Starting in online poker... a little advice?

Hey guys,

I'm new here, and so far just browsing though the posts I've found a lot of good tips and experiences. I recently started a bodog account and have a few questions.

- Is Bodog a good place to start? I picked it because the competition is supposed to be so soft and I thought that would be good for me learning the finer points. But it doesn't seem to be the preferred site here. Should I jump ship? If so, how easy will it be for me to get my initial deposit ($50, now built to almost $60)) back?

- Should I concentrate on one game, or spread it around? I've been on the hold em limit .05/.10 tables and am currently just barely winning. I'll usually make about a dollar from a 30 to 45 minute session. recently I played a few $2 sit n go's and got 2nd in one (should have gotten 1st but I was pretty smashed at the time). Should I jump between limit and no limit, or pick one format and stick? Should I just say screw consistency and buffet Omaha, Razz and Stud as well?

- Last question I promise... I've heard everyone talk about having 300BB before moving up in limits, but does that go for the micro limits like where I am now? Should I wait until $75 until I jump up to .10/.25 (I admit I don't expect that to be long, but I can't play every day) or can I jump now if I feel i can handle it?

Thanks all,
Mike

Re: Advice

Hi jmiket,
An unbiased answer to some of your questions. Is bodog a good place to start? It's as good a place as any, bodog is one of the larger more reliable sites. It sounds a little like your ready to take advice as gospel, if you ask people if you should leave bodog you'll get a mixture of replies, some will say yes and some no but ultimately you have to make that decision yourself.
It sounds like you've started out ok, although be it small you've already made a profit so why "jump ship"?

My own personal play/feelings/strategy is to have around 5 different poker rooms that I play at, or at least 3 with 2 as back up. The reason for this is sometimes you'll have a bad day, maybe a couple of bad days, if it looks like i'm having a bad run i'll switch to one of the other poker rooms, another reason is some have better tourneys than others, or some will have particular tournaments(MTT) at certain times which I play but will play SNG at another.

Should you concentrate on one game or spread it around? Again ultimately that should be your choice, a lot depends on your level of experience, I prefer no limit holdem and I only really play MTT (multi-table tourneys) and SNG (sit-n-go) I rarely play ring games. Having said that I do play other tourneys too like razz,limit,stud but they are not my preference. If your trying to make some decent money then you'd probably be better off sticking to one or two type of games and get good at those, you will always have a preference and that is the one you usually want to make your money at, at times you'll feel like a change so enter something completely different.

Your last question I can't even give advice as it refers to ring games and I don't play those, sorry. Definitely read some more threads here and ask more questions, you get a great response here and there is tons of info.

Tony

jmiket said:

- Should I concentrate on one game, or spread it around? I've been on the hold em limit .05/.10 tables and am currently just barely winning. I'll usually make about a dollar from a 30 to 45 minute session. recently I played a few $2 sit n go's and got 2nd in one (should have gotten 1st but I was pretty smashed at the time). Should I jump between limit and no limit, or pick one format and stick? Should I just say screw consistency and buffet Omaha, Razz and Stud as well?

- Last question I promise... I've heard everyone talk about having 300BB before moving up in limits, but does that go for the micro limits like where I am now? Should I wait until $75 until I jump up to .10/.25 (I admit I don't expect that to be long, but I can't play every day) or can I jump now if I feel i can handle it?

Thanks all,
Mike

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I'd recommend finding one level/game to focus on, and build your game from there. That doesn't mean playing that exclusively, but I find it good to have one main game that I'm using as a building block/reference for me to compare other games with. But then, I'm still very much building skills and experience.

And, $75 for .10/.25? That's only 3 full buyins; I only do something like that on a site where I don't care about the money (one site I play on my bankroll is built from $5 free so I often take 1/2 my bankroll to the table; definitely NOT recommended bankroll management). I don't play limit, but that still seems pretty low.


Welcome to the forum, btw.

I think he was talking about .10/.25 LIMIT hold'em. In this case, yes, you should wait until you have at least 300bb since the swings can be massive when playing limit, especially at these levels (where you have no fold equity).

My general strategy now (I am in the same situation as you, but I've played live for a long time) is to practice safe BR management and concentrate on limit ring games and NL SNG's. I feel these are the two games where I can constantly profit online. Another game I also play is 5 card-draw at PS (PL SNG) since the competition is crazy soft and you can multitable them easily (calculate odds, draw, bluff if necessary and correct, rinse and repeat).

I'd also recommend that you pick up some books on the games/stakes you'll be playing. Small Stakes HE seems to be the norm for limit players these days, but the Sklansky books can help you too (TOP, wich can be a very good beginner's book if you have some experience*).

So, Reading + Studying your game + Sound BR management + Playing well = profit.

* I'm used to reading thesis on Medieval Literature so it was an ok reading.

Thanks all for the advice. Jeffred, I was sort of leaning toward what you say you do - play the .05/.10 limit rings and throw in low buy in SnG's and MTT's to spice things up.

And I bought Super System 2 as an overall poker reference last week. The limit section, although arguably more geared to higher limits, is really amazing and covers so much ground. But I might look for one of those low limit specific books.

And I bought Super System 2 as an overall poker reference last week. The limit section, although arguably more geared to higher limits, is really amazing and covers so much ground. But I might look for one of those low limit specific books.

Click to expand...

Do so since many of the plays described in these books (HEAP, SS2, etc.) won't work at the lower levels of play. Sklanksy recommends raising with 89s once in a while in EP to throw your opponents off when you bet on rags in the future. Try this at the the micros and tell me how it works People fold and don't remember their hole cards 5 seconds afterward, so to play an unpredictable game is meaningless and makes you piss away precious BB.

Semi-bluffs sometimes work at a tight table, but you have to be very careful when using this play (having Jd10d in an unraised pot when the flop comes Js9sQd for example, is bound to make you go broke since someone has hit something, taking the free card is best here).