Beginning Hold'em Player Training

[MikeRand2000]

All:

First time poster. Glad to have found this site.

I’m pretty much a beginner to poker, especially hold’em. In reading reviews on Amazon I have come across the 2+2 family of books and have purchased a few: Fundamentals of Poker, The Theory of Poker, Hold’em Poker, Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players, and Inside the Poker Mind. I also went out and purchased Wilson Software’s Turbo Texas Hold’em V5 (TTH).

I’d like to start in heavy on a solid, fundamentals-based training program for poker. All else being equal, I’d like to spend as much time up front in the books and using software so as to lessen the cost of tuition. I have three objectives for this training program:
1) Become break-even at decent low- to middle-limit games;
2) Give myself a solid foundation from which to learn other games (e.g. Stud); and
3) Give myself a solid foundation from which to expand into tougher competition or tournament play.

That being said, I’ve laid out a training program below. About this program, I ask of all of you three questions:
1) Does the program have the appropriate content given my objectives?
2) Have I laid out the content in logical groupings? Does the order make sense?
3) Do I have the right tools (i.e. software and books) to implement this program?

Assume that each part of this training program is combined with copious amounts of play on TTH.

Part 1 – Math & Other Basic Tools
Expectation and Hourly Rate
Odds
Position
Best Possible Hand
Game Structure
Psychology
Reading Hands

Part 2 – The First Two Cards
Hand Rankings
Proper Play

Part 3 – Analyzing the Flop
Basics/Flops I Want

Part 4 – Mid-game Strategy
Bluffs & Semi Bluffs
Slowplay
Check Raise
Free Card
Folding on the Big Pot
Heads up vs. Multiway
Raising
Heads-up on the End

Part 5 – Situational Play
HEPFAP Part III, such as “Playing When There is No Raise Before the Flop”
Playing in Loose Games
Playing Shorthanded
Playing in Other Non-standard Games

Anyway, any comments/critiques/criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike Rand

[nyholdem]

Hey Mike

Im a veteran of this forum, (2months) lol
I think your program to learn the game is excellent.

I started with a similar plan and it is working out just fine so far. I started learning the game about 6 months ago. My previous poker experience had been home games etc. I also played a lot of blackjack in the past. Poker is far superior to anything blackjack can offer. I am enjoying it very much.

I also purchased many books, I havent read Inside the Poker Mind yet but it is on my bookshelf. The others are all excellent. Read them, then when you think you know a little about the game re-read them. When the pages fall out buy a new copy and read them again. I will also advise you to purchase Winning Low Limit HoldEm by Lee Jones.
It will help you deal with the low limit games you may start with. Also the Poker Essays Vol I,II, and III are good to read.

TTH is a great tool when you are learning the game. However the advise given can sometimes be improper. It will help you with proper odds and give you a good feel.
If you study the aforementioned books you will be beating Challenge MIke with regularity in no time.

Take your time in learning the game. I took about three months before I started to play for real money.
Concentrate on all of the basics, dont worry about fancy plays yet. You wont be needing them in the low limit games you will start out in.
Most of the advise in this forum is fanastic. You are lucky to have found it. When you start playing read and post your hands, Ive just started to do just that.

If you need help feel free to send me a message.

Welcome!
Scott

[HajiShirazu]

While it's definately great to use books and software, there's no substitute for playing real money games. After just a few weeks of using software/reading, I recommend trying .5/1 on party poker. The competition is unbelivably bad, and as long as you stick to the tight/aggressive strategies of the books and stay off tilt, you will almost certainly win, or at worst, only lose a little. In fact, even someone with only a rudimentary knowledge of proper texas hold 'em should be able to beat these games. Keep the books with you as you play, and work your way up as you build confidence.
Of course, if you only want to play higher limits or B&M, you should probably spend more time studying before you head to the tables. I personally think learning on online micro-limits, while studying, and working your way up is the best. Nothing can prepare you for taking the unbelievable beats that no foldem games and players will put on you.
Since you seem dedicated to learning the game, and have purchased good books (in other words, not phil hellmuth's book), you should have a good chance of becoming a winning player in today's environment. It seems like you have a pretty good plan.

[crockpot]

if i were you, i would splash in more study on 'playing in loose games' early and often, because you will need it.

also, start to play some low-limit real money games online, and post some hands here for critique. that's what the forums are really good for. and read discussion of how to play other hands, because you can really learn from it.

[Saborion]

I`m sure you`ll do fine. No need to start reading HPFAP yet, but it sure is good to browse through it. One advice would to get Lee Jones Winning Low Limit Hold'Em. Best book you can get for the low limits.

Two advice from a newbie to another.
1: Be aggressive. I thought I was *ok* aggressive. I was wrong. Don`t be all that scared of the overcard that might flop when you raise pre-flop with JJ. Cautious, yes, but not THAT scared.

2: Start posting hands in the appropriate forum asap. It`ll be worth it.

Good luck.

[pudley4]

Buy Lee Jones's book "Winning Low Limit Holdem". It covers the same material as Sklansky's "HoldEm Poker", but it's easier (IMHO) to read/comprehend.

Start with these two books, read them each once through before you do anything else. Then go through "Theory of Poker" - very, very good book, but difficult for many people to grasp/retain. Also concentrate earlier in your studies on loose games. You'll constantly see these games at the lower limits.

HPFAP and Inside the Poker Mind are good books, but they are for advanced players. Many of the ideas in HPFAP don't work very well at lower limits, and if you use them in the wrong places/at the wrong times, they will cost you money. Inside the Poker Mind is a very good book, but you'll appreciate it more once you've played for a while.

Post in the Micro and Small Stakes forums. Respond to posts about how to play a certain hand. You might be wrong, but you'll learn. Also post your own hands there and see what mistakes you made.

One more thing to do - go back through the beginner forum and search for the posts by mdlm. He started about a year ago, with similar goals. However, he was too rigid in his goals/ideas, and ultimately "failed". It was obvious to most of us that he had the ability to succeed, but he didn't listen to any of the advice given, and stubbornly stuck to his original, unreasonable goals.

The lesson here is this - listen to the advice you get. Some of it may be confusing, some of it may be wrong [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img], but most of it is very good, and is aimed at helping you win. We've all started at the bottom, and many of us are proven long-term significant winners at the levels we play at. In general, we know what we're talking about [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[trillig]

Howdy, best of luck to you!

I suggest you read both: Doyle Brunson's Super System and Phil Hellmuth's latest effort, why? You want to know what a large # of people have read, you will get ideas from all books you read, I still do and I am probably on book #15, and I have another book coming in the mail.

Visit your local library, that saved me $150 on books, they had Phil's, I was first one to take it out.

TTH was a good investment also, I have it and the tournament version, I haven't played them in a couple months, but I am going to, to re-assess my play, I know it's improved the last couple months A LOT.

I'd suggest watching for a couple hours at a time, the higher end players play on the top poker sites and the tables at the level of competition you expect to play, you will hopefully gain some valuable experience without investing anything but your time.

Jump in there, I usually play .01/.02 No Limit on Pokerstars, 1 or 2 cheap table tournaments or cheap NL tournaments, you'll learn what books can't teach... and not pay up the nose for it, and if you don't like it, easy to walk away.

and...

#1 on my list of needed abilities to succeed at poker: PATIENCE
Lacking in that will cost u $, no doubt about it.

-t

[MikeRand2000]

Great advice, everyone. Thanks much. I have one question about two of the pieces of advice I've received.

One general thread has been to start playing via the Internet, especially at low- or micro-limit no fold'em games. Another general thread has been to push off Theory of Poker and Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players until I've read Hold'Em Poker and possibly Winning Low Limit Hold'em. Both make sense to me and I'll definitely adjust my previous "training" schedule accordingly.

A few Amazon.com WLLH readers commented that it may be bad advice for someone playing Internet games at low-limit tables. While I understand that you'll always get a few people who attribute their own bad play to the most recent book they purchased, do I need to think about qualifying my readings of Hold'Em Poker by Slansky or Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Jones for playing on the Internet (e.g. Partypoker.com)?

I ask because I'm a good two hours away from Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, but I do recognize that getting into real money, low-limit games early is a good idea. For this the Internet is really my only recourse. Still, I want to make ensure that a) the time I spend reading HEP and WLLH isn't wasted on the Internet or, worse, counterproductive and b) beginning my real-money play on the Internet doesn't warp my ability to play live real-money later.

Thanks again.

MBR

[rayrns]

You will find WLLH information to be excellent when playing low limit on the net. Also the loose games section of HPFAP.

[pudley4]

No worries about whether WLLHE or HEP apply to online low-limit games - they absolutely do apply. One thing to be careful of is the level of aggression is usually higher online, so WLLHE may have you playing a little too loose preflop, and a little too tight postflop.