Hello and Please HELP!!!

Hi.

Im an new to poker .. very new!

I like the idea of the game.. but I cant seem to get a foothold.

I have only been playing for two months (limit texas holdem at low stakes $0.05 - $0.10).

I have been reading quite a lot about it, 10 or so books so far.. mainly by Sklansky.

So I guess what I am asking is which area of the game should I concentrate on first and whats the best way of going about it?

Obviously practice, but with poker there are so many variables its difficult for me to know if I am playing correctly or not.

Until I gat a basic foothold Im going to struggle, so obviously Id be interested to see what you guys come up with.

Thanks

I'd say start with Starting Hand selection, and in what position you would play what hands.

Here Poker Strategy - Poker Theory, Poker Articles, Strategies & Tips. you will find a wealth of good stuff. Since you are new I suggest you avoid anything but the holdem articles. Omaha will confuse even advanced players.

I would also suggest you not play for real money just yet. Getting used to the game and the flow of the game is where you should be concentrating for a few more months. There is no reason to spend money to learn the game. Soon enough you can play real money, but get a feel for how the game goes first.

If you have read 10 books, in my opinion you need actual experience now so that you have something to hang all that theory on.

Excellent advice.... in addition I'd like to add:

When playing with play money, in freerolls, or certain rebuy tourneys, be careful to avoid "playing like everyone else"...
quite often you will see plays made that no reasonable person would make in a cash game..... take the game seriously and play as if it really WAS your money on the line.... even though those at your table WON'T play that way.... don't worry about winning/losing, EXPECT to lose to bad calls and donk plays.... concentrate more on "did I play that right, or could I have played it better"

Every thing pete and dj sayd and maby post some hands in the hand history analyses.
There are alot of people there that can give u pointers on how u played the hand.

Stu, what games do you *want* to play?

Are you in the Limit game now because you like limit or, because you want a bigger bankroll or more experience or whatever before moving to No Limit?

I basically agree with them.

Play some free tables and freerolls. You'll learn that tight play pays off in the long run.

When you play for money, post some hands that you have questions about. And even though you're pretty new post some of your own thoughts about other people's hands. I learn a *lot* from people who show me why my suggestion isn't optimal.
Even if you don't comment, read hand that people have questions about. Learning from your mistakes is valuable, but learning from other people's mistakes is a lot less painful.

Stu, i think most people when they start playing poker, they start off real tight with hand selection, playing top ten hands early in tournaments, etc, till they get the hang of it, then they move on from there, and try to vary their game a bit.
welcome to the site, anyway.

Thanks guys

I play Texas Holdem.... would like to learn other games too but feel its best to concentrate on soely one to begin with.

I limit because its 'safer' and to be honest most books are geared towards limit so I felt it would be a better starting point than no limit / pot limit.

I have had a look at the reconmended starting hands here ... TBH I play a LOT looser than that.

Im a fairly tight player Im using the starting hands reconmended by Sklansky in Small Stakes holdem.

I think you need to play more than the top 10 hands otherwise people peg you as a rock and you get no action... and also because in small stakes people routinely see the flop so the cost is low yet the implied odds are very high.

Saying that I am struggling here a little.

Basically I am happy to play only these hands. Ok sometimes Ill lay down cards which turn out to be the best hand.. but I know that this happens so infrequently with poor cards that its not winning stratagy to use them.

However i notice that my table image here seems to suffer.

Ill sit down at a table (online) and usually get a bit of luck etc play some good starting cards and make some money.

THEN the cards go cold for a while. Im happy to fold them, but after laying down say 20 hands in a row i feel that my image is that of a rock.. so when I do get delt the nuts, I get very little action.

To combat this I play some rubbish cards every once in a while to make it look like im giving some action but i seem to loose too much this way as I am not sure with what frequency to do this and how often to go all the way to the river.

Any suggestions or comments guys?

if you have a chance to limp in, ie see the flop cheaply, then do it with cards like suited connectors, small pocket pairs, that will change your image a bit, and now and again you'll hit the flop big, like hitting sets, etc.

When I started, I played limit ring games, and a super-tight style. (as described in Phil Hellmuth's book) I was shocked to find that I was profitable immediately. It's a lot more fun to learn the game when you're making a (albeit tiny) profit.

Edit: Oh, and at the low stakes, one of the last things you need to worry about is your own table image. Most player's are only concerned with their own hands, and don't pay any attention to their opponents. Add to that players coming and going, and mixing up your play is often wasted on the donks.

Sounds to me like you have a great view on how poker is played at this level. Every post here is 100 percent correct and great advice for any new players. I think it's possibly a lack of confidence in your game that is giving you trouble. By your posts I would say you know what is up and how to play so just believe in yourself and your game. You will never stop learning this game so keep looking for advice and again, have confidence in your game.
Good Skill.

Reading 10 books is probably going to confuse you more than anything, especially since different authors have different takes. I've never even read a single poker book (probably not a good thing) but i don't think it is necessary at all to be a winning player. I suspect that these books aren't geared up for playing micro stakes either and the adjustments between playing micro stakes and playing decent opponents is HUGE. Many players in micro stakes are unbluffable etc. If you want to play limit micro stakes then it is a good idea to tighten up. In no way am i saying only play AJs+ AQo+ TT+ etc. but limit your raising range to hands like that, and try to see cheap flops with suited connectors and small pps. Fold everything else. Although i don't play limit, i imagine at micro stakes you are playing ALOT of calling stations (it isn't like limit allows you to give bad pot odds anyways). So you want to make sure you are only playing hands that will give you TPTK (raise hard preflop to isolate as best you can) or hands that can hit big multiway limped flops like flush/straight draws or sets.

Like i said i don't play limit so take this with a grain of salt, but if you want to play alot looser like you say then i would advise NL. I also don't think that limit is any safer than NL. Constantly losing a small amount is no better than periodically losing alot in a single pot.

hand selection 1st then start adding as ur confidence grows guessin opps hands thinkin a push will win knowing uve got the best hand etc

If you're playing at low stakes limit (ie Texes Never Fold 'em), your image matters very little. It's possible that the reason you don't get action when you hit is that your opponents simply don't have anything. No matter what your image is, even most bad players won't call when they didn't pair a hole card and have 42o. When you get to playing higher stakes you do have to loosen up a little, but unless you have a completely different idea of low limit than I do, you don't really need to worry about table image at this point in your poker career. Not positive about the skill level of the limit tables, but at the NLHE tables even at 50nl image isn't a huge part of the game aside from a few solid regs (the number of which I can count on my hands).

Stu, glad to have you here at the forums... good first posts BTW.

I notice you stated that the first books you have read have been geared to limit... probably Sklansky, Miller or another 2+2 limit book. Please do not use those ideas/strategy's for NO LIMIT holdem... the two are drastically different, especially ring games.

I will not recommend any books for you at this time... we have Aliengenius for that. However, I will recommend reading ONE book at a time, then implement the theory's and strategy's you learned from that book in real play. Once you feel you have a grasp on those then move on to the next book and repeat.