Advice for a Beginner? (Rooms/Deposit/Software)

Hi guys,

I have been reading through the articles on this site for a couple of days now, and have found it very informative.

I have a couple of questions before my first deposit into online poker.

I have played a poker before and have taken part in tournaments between friends, but never played a cash game online etc.

I think Party Poker would be a good room to start in, would you agree?
Does anyone know if there are any good bonus codes for this site?

More importantly I was looking to use an online poker odds calculator, can anyone recommend one which works well with party poker?

Cheers,

Garthunkle.

Hi Garth, I will try to answer your questions.

First off I have never played at party, I play at PokerStars, Fulll Tilt and Costa Del poker.

I hear traffic has died down at party poker but there are lots of games going on at Stars and Full Tilt Poker. (someone who plays at party poker want to confirm this)

In general, at the low limits you are likely to play when first starting, the play is loose at Full Tilt Poker and tight at PokerStars.

Members of CC often get together at PokerStars to play some ring games and SNG's and bodog is where we have weekly FRs so you might want to think of signing up to those sites.

Look here for bonuses you can get through CC.

PokerStove is an online calculator many people use.

Hope that helps.

I have learnt to play tight, so was looking for a place full of loose players in low limits. Would you say that party poker at low limits is tight or loose?

I was going to use a maestro card to deposit the money; will this affect my room choice?

The poker stove program looks interesting. Is there any program that grabs data such as your hand and the flop then calculates your odds automatically?

I did not like party poker. I prefer pokerstars - but you might like fullm tilt better.

I have learnt to play tight, so was looking for a place full of loose players in low limits. Would you say that party poker at low limits is tight or loose?

Sorry I don't know. But low limts at Full Tilt Poker are very loose, some would say almost too loose.

I was going to use a maestro card to deposit the money; will this affect my room choice?

Yes. Some sites do accept it, you'd have to check their webpage to be certain. Are you American? If not Neteller is the way to go IMO.


The poker stove program looks interesting. Is there any program that grabs data such as your hand and the flop then calculates your odds automatically?

There are auto ones. Not sure if I am supposed to list them here. Google pokerlistings.

Roy Rounder has a calculater that was very helpful for me,, 'Holdem Genius", gives the odds on the hand before and after the flop...Had to sign up with Partypoker min. deposit, to get it...

Yes. Some sites do accept it, you'd have to check their webpage to be certain. Are you American? If not Neteller is the way to go IMO.


Why would ANYONE continue to do business with a company that has acted in the manner that Neteller has?

Convenience and "I can't happen to me" are laughable.

Garthunkle,
Party Poker is fine as a starter for online poker because it is still a HUGE site with lots of traffic. Unfortunately if you only use Maestro as a deposit option, then you will be unable to deposit at a lot of US sites (eg, Full Tilt Poker, Bodog). Poker Stars and Ultimate Bet do accept Maestro but I personally found the players here quite tough and I know you can only withdraw by cheque at Ultimatebet.
Also, many sites (Paradise and Absolute for example) only send a cheque if you cash out and this can take some time to arrive. See this link for details:
UK players-Top sites for maestro users.
But my biggest regret was not making enquiries into rakeback deals before downloading software. Before taking the plunge, you might want to enquire into the world of "rakeback deals" as these really do give your bankroll a lift.
By the way, if you have a decent computer PKR is a 3D site that is brilliant for beginners (rake at low-limits is kinda high though).
For a good initial sign-up bonus boost, definitely go for Coral Poker or Paddy Power Poker. William Hill also do a good £25 per month deal.
Hope this helps (sorry if I have rambled).

Don't like the idea of bringing another party poker into the mix, as this is likely to only slow the process.

I think I will sign up to party poker at first to get the free software, probably will go for the holdem genius software unless you guys say otherwise.

On a side note just had a go at this bonus bagging thing, got the £50 bonus at VC on blackjack plus £30 on top of my initial deposit!

Sry ag but for the other 7 billion people in the world it works fine.

What would you have them do?

If they screwed US players they are MORE than capable of screwing everyone else. Is their stock trading still suspended? What makes you think they are reliable just because they are "functioning" right now? Everything was fine for US customers until the day it wasn't.

I would have you deposit via prepaid visa. I would have you cash out via paper check. Convenient for moving funds between sites, no. Safe, yes.

I don't think my govt is planning on making up any stupid laws and then arresting the founders of a legitimate company causing peoples money to be frozen.

Its your govts fault not Neteller.

Would you guys recommend playing cash games or tournaments, for a beginner trying to build up the bankroll?

The play is quite different between cash games and tourneys. Depends what you like to do. I mostly play cash games with the odd tourney and SNG thrown in.

Try both and see which you prefer and/or are better at.

Just remember to use good bankroll management. i.e. if you deposit $200, you should not play higher than .05/.10 cash games and stick to $5-$10 tourneys. Rule of thumb is to never have more than %5 of your bankroll on the table at any one time.

I am with Lo-Dog on this. Us UK users don`t have the slightest problem with Neteller, and they had clearly and publicly declared their intention to pay back every American account holder, until the American government seized their funds.

Put the blame where it belongs.

Garthunkle,
For a beginner trying to build up a bankroll, I would recommend low-limit cash games to start the ball rolling. Micro-limits from as low as $0.05/$0.10 are good. I would recommend doing this just to get a feel of the experience of playing online poker. I personally played this limit for about a month before I felt confident about moving up. Yes, it sounds wimpy and ultra-safe but the addage "Do not run before you can walk" certainly applies.
When I first started I made the mistake of playing nothing but tournaments on Party Poker. THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE - Even with the occasional final table appearance and the odd payout in the $100 region, my bankroll slowly dwindled to nothing. Unless you hit a Top 3 place in a big buy-in tourney, playing nothing but tournies is not a good idea IMO.
Keep to those micro-limit tables and perhaps reward yourself with 2 or 3 low buy-in tournies a week.

There is an update on this:

American Members - Important News

"Special condition: suspended"

How can you possibly think your money is safe with this company just because it currently is functioning for you?

Supposedly they are outside US jurisdiction, right? So they must have been complicit in freezing 2/3 of their customer base's money.

But, it couldn't happen to you because the UK is so much smarter than the US....

(you know, like how they stood up for one of their publicly traded companies when a foreign government basically seized it.)

I`m not interested in having that kind of conversation, thanks.

You`re entitled to your opinion. We`ll agree to differ.