Begininng holdem player advice?

#1 7th December 2009, 9:33 AM

I just recently signed up for pokerstars and entered some freerolls on the weekend and ended up with a bankroll of $100.69 and im wondering what i should play. I plan on withdrawing 40 and keeping 60 to play with. Im leaning towards 9man $1.20 SnGs but theres so many to choose from. Keep in mind iv only been playing poker online for about 4 days lol and i barley even know most of the acronyms that are used on this site. Im just looking to get better at nl holdem and hopfully make some money.

#2 7th December 2009, 11:00 AM

Although SnGs are more fun imo, I think you should start out at .01/.02 NL if you are a NL player. It is more important to learn a solid cash game foundation before moving onto tournaments. Most pros will tell you that.

If you are serious about improving your game, I suggest you read some of the articles in the strategy section of this forum or get a good poker book to start. Studying is very important if you want to get better.

The first thing you should try to master is knowing which starting hands to play in each position. The most common problem for beginners is playing too many hands. Don't get in the habit of playing too many hands. It's a hard habit to break.

I wish you much luck and success on your poker efforts!

#3 7th December 2009, 6:55 PM

first you has to understand proper BRM, so read about BRM. then play play and play to improve.

#4 8th December 2009, 1:57 AM

Welcome to the site.

First of all, I wouldn't listen to FlopIt2Me on his advice to play cash games. You should play what you feel the most comfortable with because cash games and tournaments warrant completely different ways of playing poker, you will learn the difference with time spent here and at the tables.

One big suggestion that I have for you is to not withdraw any of your winnings, because as a new player, you are going to probably lose quite a bit of it before you become a consistently winning player, so the more the better. Actually, if you are as much of a beginner as it sounds, the absolute best thing for you to do might be to put that cash to the side and play some play money games for a little while so you can learn all of the basics, just keep in mind that at the play money tables, the players play like it's play money and they are terrible. Just use it as some free basic lessons before you start using your bankroll to support your learning.

Some topics that I would suggest looking up here would be: Bankroll Management, Hand Starting Requirements, Position, Calculating Odds. Those should give you a bit of reading to get yourself into the game. Poker is all about knowledge and being able to recognize every bit of information possible, once you have been playing for a while, I would also look into some hand tracking software like Holdem Manager or PokerTracker3,

Good luck!

#5 8th December 2009, 11:24 AM

well done on your success at the weekend.

First of all, I wouldn't listen to FlopIt2Me on his advice to play cash games. You should play what you feel the most comfortable with because cash games and tournaments warrant completely different ways of playing poker, you will learn the difference with time spent here and at the tables

this is great advice

i dont think BRM is a big issue here, play enjoy have fun,

#6 8th December 2009, 2:21 PM

Your logic on the SNG's at the 1.20 level should serve you well. If I were you, you may want to consider dropping that amount down if your bank goes below 40-50 buy ins and build it back up. I also go along with the idea that you should play what you enjoy, "it's a game" and should be skillfully fun.

#7 8th December 2009, 6:35 PM

You might want to look at what withdrawal charges are before you withdraw such a small amount of money. They will probably take half of it in service fees.

#8 8th December 2009, 8:23 PM

i actually would listen to flopit2me's advice because while you may feel more comfortable playing sngs, most people say that the 1.20 ones are impossible to beat over the long run because of the steep rake. So you should probably grind .01/.02(and .02/.05 once your BR permits it) cash games until you get enough buy-ins for the 3.40 SNGs

#9 8th December 2009, 10:17 PM

any 1 dollar tournament is fine just stay away from rebuys you'll blow all your money before you know it. a good thing to check out would be the article that chris ferguson used as a guideline when he went from 0 to 10,000 on fulltilt poker.

#10 8th December 2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by absoluthamm

Welcome to the site.

First of all, I wouldn't listen to FlopIt2Me on his advice to play cash games. You should play what you feel the most comfortable with because cash games and tournaments warrant completely different ways of playing poker, you will learn the difference with time spent here and at the tables.

One big suggestion that I have for you is to not withdraw any of your winnings, because as a new player, you are going to probably lose quite a bit of it before you become a consistently winning player, so the more the better. Actually, if you are as much of a beginner as it sounds, the absolute best thing for you to do might be to put that cash to the side and play some play money games for a little while so you can learn all of the basics, just keep in mind that at the play money tables, the players play like it's play money and they are terrible. Just use it as some free basic lessons before you start using your bankroll to support your learning.

Some topics that I would suggest looking up here would be: Bankroll Management, Hand Starting Requirements, Position, Calculating Odds. Those should give you a bit of reading to get yourself into the game. Poker is all about knowledge and being able to recognize every bit of information possible, once you have been playing for a while, I would also look into some hand tracking software like Holdem Manager or PokerTracker3,

Good luck!

^^^This is great advice. You need experience and only playing will give you that. If you research what is stated above, this will your experiences in understanding strategy and, well, everything else listed above.

Welcome to CC and the best of luck to you! Feel free to post more questions once you start researching.

#11 8th December 2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moeraj

You might want to look at what withdrawal charges are before you withdraw such a small amount of money. They will probably take half of it in service fees.

PokerStars and Fulltilt, THE REAL POKER SITES, don't charge to deposit or withdrawal.

#12 8th December 2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Assassin WbK

I just recently signed up for pokerstars and entered some freerolls on the weekend and ended up with a bankroll of $100.69

I personally don't know anyone who was able to cash in 10+ free rolls over the course of a weekend. So why not just tell us you deposited $50, then went on tilt and ended up with only .69c so you redeposited $100?

I'd personally like to see the screen shots of your placement in those.

#13 8th December 2009, 11:02 PM

Also, in order to take that money out, you have to make a deposit. On FT, I think min is 30$ and Pokerstars is $10.

But I agree with everyone above. I'd keep it in there, start playing the $2 SNGs, and read as much as you can about strategy.

If you play on FullTilt, check out the FT Academy. There's a lot of good videos there that will help you on your way.

Later on, I would suggest looking at websites like DeucesCracked/Cardrunners (DC is probably better for uNL).

Also, grab the free trial of PT3 as mentioned above. It will really help you analyze leaks in your game. The stats are very confusing at first, but there are a lot of posts here and elsewhere on the webs that will help you make sense of it all.

Most of all, good luck!

#14 9th December 2009, 1:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Pilgrim

I personally don't know anyone who was able to cash in 10+ free rolls over the course of a weekend. So why not just tell us you deposited $50, then went on tilt and ended up with only .69c so you redeposited $100?

I'd personally like to see the screen shots of your placement in those.

Thanks for all the replys and about your post lol i did win it all from freerolls. I played the juno freerolls (they had 3 a day every day from thursday to sunday) and i cashed for a few bucks total in 3 of them and then got 1st in another for $94 or so. But anyway ill definetly take all your advice into consideration and try to look up as much as i can on this site to help me get a better understanding of the game. Thanks again for all the replys

#15 9th December 2009, 1:54 AM

Assassin, I'd say YOU got LUCK, but maybe not....CONGRATS

On PokerStars, try the Single Table SnGs referred to as "Double or Nothing"...if you can win 70% ITM, then your ok. GL, Wally

#16 10th December 2009, 5:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bullishwwd

...if you can win 70% ITM, then you're god. GL, Wally

FYP

#17 10th December 2009, 5:33 PM

Haha, that is a bit high, but it is somewhat true. The Double or Nothing(DoN's) SnG's are extremely easy to beat. You just need to play the opposite of your table. Sometimes you will get a table where everyone is trying to just ride it out into the money and will barely play anything at all, in that case you should be somewhat aggressive(not overly!). Other times, you will get people who don't understand the concept and they are trying to play to be in first place and are willing to put their chips on the line constantly, in these cases, just sit back and wait for your premium hand to play with them and do work. Usually if you are able to double up your original stack once, you are probably set to be in the money if you just sit back the rest of the time.

#18 10th December 2009, 5:58 PM

^^ Agreed. I think more often than not on P*, people play extremely nitty in the low stakes DoNs. Just remember to be positionally aware, and you should be just fine.

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