Tips on how to adapt now...

Hi everyone,

I've been playing poker for a little over a year now, previous to that I had never really played cards but I fell in love with Texas hold-em when I first played. I started playing in home games with friends. After being middly successful there, I decided to read more on the theory behind the game.

I've read some books, started watching episodes on TV and read many articles including recently this board.

The first time I played online I deposited $50 and played .25/.50 limit. I lost most of it calling with questionable hands. Since then I've learned how to calculate odds and I'm better at following the play of my opponents.

I didn't like the structure of limit HE though so I started playing SnG and deposited another 50, playing 5+1 at Paradise. I played breaking even most of the time, loosing some winning some and yesterday I was at $60 and lost it all during SnG. I know I played on tilt but it just seemed that tournament after tournament I lost to suckouts draw and frankly I was, as I had the winning hand most of the time after the flop.

I feel like I'm getting the hang of it and could eventually be a ok player, I don't have any intention of turning pro or what so ever but I would still like to make a profit. I feel like I'm getting better but am so destroyed by bad beats, I react like Hellmuth but don't have the experience to overcome the tilt, lol.

I know a $100 isn't much for playing 3 months specially since I started not knowing much and have since then gained experience...but I'm just curious as to what you guys think.

How much money did you put in before making a profit, how many months of practice did you put in before breaking even, making a profit or so. Just wondering as I'm pondering if I should deposit more money or not right now. I want to play but play money games just are full of idiots.

[Guruman]

keep reading this forum, keep reading the books, have SSH in front of you as you're playing and refer to it when a questionable situation arises.

If you want some financial cushion while you're learning you've got to start bonus whoring. Check out the Internet Bonuses forum, the building your bankroll guides in the microlimits sticky, and just google around for poker bonuses.

Once you do this, you'll see that limit poker is the way to go when clearing some of these bonuses, as they will deposit real money into your account after you play a certain number of raked hands. The amount of time that it takes to clear these bonuses playing sit'n'gos is far higher than just playing the cash games.

Study poker, study bonuses, and keep participating. You'll do fine. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Dacoops3]

SSH is a great book to read for limit holdem. However, for sit and gos, go to the single table tournament forum. From there you will find a thread somewhere (too lazy to search) called how to beat the party 10+1s. Study EVERYTHING in the FAQ. Party sit and gos play almost identical to Paradise, with the exception of the Paradise software being much slower. The same advice can be used for 5+1 sit and gos, although many people on this forum will tell you to jump up and play the 10+1s because the 20% vig, or money the house takes is too high. If you are playing to gain experience and not to make a ton of money, in my opinion keep playing the 5+1s until you are comfortable to move up to the 10+1s. The play is pretty much the same. Hope that helps.

[AASooted]

Definitely take advantage of bonuses. I was a losing player when I started in January, but I was covering my losses with bonuses. I started out in Party 25NL, but I've switched to limit because the suckouts don't tilt me since they don't take my entire stack. Also the books appear to be better for limit, so I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

Figure out which game you're better at, study it, and take advantage of bonuses. In the long run, you make money from the players who give you the bad beats, since they're putting money in when they're an underdog. It takes a while to learn to accept them, though.