Newbie Setting Poker Goals

G'day All

I am 25yo Male, from Sydney, Australia and I am new to Poker, and no, a Dingo did not eat my baby. I am also a newbie to poker.

I have been reading and reading and reading this forum, and it seems the more i read, the more i realise how much I don't know. Anyway, the other day, i felt i had done enough reading for a beginner and decided to get some experience on the cash tables. I had been playing online for play money to pick up the basics, however I understood that cash games are a lot different to play games.

Anyway, I outlayed $50 at Poker Room, and I have been playing for about a week, while making sure i continue to read and learn about the game. I get a 50% bonus on my $50, if i play a certain number of raked games. So when starting out, my initial goal was to try and earn this $25 bonus, prior to me going bust as a lot of newbies do.

So far I am over half way towards redeeming my bonus and I have fluctuated from being $20 behind, to $20 in front, to $10 behind where i currently sit. My aim now is to recieve my bonus while aiming to be at least square.

Is this a fair goal for a newbie? To redeem my first bonus and break square at the same time? Or is it just too easy? I think I have the drive to one day become a strong player, however I wanted to ease myself into it, in order to give myself the best chance, and set myself realistic goals and gradually build myself up over the years.

Any advice on what my goals should be as a newbie, would be much appreciated. Also if there is anything that you would have done differently when starting out, or if you had your time over again, I would love to hear about it.

If there is anything else you want to add, in order to put me in the best position to work out whether or not I have what it takes to be a strong poker player.

Cheers

Black Panther

welcome to cards chat, I think this is a fair goal for a new guy. And my only suggestion is to play tight, and also to manage your bankroll only put at max 5% on the table other wise good luck!

Hi Black Panther and welcome to the forums

There are quite a few nice articles and a great guide by one of our own members that should help you out.

My advice to you would be to take everything slowly at first. Poker is a game of patience and you're most probably not going to come up overnight. Breaking even through your bonus clearing is a fine first goal. Don't worry if you lose a little or don't make as much as you'd like.

Take in as much info about the game as you can, but take everything with a grain of salt, and form your own strategies based on what you read. Practice proper bankroll management at ALL times (see the articles section for more on that), and have fun

Any hands you have trouble with, just post them here in the hand analysis forums and we can take a look at them for you.

just continue reading on different poker strategies and make sure u can play all games . u never know when the knowledge of the games will come in handy
i suggest u read the strategy articles here at cardschat { they are extremely good }
welcome to cardschat and i hope u enjoy it here
the community here is second to none in terms of friendlyness and is really a family of degenerate poker players

Welcome. Sounds like you're doing ok. About even your 1st week and 1/2 way to the bonus! Learn the particular strategies for whatever game/format you play. Tight and aggresive for the most part.

What games do you play? tournys?

As for advice, I used a sign that said "Don't F**k UP!" taped to my monitor. I think I need to put it back.

It is not completly unrealistic to built a bankroll from $50. It took me 2 deposits when I started, but some start from zero and never look back.

goldog

Thank you everyone for your replies. Ive always been impressed by the forum, but now I am even more impressed.

It has taken me some time to find poker, i just hope that it is not too late, and that I have not missed the boat.

I have always had an interest in gambling and probability. I have studied other forms of gambling, however because I am generally a conservative punter, I end up turning away from them. I also find other forms of gambling such as horse racing, dog racing, sports betting to unpredictable, and a lot of the time, the results defy common logic. Where as in poker, there are not as many unpredictable variables to deal with, so it allows me to concentrate more on my own skills and knowledge of probability, as opposed to gambling on something that requires a fair degree of luck.

Because I am a conservative punter, I tend to play some pretty tight poker, so hopefully this gives me a good foundation to start with.

I have researched and often taken the plunge into a lot of things, not all gambling related, however often I have found that I have been too enthusiastic and gone in too deep too fast, when i dont quite know what i am doing. In the end, I end up disenchanted by the experience and/or out of pocket, because I havent fully understood it. That is why i hope to take my time with poker and gradually ease my way into it. I still have the enthusiasm, however I want to harness it in order to learn as much as i can, as opposed to using my enthusiasm to jump straight in the deep end.

Once again, thanks for all your help, and I look forward to continuing my participation in this great forum.

I have been playing 25c/15c Holdem Limit tables. I had a little go in the 25c/15c no limit tables just to see how they worked, but I found them a little scary as a beginner, but I am glad I went in there for a bit.

I also play real life poker down at my local pub for the last couple of weeks with a $10 buy in. There are only about 13 people that play, but i have been learning the ropes, and learning a bit about tournament play. I'm not sure if it is right, but i felt it was best to focus on Low limit tables, while at the same time, getting some exposure to tournament and no limit styles of play. Is this ok?

This is probably a stupid question, but are there free poker tournaments with cash prizes? I know that there are tournements going online where you can buy in, but sometimes I hear about tournements, and I am not sure if you have to buy your way in, or whether they are free entry.

What I should have said is that a lot of the time, the results defy explainable logic.

I was basically reffering to gambling on racing, where it is not uncommon for a result to occur that is pretty much incomprehendable based on form and probability.

What I'm saying is welcome to poker. You'll see. You will be amazed. Not just the beats. I had a guy call the river with ten high for most of his chips today.

goldog

setting goals is a major start to playing poker as long as they are realistic.. always use bankroll management as part of your basic tools in learning poker.. the best way to improve is play, play , play.. etc..
good luck and good flops

Even small goals can be tough to achieve though. Don't beat yourself up too hard when you slide. Better players than myself go broke, and with more to lose too.

B4 beating yourself up just remind yourself that pros can go broke(somehow it makes me feel better every time).

Here's a bit of advice from me that's good, and if I can just learn to take my own advice...

Don't get determined to win back from the jerk who sucked out on you. There I said it. No matter how bad the beat, just say to yourself "I'll get it back, I don't have to get it back from so-and-so. I'll get it back". Don't rebuy, take a break, cool off, and then come back.

Again, I have to actually learn to take my own advice.

Here's a bit I actually use though. My goals are tiny. I hit a milestone at each $10 with the exception of $75(because $75 just looks really cool, so I'm $5 away from my next breakthrough, hehe). Yeah, tiny goals are good. Like - double up or better almost every time you sit. That's an easy one.

Gr8 now I sound like a mother hen. Fine, eat your broccoli, wash behind your ears, and for God's sake get a hair cut.

ELVIS: "Is it cool that I shake my hips?"

Steve Irwin: "Do ya think it's okay that I fight these gators, mate?"

Negreanu: "I wonder if I'll ever be good enough to win a world title?"

H. Hughes: "I just wonder if anybody would mind if I built me an empire?"

van Gogh: "Maybe I should just give in and paint like everybody else."

Dr. Benjamin Salk: "Do you think it's a fair goal, that I could ever find a cure for polio?"

Nuff said?

-

Hi BP and welcome to Card Chat.

Your initial goals sound quite reasonable to me, though don't be too disappointed if you don't quite meet them. I'm not sure what the exact figures are, but there are far more loosing players than winning players out there. To be a break even player from the start would be a very reasonable achievement.

With regards to the games that you play, I'd say 15c / 25c FL is a little high for your Bankroll (you really need $75 to be playing 15c / 25c FL, perhaps more as you are a complete novice). 15c / 25c NL is FAR too high (you need a BR of $500 to be playing that level).

With regard to your comments regarding other forms of gambling, an aquaintance of mine is a professional gambler. There is only one rule if you are gambling for profit (or for a living) and that is make sure the odds are in your favour. It takes a lot of hard work and research, but is not some mysterious art form - anyone can do it. I'll give you a silly example. Lets say that I knew that one day in every 25 (on average) there would be no new post created on this forum. Now lets say that the bookies offered me 28/1 that there would be no new threads created tomorrow. I'd take the bet. Doesn't matter whether I win the bet or lose really. If EVERY bet I make has the odds in my favour, then I WILL win in the long run. Poker is pretty much the same. Of course, the difficulty with other forms of gambling is knowing when the odds are in your favour - with poker (so long as you have a reasonable grasp of the concept of maths, odds, and implied odds) it's much easier.

Good luck with your new venture. I hope you enjoy the forum, that you contribute to it and that you are successful in your new venture.

This is probably the single most important thing to do, without which no other strategies or learning or goals will help you.

Here and here are some other BR threads you might find interesting.

I would say its actually a pretty tough goal, a lot of experinced player still find it hard to stay even at low stakes. I would say only dropping 10% of your 50 a good achievment, since i didnt start winning until about my 4th deposit

Hey - great to see another Aussie on here

With regard to free tournaments, are you talking live or online? Online there's loads of them - as a result, there's usually loads of people in them too and the prizes aren't big, but hey, what do we want for nothing? Check out the freerolls forum on here, Cardschat organise free games with cash prizes on a number of sites regularly. Often you'll find they're 'better' games than the regular freerolls too, and the payout structures are much better (paying the top 10% rather than the top 1%, for example).

Live is a different question, but you've still got options for free games. I'm from Melbourne, so I'm not 100% sure if it's the same deal in Sydney, but you should be able to find games run by the likes of the Australian Poker League, National Poker League, Pub Poker League or any number of others. I don't play them personally, but I believe they're free to enter and if you make it into their finals they offer cash prizes. Downside is that usually you have to deal the games yourself - Google any of those names and you should be able to find something near you. They're often run at RSLs and the like.

In Melbourne there's also lots of pubs that offer free poker, but with smaller non-cash prizes (bar vouchers are common, for example). I deal a few games each week where the winner gets something like a $50 bar tab. Could be similar things going in Sydney if you have a poke about.

Thanks for all your help everyone, I have taken it all on board.

I have been playing down at my local pub, to try and learn the basics, as well as try and expose myself to live play and tournies. My first game of poker ever was 5 weeks ago, and last night i finally one my first tourney. It is only a small social tournie, but this is how my record reads.

1st week: 9th / 12 (-$10)
2nd Week: 3rd / 13 ($10)
3rd Week 2nd / 8 ($10)
4th Week 3rd / 12 ($20)
5th Week 1st / 11 ($80)

Without getting carried away, I am pretty happy with how I have been playing. I feel i have been playing some pretty solid poker, and hopefully my win came as a result of this and is consistent with my earlier placings.

Anyway back to the learning board for me, as i still have a lot to learn. I am also considering purchasing Pokertracker for my online play, however for the moment i just want to concentrate on the basics and focus on my game, that way when I purchase pokertracker in a month or two I will be able to make the most of it.

Cheers

BP

there are very good results, you should be happy. You must have a natural skill for the game to finish in top 3 in 4/5 tournies