Yet another beginner with questions...

Hello everyone - my first post here, hope it goes into right category.

I started playing poker online this summer, after learning basics from the play i started to take down every activity in excel spreadsheet, so i know my progress (or regress recently...).

I also read my local poker forum, but still one question bothers me:

Ring games or tournament games?

I know cash games bring cash faster and income flow seems to be more stable. On the other hand playing tournment is much more fun to me i have to admit - even if i am out before the money. I just stay more focused, while cash ring games are more boring when playing single table (i try to play tight) and when i multitable - it is just grinding.

I dont plan to be pro, i have my job and play poker for fun - but cashing out is the most fun after all.

What is your advise for me? Focus on MTTs and SnG and shape my skill in that matter or just grind the low stake table for cash that could be burnt in tournament approaches?

Question number two: which books should i buy and read first?

Regards
M.

[mulebennett]

while i am no expert, i will try to help you out a bit. i've lurked at this forum, and i'll tell you that you are at the right place for poker advice.

i'd suggest playing in the cash games if you feel that you can consistently beat them at the level you play. if you haven't experienced a big-money cash, then i think the cash games are your best bet.

tournament poker is a lot of fun, but as you said, the best part is cashing out.

we've got a whole section on books under Other Topics. some that you should consider: super system/ss2 by doyle brunson, theory of poker by sklansky, harrington on hold'em by harrington (aka HOH on this forum), and small stakes hold'em by sklansky (aka SSHE on the forum).

good luck and feel free to ask any more questions you may have. hope i helped [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I perfer SNG and MTT for the fun of it as well. SNG can be very profitable and fun but it does get repetitive so i like to play the folling games based on my mood at the time.
1 Table NL HE
1 Table Fixed HE
5 Table NL He
2 Table PL OH
2 Table PL O8
1 Table STud
and any cheap MTT i can find
As far as books go. If ur an experiened player i highly recommend Harrington on Hold Em. If ur a newwer player some of the first books you should give a check are Mike Caro's Book of Tells (unless u play online than disregaud this) or David Skalansys Theory of Poker.

if you play for fun then tourneys are best, but it doesn't hurt top play some ring game poker as well. It teaches you to win chips with your best hands rather than survival or blind stealing.
As for books.....Tournament Poker for advanced players by Sklansky, and the 2 vol of Harrington on Hold Em

[PJM1206]

I think the best choice between ring and tournaments is the one you enjoy the most. I happen to like limit ring games and use the $$ to play tournamants. My experience has been that I really dont get in the money that often to make tournaments my primary play but I do play a few tournaments a week.

Relative to books I know there are quite a few good books but below are the ones I have read and would strongly recommend:

Theory of Poker
Winning Low Limit Texas Holdem
Internet Texas Holdem
Samlls Steaks Holdem
Holdem for Advanced Players
Weighing the Odds
Harrington on Holdem Vol I and II
Super System
The Psychology of Poker

I found that each of these books provided details of different aspects of poker and combined they are excellent -- hate to say -- but true in my opinion

The list of books is good, but if you're only playing NL the Low Limit/Small Stakes book only cover limit play. The Theory of Poker is the classic but the use of other games in the examples I found a little distracting. If you get Sklansky's hold 'em books just about all of information in The Theory of Poker is embedded in them.

I'd also recommend investing in one of the serious poker simulators, either Turbo Texas Hold 'Em or Poker Academy Pro, so you can experiment with the various scenarios discussed in the book and burn the principles into your neural circuitry. Right now I'm more in favor of Poker Academy for that purpose since you can stack the deck and player hands and freeze the button in Poker Academy NL but not in Turbo Texas NL. On other hand, Poker Academy doesn't have an autotesting capability, but then again only the limit version of Turbo Texas has one. If your a Mac user then it will have to be Poker Academy.

my advice:

go get Getting Started in Holdem
and Small Stakes Holdem, Ed Miller

and start off in the low limits. switch to tourneys after you get the basics and can make an informed choice. if one was better than the other you wouldnt have so many people both pro and amateur playing both.

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Ring games or tournament games?


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There's not too much you really need to master when it comes to tournaments, I suggest reading up on some good tournamnet strategies and when you're ready play some cash games with 1 or 2 tournys on the side...it's always good to keep it diverse.

[TomBrooks]

While basic strategy books are probabably useful for both cash and tournament play, there are some books that are specifically about tournament strategy.

Good luck and enjoy.

Welcome to the forum with your first post

13thR2a1stP

Thanks everyone for taking your time to reply and welcoming me to the forum.

One more thing concerning "the career way": do you think it would be reasonable for a player (begginer like me) to focus on Heads-Up mode only ?

I dont have much time to play, so when i get down to it, i just want non-stop action and non-stop focus on the game instead of "fold&wait"- the qualities that HU play delivers.

Do you think it makes sense? Have you heard of pros playing HU only ?

Regards
Mike