough bankroll for the game? Are these stupid questions?

I'm sure with the quality of the posters here, I'll turn my $200 into $2000 in no time. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Winwood

[bisonbison]

With $200, you need to start at .5/1. It's very easy to play well and go on a losing streak that would wipe out 100BB at 1/2.

[scotnt73]

where have you been playing online infrequently for 5 years? what limits there? are you beating those games? do you like tourneys or ring games?

[JudgeRW]

Hi, and welcome to the forums.

I'm just a beginner myself, in about the same boat. I've been playing regularly for about the past three or four months on Party. I started with a whole $50. As far as lessons I've learned I'll say this:

Get PokerTracker - Try it for the free 1000 hands. As far as I'm concerned it is an invaluable tool

Play tight - Play only the good ones. Watch your position, and tighten up early. You can loosen up late, but do NOT chase. If the flop misses you, get out quickly.

Play aggressively - When you do get the best starting hands, raise them. When the flop hits you, raise it up.

Post hands here - Post hands you think you played poorly, but still won. Post hands you think you played great and lost. Just post hands. It has been a great source of information for me to have people discuss my play and to get involved in these conversations.

Comment on others hands here - It is also great to comment on the play of others. Even if you don't feel like you have the experience to give advice, comment anyway. Ask why they did something that you don't understand. Say what you think you would have done, and why.

Continue to read good books on Poker while playing.


As for your $200. You deffinately need to play on the $.50/$1.00 games. As has been mentioned, a 100BB downswing is not only possible, it will happen sometime. Better safe than sorry and all that.

Hope this helped, and best of luck to you.

[aas]

Party is the right place to start. Stay at .5/1 until your reach about $500 or $600.

Good luck!
aas.

[Winwood]

Hi Scot

When I played it was on ParadisePoker, almost always $10 or $20 tournaments. In the past I preferred this format since you can lose very little in a long time - I sort of looked on it as paying $11 for an hour's entertainment, plus occasionally (1 in 3? maybe even 40%) I'd end up in the money. This way $50 could last quite a long time. When I did play in a ring game it was micro limit (.50/1 or maybe 1/2, I can't remember) and I lost fast - but I never did it seriously and never had a proper bankroll, so many decisions were based not on what I knew I should do, but the fact that I was short-stacked. I would guess it has been 2 years since I did this.

I have read a lot since then. For example I know you don't stand much chance in a .50/$1 game with $20 bankroll. I am very serious about starting up now, so I want to make sure I have the right bankroll and right game. If I lose it all then so be it, but I don't want the same excuses as you've just read above...

So - any advice?

[sthief09]

Hey, I just recently started doing what you're about to do. I had a few quick hits where I'd either use a free $20 given to me by the places, or I'd throw in $50, and either lose it all or cash out.

I put in $100, played some $.50/$1, then when I hit $300 (perhaps not enough) I played some $1/$2, and currently I'm playing 2/4. I think the best way to build your bankroll up is to play multiple tables of $.50/$1. There are fewer swings, and you shouldn't have a problem beating the games. From personal experience, I think $300 is plenty for $1/$2 if you are manhandling the $.50/$1 tables. People say you need 300 BB, but you can always move back down if you go through a losing streak, so I think 150 BB is sufficient.

One thing I like to do is read sometimes to break up all the playing. All the Poker Essays books are great, and are almost like HEFAP supplements, where Mason will go into depth about a particular topic or give an example of it. It's good, interesting reading, unlike HEFAP and TOP which are closer to textbooks.

I think if there's one piece of advice I'd offer you about Party, it's that if they're representing something, they probably don't have it. Don't be afraid to cap a street with the 2nd or 3rd nut. Chances are, they can't beat you.

And Poker Tracker is a must. Even if you have to put $55 less in your account, it's worth getting.

Good luck!

[Winwood]

Hi,

Thanks for the great advice - in particular about playing multiple tables, I will definitely be doing this. I do have one question. You said

"if they're representing something, they probably don't have it. Don't be afraid to cap a street with the 2nd or 3rd nut. Chances are, they can't beat you"

Would you say then, that bluffing happens a lot at .50/$1? This is a bit surprising to me, as I would say that it is very very difficult to get people to fold at low limit. In the extreme, for play money, no one ever folds - isn't micro limit similar?

If you're in a no fold 'em game, who would bluff?
Or is it that they're not bluffing, they think they have the best hand?
Or they don't realise they're in a no fold 'em game, and think bluffing will work?
Or bluffing is easy and works all the time at this level?

This is an important point for me, since my strategy would have been never (98%) to bluff. Raise for value yes, and raise to maybe knock out some hands and charge people for drawing, and maybe raise sometimes just for the hell of it...but raise to win outright? Would that happen?

[scotnt73]

do NOT play multiple tables until you are a winning player for sure! you will just lose 2-3 times as fast. from your questions it seems you are very new to actually PLAYING poker as opposed to reading about it so wait until youve been winning for at least a few weeks before multitableing.

[sthief09]

Well it's not as much that they're bluffing as it is that they don't really understand the true value of your hand. Against good players, capping a Q-high flush on the river might be risky, but at Party someone could easily have 2 pair. I think the way I stated that was really wrong. It's more just playing aggressive and fearless than anything else. Sometimes it's obvious what your opponent has and you should be cautious. But most of the time fearless is the way to go. Missing bets is a big leak.

As for playing multiple tables of $.50/$1.00, someone pointed out that you shouldn't play them unless you're a winning player. I assume from reading your post that you can be a winning $.50/$1 player. If that's the case, multi-tabling is a great way to inflate your bankroll.