So, how do I start?

[Double E]

Situation: I started playing low-limit (1-4-8-8) casino poker in 1999. It took about a year to learn enough to turn from loser to winner. I played from 2000 until 2002, then basically quit playing - too much other stuff to do, not enough time.

The poker bug bit me again lately, and then I noticed SSH was out! I'm re-reading it now, but I see several holes in my game; I think I'm weak-ish tight, good enough to beat bad players for about a SB per hour, but missing out on a bunch more $$$, and throwing my $$$ to the occasional expert player.

Naturally, I checked out the 2+2 forum, and I see that internet hold em is commonplace. So - how do I start?

1. What places are available; what reliable reviews on them are available?

2. What's all this bonus stuff? (Looks like enough to turn a break-even player into a winner, and hand a winner a nice extra cushion.)

3. What tools do I need? Obviously, pokertracker software seems to be the standard. I went to their website, but- how does it work?

4. Anything else I'm missing?

[BradleyT]

1. Party Poker is the largest. It has several skins such as Empire, Intertops, Multipoker (I think) and EuroBet. You can ask for an affiliate on here who will return part of your rake. He'll get paid 25-30% of your contributed rake and give you most of that (take no less than 90% of that).

PokerStars is the next largest. Great for tournaments but tighter players than most other sites.

Ultimate Bet is probably the next largest. Again it has tight players.

2. Most sites will offer some type of initial deposit matching bonus. They'll also do "re-load" bonuses which means you can deposit into an existing account and they'll give you a bonus. Yes they definitely add to your EV in most cases.

3. PT is nice. It tracks your play and all of your opponents play via hand history data. You get your hand histories 100 at a time from a poker site and then with 2 mouseclicks they get imported into poker tracker. It has tons of stats to improve your game and find your leaks as well as an export function to export other players stats as their notes on poker sites. You can also use it to judge how much rake you've paid to see how much you should be getting from your affiliate.

4. Read the Micro-limit and small stakes forums. And don't be afraid to post hands that you think could have been played differently. And do the crypto bonuses.

[busguy]

Homer made this great post . . . newbie bankroll help . . . on how and where a new on-line player should go to get comfortable playing on-line and building a bankroll.

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] busguy

oh and this is my first time posting a link, so . . . I hope it works

[razor]

works great... you RULE!

[busguy]

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[knightunner]

What's a crypto bonus?

[KingMarc]

A crypto bonus is a bonus at one of the Cryptologic skins (Interpoker, Caribbean Sun, etc.) They offer monthly bonuses for X hands played. For example, Interpoker offers $90 bonus to anyone who completes 450 raked hands in a calender month. Caribbean Sun offers $40 to anyone who completes 250 hands in a month. There are several other skins also.