Texas Hold 'Em ?

DaveH said:
Maybe they rig the lessons to give you confidence and setup you up?
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I thought that also. But then I figured they don't care who wins or loses. They cut the game and make a fortune without cheating. By the way all the casinos are usualy in Canada, they are not allowed in the USA for some reason. You might win occasionally but if you play on a regular basis you have to lose, unless you are cheating.
 
I just played another hour and didn't hit a hand.
It happens. I'm still up over $10,000 for the day.
On the positive side, I don't think I made a mistake for the last hour.
Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose.
 
If your looking to play in a limit game the 1-2 game is a good place to start with $100. The thing with playing at low stakes like that is the other players will chase you down with any kind of draw.

If you really want to play start watching the 1-2 game. See how the other players play ,what they play, and in what position they play it in. Make notes on players that do the same thing over and over again. That way when your ready to jump in and play you'll know what your getting into.

Like other people have said, buy some books. Doyle Brunson's Super System is known as the poker bible for good reason, it is an amazing book on poker and that is the first one I suggest you get. Take notes as you read, that way you can go back and read important playing tips without having to re-read an entire chapter. Practice what you learn, learn one topic and play practicing that until you have that topic down and then go onto the next one.

Good luck playing!

One more thing about playing on-line. DO NOT BLUFF!!!!! The majority of the time someone will call you down. You will lose alot more money bluffing on-line than you'll win.
 
Mere Mortal said:
If you really want to play start watching the 1-2 game. See how the other players play ,what they play, and in what position they play it in. Make notes on players that do the same thing over and over again. That way when your ready to jump in and play you'll know what your getting into.

Like other people have said, buy some books. Doyle Brunson's Super System is known as the poker bible for good reason, it is an amazing book on poker and that is the first one I suggest you get. Take notes as you read, that way you can go back and read important playing tips without having to re-read an entire chapter. Practice what you learn, learn one topic and play practicing that until you have that topic down and then go onto the next one.
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Good info MM.
I've been studying Phil Hellmuth's book for the last two weeks, and I'm ready for another book. I'm going to look at the Doyle Brunson book, but I'd really like to find a book that has a lot of info on Online Limit Hold 'Em, since that is what I'll be playing. I'm going to head to the bookstore now and see what I find.
 
I forgot all about this. Go to Poker Pages . They had some great articles about playing online a few months ago. They should be archived there. It looks like the archives are organized by author, and I can't remember the authors name. They do have alot of good articles to read about playing.


No matter how much you read and learn from different articles and books the best education you're going to get is from experience.
 
Hey Phil....Lets get real here. If you start with $100 the best you can hope for is doubling your money. I don't care how many books you read. To win big you have to play no-limit and then you need a few thousand to start. Those guys will eat you up for sure. Playing for fun is a joke. When you lose you press the button and you get more chips.
 
Phil, I talked with my friend at work. To much info too fast for me...here's what I caught.
He plays at partypokerdotcom. He plays the live games at $1-$2 tables to start. pots average 10-20. If he's feeling good he'll jump up to a $2-$4 table.


He'll still drop down to the play money to mess with people...do stupid things like "all in" on a 3-4 off suit. He said sometime he's even won with those stupid things. Does it just to mess with people.
 
Hhhhmmm....poker.

Sore spot for me. I used to play heavily for mucho money until I was 20. Then one night I lost WAY more money than I could afford to lose to some less than honorable gents.

Every $100 I was putting down I was SURE he was going to fold. I was wrong. He never folded. I ran out of money.

I promised myself I'd never bet for money again, not poker, not any other game. No matter how good you think you are you'll lose everything you have eventually.

IMO, Phil, don't go down this road. You'll regret it, eventually.

If you do decide to play anyway, good luck!:)
 
shappa said:
He'll still drop down to the play money to mess with people...do stupid things like "all in" on a 3-4 off suit. He said sometime he's even won with those stupid things. Does it just to mess with people.
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LOL, if I ever go to PartyPoker.com I'm going to want your friend's screen name.

Emanuel,
My Dad has been dead 25 years an it's the exact same advice he would give me. I have to admit I've gambled and lost more than $100 in my life. The reason I posted here is to get some feedback from Online Texas Hold 'Em players. I'm looking for some inside info, for an edge if you will. I know how to play the game, I'm good at it. Better than 80% of the people that play online. I'm studying and refining my game to get better. I don't expect to win every hand or every day, but I do expect to make money at this.

I'm going to start with $100, at stakes of 25¢ to 50¢ until I double up or go broke. If I go broke (lose my $100) I have to reassess my game and make corrections. If I double up I will move up to $1-$2 stakes. Then I will find the stakes that can give me the $50 a day goal that I have set for myself.

My mind is made up, I am going to play and I'm playing for one reason only, to make money. For those that advise against gambling, it's good advice and I thank you. If you're right and I fail, you can tell me, "I told you so!" right here. If I'm right I'll have a little side income for the rest of my life. ;)
 
I’ve been reading “Killer Poker Online” and I just read something very encouraging from the author John Vorhaus.

I would say if you can play perfect poker at the free-play tables, when there’s no money at stake, you have a much better chance of prospering online, because this tells you that you’re more concerned with the process than with product. You want to play correctly-that’s the most important thing.

My game isn’t perfect, but I have a good solid foundation and I’m focused. I know why I’m there, to make money. I’m also headed back to the bookstore to see what else I can learn.

BTW, 80% of online money players never read a book on playing. :cool:
 
PhilL said:
If you're right and I fail, you can tell me, "I told you so!" right here.
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I guess so, because you can still go on-line at the library after you sell your computer to pay off your gambling debts.

I think on-line gambling is a great choice for you, because you won't actually be in a casino. Therefore, when you go broke you won't run the risk of being one of those pathetic guys who hangs around without any money trying to cadge a few bucks off some sympathetic little old ladies.

One final thing Phil; Those barrels are hard to find, so start looking now. :D

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Here's my question about this on-line poker thing.

Why shouldn't I set up a robot (a computer) programmed to play perfectly and just turn it loose to play for me? Why wouldn't I use aides like a second computer sitting next to my first to calculate odds and count cards?
 
Gollnick said:
Here's my question about this on-line poker thing.

Why shouldn't I set up a robot (a computer) programmed to play perfectly and just turn it loose to play for me? Why wouldn't I use aides like a second computer sitting next to my first to calculate odds and count cards?
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Chuck you could certainly do that.

One of the advantages to playing online is you can have access to a lot of info on the odds and a "book" on your opponents. Like handicapping at the track. Don't think for a second the smart players don't take every advantge they can. There are sharks in the pool, there are big fish and there's little fish.The big fish eat the little fish, the sharks eat the big fish, but only if you swim in their pool. The smart big fish don't ever do that. ;)
 
A lot of people think they came up with ideas to beat the casino. Believe me smarter people then us have tried. Short of cheating it's impossible to beat them. You have 20 seconds to make your bet and what cards are you going to count? All you see is the flop and by the time you see the flop you have your money in. Except for basic strategy that everybody knows it's all luck when playing on line. Everybody is an expert until they put up their cash. I have been playing on line and in casinos for a few yrs. and the only big scores I made were in casinos. And that was only because I was prepared to lose big, which I did on a number of occasions. Anybody who plays this game for money on a regular basis knows what I'm talking about.
 
There's just one book you need (for now, at least), basically the bible for low stakes limit hold 'em, and that is Sklansky and Miller's 'Small Stakes Hold 'Em'.

You'll need to know the fundamentals fairly solidly before you delve into more advanced concepts, so I suggest playing $.50/$1 for a while before moving up. You risk blowing your bankroll due to variance (and bad play), if it can't handle the swings; playing above your bankroll is killer. Usually, most people suggest having 300 times the big bet of your chosen game, to minimize your risk of ruin.

Additionally, if you're serious about playing, you'll want a piece of software called Poker Tracker that'll track your stats, and help you find the holes in your game before you move up, particularly when you start to multi-table and see a lot more hands per hour.

And personally, I think limit hold 'em is where the money is. As for just doubling your money... I've put in $100 at one site (was originally just to work off the bonus), but I've managed to run that up to over $1000 in the past week playing low stakes (2/4, 3/6). I've been running well, obviously, but proper play and grinding it out, you can make some decent money.

I suggest also buying Sklansky's 'Theory of Poker', in order to understand why you're doing many of the things you do.

Above all, the first and last thing you need is patience.
 
sph3ric pyramid said:
There's just one book you need (for now, at least), basically the bible for low stakes limit hold 'em, and that is Sklansky and Miller's 'Small Stakes Hold 'Em'.

Above all, the first and last thing you need is patience.
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sph3ric pyramid, some very helpful advice, thank you. Nice to hear from someone that has done their homework and knows how the game can be played, and how to come out ahead.

Larry, although I think you're trying to look out for my best interests, I don't think you've done your homework. Which is why you think it's all about luck.

There's no doubt about it getting good cards help, but the people who can make money on a regular basis can win more when the cards are good and loose less when the cards are bad. Just knowing which table to sit at and who not to play against can make or save you money. You can still do everything right and still lose. You have to learn When you're Beat - Beat It.

I don't know if I'm as good as sph3ric pyramid is, or if I can do what he's done, but I am going to find out.
 
PhilL said:
sph3ric pyramid, some very helpful advice, thank you. Nice to hear from someone that has done their homework and knows how the game can be played, and how to come out ahead.

Larry, although I think you're trying to look out for my best interests, I don't think you've done your homework. Which is why you think it's all about luck.

There's no doubt about it getting good cards help, but the people who can make money on a regular basis can win more when the cards are good and loose less when the cards are bad. Just knowing which table to sit at and who not to play against can make or save you money. You can still do everything right and still lose. You have to learn When you're Beat - Beat It.

I don't know if I'm as good as sph3ric pyramid is, or if I can do what he's done, but I am going to find out.
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I have been playing this game for two years. At casinos and on-line. And on-line is luck, there's only so much that basic sratagy will take you. At the casino there is much more skill involved. If you play for high stakes on line they will eat you up. You have no chance, zippo, nada. Playing for small stakes you will find people don't go out and you can't bluff them out. If you want to play this game seriouly you have to go to the casino where you can see your opponent. I was like you read all the books and reserched everything. That doesn't matter on line as you will surely learn. When you are about to play for real let me know where and your name and I will play also.
 
There are certain strategies to employ when playing against opponents who are , typically, rather bad as you'll find in the low-limits, which can seem unconventional at times, but are mathematically correct. This also makes them very profitable. There's a reason why people are able to grind out $80k plus a year multi-tabling the low to mid-limit games.

This is because these players are able to maximize their expected value on each play, and over the long term, they will profit from the mistakes that other, worse players will make. This holds true for even the biggest games.

Concepts such as pot odds and pot equity allow for evaluation of the cards such that the players are able to calculate whether they will profit in the long-term from any specific play.

Edit: I used to own 'Play Poker Like The Pros' by Hellmuth (it was my first poker book, actually), and while it does give some guiding advice for the beginner in terms of pre-flop hand selection, most of the advice on limit hold 'em cash games is pretty bad. The parts on tournament play are okay, however (as would be expected).
 
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