N00bs First Weekend Playing

After reading a lot of 2+2 over the summer, I finally decided to take the plunge. I decided to start out with $100 in a holding account and try to start out bonus whoring while I got my feet wet. I start w/ $50 at bet365 with a chance at $50 in rakeback from a link from bonuswhores. I lost $10 quick at $.5/1 and read closer into the rules and learned I could do the initial bonus at $.25/.5 I'm trying to play TAG, but find myself often being overaggresive once I'm in the pot and have second-best hands. I've also caught myself accidentally folding the BB pre-flop because I'm not used to the interface and not playing close enough attention to my position.

There are only 3 10 seat tables on .25/.5 and they are usually full, empty, or so tight it's frustrating. I also try to look for loose tables if I'm playing 6 player, but then I'm finding myself sticking to full table starting hands, and slowly losing to the blinds. Overall I'm satisfied with my preflop play, though I do wonder how to adapt to six players better. Post flop, I am betting or reraising more than I am cold-calling. I think where I get eaten alive is on the semi-bluffs with low agression. I don't think I've been fishy. My variance over the weekend has been about $10 up or down, and unfortunately more down than up. I am down to $20 of the initial $50, but I'm calculating the rakeback at $.20 per raked hand (until I hit $50). I currently have 220 of the 250 required raked hands (value $44) so overall I am on target to at least break even on my rakeback and learn some things about my own strengths and weaknesses with no real loss. I'm thinking once I clear the bonus I will cash the bonus chips back out, then keep anything left for now for micro-micro limits to see if I can tighten up my play any. I decided to post this because I've enjoyed many of the posts here.

[bozlax]

[shrugging shoulders]

Uh...congrats?

[/shrug]

Welcome to the forums! You should try posting some of your hands here, for discussion. Just remember to use a converter so it's easier for us to read!

[DavidC]

I don't think there's a converter for pokerroom. I could be wrong though.

AFAIK, you can't even see stack sizes in pokerroom hand histories!!!!!

(Are these people CRAZY! Sorry, I am a nit.)

[POKhER]

Sorry to piss on your parade but i'll give you my honest opinion.

So you have $100? Cash it back out.

Open a neteller account, Cash $70 back in. You got $30 spare? Go buy SSH(I assume its $30 in america? i've no idea maybe not... but Buy it).

Read it once(And dont review any chapters untill you've read it once unless its totally baffled you, Then re-read it. Once you've done that, Read it on more time). Now you should have an ok idea of the book/Concepts/preflop-Postflop strategys.

Now with the $70 Cash into POKERSTARS. Play .10/.20 games untill you get to about $130.

Now go and buy POKERTRACKER (pokertracker.com) - Continue playing .10/.20 with your now (130-55(pt price) = $75. Now download POKERACE and learn to interpret the stats.

Get to $150 and when you reach 10K hands post your POKERTRACKER stats.

Move up to .25/.50 with $150 minimum aslong as your comfortable.

Then the fun begins. When you get to $300 move to .50/1, $400... Cash out the original $100.... Now your cash isn't in poker... its all profit.

Just my 2cents but your new, Playing beyond your bankroll, And you didnt say you've read SSH or any books?

PM me if you have questions, Dont sit there being confused by my or anyone else's posts.

POKhER

[TomBrooks]

Welcome with your first post.

Enjoy your poker journey which your just beginning.

Pokher gave you some good advice. Your playing beyond your bankroll. Might as well try to clear that bonus though.

Good luck.

~9Rta1stP

Thanks for the pointers. I guess I rambled a little in my first post, with some questions in my mind but not expressed as questions. I can afford PT and SSH no problem without funding it from my bankroll. I just picked $100 because I didn't think I'd miss it if I fell flat on my face. I guess my unstated questions were is .5/1 over that bankroll? Am I starting in the wrong poker room? Only being to pick from 3 or 4 tables seems a little limited on selection so far. I don't intend to spam the message boards, but thought it would be interesting to see what came out of the post. Thanks for the encouraging posts and sorry if I bored anyone. I think I was just looking to see what the experienced players might say, and keep myself from being stupid. I'll read the book and cash out once I hit the bonus, then get PT when I'm ready to start playing some more.
-J

[MrWookie47]

In general, you should have 300 BB in your bankroll for your limit. For 0.50/1, this is $300. Many people have rolls much larger than this (relatively) due to either risk aversion or profits exceeding their willingness to move up, likely due to bonuswhoring, rakeback, and running hot.

[jaxUp]

Also, I recommend 500 BBs minimum for 6max. I have had 200-ish BB downswings (and 1 100BB) in the last 3 weeks. 300BBs would not cut it there.