[bernie]

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Started with WLLH (2nd edition) a while back, played a little ... didn't really gel, so I turned my attention to NL.

Played around with NL, low stakes ($25-$50) for a year, flipped through Super System, but after making a few thousand, losing a few thousand, I decided to start at the beginning again ... and with Limit.

Bought GSIH and played a few thousand hands of $1 and $2 limit, enough to find myself breaking even, then plunged into SSH about three nights ago.


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Cool. One thing about most books is that they're split up into the streets. So if you have to, go street by street. I'd recommend getting preflop down first. Play a bit tighter than recommended until you have the main positional hands down and are comfortable with them postflop. Then expand your starters a bit. WLLH is good. Another thing is to get involved in the strategy forums. This will accelerate the learning process and answer most questions you have on many of the main concepts. Find a hand, respond to it, then check your thinking against the other responders. Don't be afraid to be wrong and looking foolish. Others will help point you in the right direction. We've all been there. It does take time and effort. It generally doesn't happen too fast to develop. It can take awhile to 'click'.

Switching from n/l to limit and back and forth could hinder you. They are different in many aspects. I've found it was easier to learn limit, then once I had that down, go to other forms. It just seemed to crossover better. Even then, I had to watch for leaks that tended to develop when switching from n/l back to limit.(primarily developed looseness preflop)

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I think that there is a considerable step from GSIH to SSH, and I still question the general attitude that low limit games are filled with loose, uneducated players. Perhaps in B&M casinos, but online ... tight play is more the norm, I find.

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I'd reread GSIH then read WLLH. Make sure you understand most of what you're reading. You should eventually be able to explain reasonably why you made each move you did during a hand.

The games can start to tighten up around 2-4 or higher online(UB. not sure about the other sites). I've found many online 3-6 to 5-10 games(UB) play tougher than 10-20 or 20-40 live. However, playing those tighter tables for lower limits is a cheaper education for tougher games.

Play the lower games(1-2 and lower) until you can beat it. (fwiw, my latest roll I started on the .01-.02 tables) It may not take that long to convince/prove to yourself. A month or 2 if you really delve into it. But you want to start out beating the crap players. Don't buy into the sh*t that it's a lottery and takes no skill. If that were true, everyone on there would be winning. They aren't. Don't worry about making money, just worry about playing well. If you do that, the money will follow regardless of what longshot just beat you on the river.

Then, once you get WLLH, GSIH and start understanding SSHE more, try HEPFAP or Theory of Poker. Note that you won't understand everything in the books right away. It takes awhile to process as there is really quite a bit there. Which is one reason why many of us have read multiple beginner books along with other books. Some concepts click in one book while others click in other books. Different ways of expaining stuff. It also helps when you are actually in the situation and can see how it works in a real game. Experience is huge. Again, posting on the strategy forums is invaluable.

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looks like from your number of posts you've been around for sometime.

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I've been around awhile. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But nowadays, postcount doesn't always mean much.

Have a good one!

b