The Road to Success
 

Firstly, I would like to get my apologies out of the way. If this has already been covered or I'm posting this in the wrong place ect, ect, this is my first post and I apologise in advanced.

I started playing hold'em a few years ago on-line and did quite well on the micro limits (NL $10 buy in) tables. Looking back I now know that this was due to getting a lot of good cards and definitely not my playing ability. At that time, I went onto a couple of site's and they recommended 'Lee Jones, Winning Low-Limit Hold'em' as a good book to start with for the noob. I read the book, tried to apply the concepts to SSNL games and lost, and lost, and lost. My luck had finally run out and I was the ATM machine. I stopped playing for a couple of years and I've only started to think about playing again because a poker room has opened near me recently.

I've entered a couple of SNG and I'm going to enter my first tourney tonight. (I except to lose, that's fine, just testing the water). So onto the reason for the post, I have devised a plan to get my on-line poker playing career back on track and however this time I want to succeed, be profitable and know what I'm playing at. The plan is called 'The Road to Success', if their is anything seriously wrong with this, any pitfalls I may stumble on, your feed back would be greatly appreciated.

1. I'm currently reading - Matthew Hilger's Internet Texas Hold'em - Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro. (I know this is an entry level book into limit hold'em, however I hope this will give me a good grounding in basic strategy, the fundamentals, what I need to be thinking about ect..)
2. I'm then going to read - Russell Fox's Mastering No-Limit Hold'em. (This is the only book I could find that is specifically written for low limit no limit hold'em)
3. I'm then going to open an account at Party Poker (they have the softest games, from what I can tell) and start with a bankroll of around $350 plus a sign up bonus, ect.. I should be on around $420.
4. I'm then going to install poker tracker or pokeroffice and away I go. I'll start playing on the $25 buy in's tables and hopefully make some money.

My biggest concern is, how many hands do I need to play to know if going to be a winner or a loser!!! Also, should I use poker tracker, or poker office?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, again, I apologies if I went on a bit!

Re: The Road to Success
 

I think going to party poker and playing $25 NL is a mistake. I think you should bonus whore at sites with high % bonuses (absolute, bet 365, paradise) playing low limit hold'em and reading ed millers small stakes hold'em. This lets you be a losing player and still make money.

Re: The Road to Success
 

Go with Poker Tracker.

Re: The Road to Success
 

Internet Texas Hold'em = out
Small Stakes Hold'em = in
Mastering No-Limit Hold'em = out
Theory of Poker = in

$25 NL = out
= or < .50/1 = in

pokeroffice = out
pokertracker = in

Re: The Road to Success
 

Kudos to you for actually sitting down and coming up with a plan!

I would suggest that you pick either NL or limit to study and focus on that. Many people here have strong opinions on which to start with and this has been covered here repeatedly. Trying to learn a little bit of one before moving to the other is probably not the optimal way to learn.

Small Stakes Hold-em by Ed Miller is THE book for low limit hold em. I'm reading it through for the fifth time and still picking things up. Theory of Poker is another great book - a bit advanced, but when you are ready it will help you digest the "why" behind a lot of plays.

How many hands do you need to play to know if you'll be a winner? I can't say for SNG's, but for limit, I figure that by your third 10,000 hands you should be getting a pretty good idea. Since we generally reference bb/100h as a unit of measure, 10k hand is only 100 units..which is really a small sample.

I don't use pokertracker, but lots of people here swear by it. Just don't let the data gathering capabilities and HUD's keep you from developing your own instincts about plays and reads.

There's a lot to being a winning player long term... confidence, willingness to learn, becoming a student of the game... The fact that you are trying to make a plan and asking for help is a pretty good indicator that you probably have what it takes. Good luck on your quest.

Re: The Road to Success
 

Others have already said it, just jumping on to add emphasis.

Small Stakes Hold 'Em (SSHE) by Ed Miller; if you just read one book, this is the one...IF you decide to go the Limit Hold 'Em route. FWIW, WLLH was not a bad book for starters (it was probably one of the best books available at the time)...the mistake was trying to apply its concepts to NLHE. Now, however, SSHE is clearly superior to WLLH.

I agree with other posters...either pick NLHE or limit, and stick with that for a while.

Pokertracker...yep, get it, install it, run it and build the database....just don't pay too much attention to your overall stats until you get a lot of hands; say, 20k minimum. Others would say 50k.

I didn't see anyone else mention PokerAce HUD. Worth the $25, IMHO. I found it helpful.

I can't speak to the bonus-whoring route, as I haven't done that (probably to my bankroll's detriment). My experience supports your impression that Party has softest games. IF you don't plan on multitabling (and you probably shouldn't, just starting out again), I've also found Pacific to be quite soft.

Good luck!