Beginner: what tables?

I'm fairly new to poker. Played a dozen times or so with friends and roughly 40 hours worth for play money at pokerstars.

I recently got 172 /12000 on my first Hubble freeroll. Not that I think this is a big deal but just to say that I feel confident on the basics of folding/calling.

I want to be a better poker player but I find playing in the freerolls/play money rooms is a joke because people have no consequences for calling every hand or going all in with sucky cards.

So I am going to start playing for real money, and wondering what tables to play at. Alot of the guides I read here were pointing at the 10/25nl tables, but it also seemed to be for the player who had poker experience and was transitioning to online.

For someone who just knows the basics, should I stay at the 2NL/4NL tables or go to 10NL?

I'm not playing to make money, just get better (I want to see how good I am after 6-12 months). As far as bankroll, I have $125 in my account and I want that to last for at least a month. I will be playing about an hour a day.

Let me know your thoughts.

I think you should stick to low stakes... .10/.25nl or pl and maybe even lower to .5/.10nl. With your BR, playing these levels an hour a day shouldn't hurt it if you happen to go on a downward slide.

You shouldn't base upward/downward swings based on length of time played but how many buy-ins you have. You can easily lose a $125 BR in a hour playing 25nl.

You could start with 5nl with that BR and have 25 buy-ins. I personally would start lower with 2nl and have 62 buy-ins, but if you think you can beat 5nl then go for it. 10nl and 25nl is way to high to start off with.

Do you plan on multi-tabling?

Without hesitation I would recommend you make a deposit on Carbon Poker, and play 10c 20c no limit cash tables. I was under the false impression that low stakes ring were just an excuse for the site to demolish you BR by taking rake, and that profit was a fantasy. Last weekend however changed my mind. I had $51:60 left on a merge skin which I won playing "private" games which are no longer held there. I withdrew the $50 and sat at a 10c/20c table with $1:60, expecting to lose it in short order. I played my "normal" game and sure enough was down to 60c after two hands. I tightened up even more and within an hour and a half or so, had my roll up to $24:80, the cash tables on merge are as loose as a baby tooth in a pensioner. Play TAG and there's money to be made.

No, my focus is on learning the game, specifically calculating pot odds and outs more quickly and getting better reads on people. I suck at multi-tasking so I think it would be too distracting for me.

I think I'll stick to the 2NL's now that you mentioned the buy-in factor.

Is it reasonable to expect that if I'm playing well I should be close to breaking even over a month?

With 40 hrs of play money experience, I wouldn't recommend multi tabling just yet either.


Philthy's an expert with low stakes levels. Do a forum search for some of his threads and posts.

gotta agree, start with 2nl to get the hang of it.

to start you off right, philthy wrote a guide for 2nl that resulted in a pretty good winrate.

Philthy's Guide to Beating 2nl


To help out more start reading and posting (this one is very important) hands in the Hand analysis forum. getting feedback over your tough spots is one of the best ways to learn.

With a 125 dollar bankroll you should be playing 2-5c micro stakes. sit in for the full amount. Then once you hit 200 bucks move up to 5-10c and move up stakes like that. only sit with 5% of your total Bankroll at a time. Anything more you could go broke before you know it. Never sit with all your money -EVER- Even if you are just playing for fun. GL at the tables

Ok...DO NOT READ THIS THREAD!!!

It was a joke post that I made. All the advice I give is very bad.

However, I am very familiar with micro-limits and will gladly help you out with anything.

My credentials include:
-Taking 1st in the BOTP on Stars, $1 SNGs. I placed in top 20 a few times afterwards.
-For SNGs, I turned -$ profit and -22% ROI into $400+ in profit and 14% ROI playing $1-$3 buy-in games.
-Currently playing 2nl. Only 6K hands since start of Oct but I run at 19bb/100 and a profit of $45+ in about 12 total days of playing. I multi-table, though.

Send me a PM if you have questions or anything.

I would start with one table SnG's, with $1 to $3 buy in.

Stay on the lowest tables, $1 and under, single table SnG's till you feel comfortable.
If you have a good upswing move up slightly in the stakes but keep in mind your BR and the number of buy-ins you have.

Good luck out there

Id give multi tables another go m8.

Say just 2 or 3 tables.

Poker is very slow. Its easier to play slowly with 3 tables than with just 1.

You will see more cards in a shorter space of time and get to grips more with micro stakes.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but since he's a recent play money convert, wouldn't the .01/.02 tables be a better starting point, if only to get used to the huge difference between play/cash games?

For me, the jump from play money to .05/.10 micro was a whole different world in the quality of play. If you've been playing free long enough to develop the usual bad habits, even low stakes like that can bite you. I eventually dropped back to .01/.02 as it seemed to be a nice middle ground. For improving your game and getting out of play money mentality, you'd think taking baby steps and playing in the place with the lowest BR risk would be a good place to start.

I would think you should play at the smallest stakes available. Play smart and play quality hands to get the feel for the play around the tables and learn what the nuts are try to do. When you see it take advantage of it. If you are confortable with your play after a few weeks, give a S&G a try and don't play like it is just play money.

Play smart, and when you have some success, move up and give the next level a try. Be Patient, many say it, few listen.