Trying to get the ball rolling.

Hey guys, I'm brand new to the site, so please be gentle.

I recently became of age to play online, and I fancy myself at the least a mediocre player. Yet it seems that for every good thing that happens, 2 bad ones counter it.

For example, I dropped off 40$ in to my Full Tilt account last night, left at the end of the night with 25 dollars, turned that into 57$ after coming in the top 400 for the BLT Tournament. And now thanks to the addition of rush poker, I slid back to 8 dollars.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I'm managing my money. Anyone have some tips on how to curb my enthusiasm for losing?

On that note, I am assuming there is lots of lingo that is used here that I am not used to, anyone want to field some abbreviations that they know of to help me out.

I guess this is my hello, I hope to get to know you guys well.

For lingo check out this thread;

Hand Analysis Lingo & Other Poker Terms

For money matters search for BRM(bank roll managament) in the search feature at the top of the page.

Best of luck.

Also an intro post for me, also a new member and thought I'd let you know what I have read so far and seems to be working for me. This is a long reply, so I hope you have some coffee .
Bankroll Management (BRM) is the way you manage the amount of money you have in your poker "Bank Account".
There are a lot of opinions regarding how you should manage your cash, but I'll give you the general overview.

Cash Games: When playing cash games you will find that you will be grinding and going up and down quite a bit, in the beginning, I would go with a Max of 5% or your Bankroll daily. This means if you lose 5% of your roll ($10 if your Bankroll is $200), STOP playing for the day, switch to play money, or better yet, come and read CC, whatever it takes... But stick to it. Once you are winning consistently, move it up to 10% but never past 10%. At 5%, you can lose for 20 days in a row before you go bust. You should also stick to the micro limit games, your 5% should be at least 100 times the Big Blind of your desired stakes. (e.g. If you have $10 per day, your Big Blind should be 10c on the table that you are playing)

Tournaments: Although your wins will be bigger with tournaments, you will lose more often than winning, and you will need to ensure your Bankroll can support these huge gaps between payouts. I would recommend that you go with 4 times the buy-in of the tournament times 40. This means if you have $200, you should be entering $1 tournaments and Freerolls ONLY.

I know this sounds like an incredibly small amount, and you will start off slow... But, this will account for any massive downswings, as well as allowing you to forget about the cash. This helps a lot with your mind set, as you will not be in constant fear of going bust. Learn how the game works on the net, and for real money, as each of these brings new aspects to your game.

Have fun and try and be as disciplined with your Bankroll as possible, if you lose for more than 5 days in a row, take a break. And read as much as you can...

That's all I have, enjoy and see you on the e-felt.

Edited to add; Also, I would recommend staying away from Rush, and even No Limit all together in the beginning, both will bring massive swings for the beginner.

im curious as to what limits you are playing..obviously if you were playing rush poker than the lowest limit you were playing is 10NL..with a $40 BR?? destined to go busto..i lost $40 bucks on one hand today on rush poker when i was 500BBs deep at one table.

the swings are massive and the variance is a bitch..if you want to be a winning player it starts with BRM.

I fully agree about the swings in rush (not doing it again). Yeah I was playing 10nl cause its the lowest level. I am fully aware of this mistake.

You must be correctly bankrolled.

Think of correct BRM as a buffer for luck. In any hand, no matter how skilled, you can loose your stack... but to loose 20 in a row suggests a lack of skill!!

To loose 5 or 6 buyins in a row is normal, then to win than back fairly quickly is also normal.

This is why BRM is important.

So to play 200NL you need $200 s either deposit some more or drop down to a level you are bankrolled for.

Poker is all about the slow grind, its a long term game not a short term one.

The reason I suggested 5% (or 20 losses in a row) is because if he is only starting out, that too would suggest a lack of skill. (At least in this game format i.e: online real money)

Sorry.

Don't know why I typed that.

Its supposed to read to play 10NL you need $200

LOL