Basic Questions for Beginning Online Poker

A

A Fallible Poet

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Hello, all. I’m fairly new to this site. I’ve been browsing the forums and reading a lot of the articles on here the past few days. Even after reading some of the “New Player” threads, and beginner articles, I still have a few questions and hope that I could receive some advice from those that have the experience.

I remember playing on Full Tilt when it was in operation, building $25 into $40 playing microstakes before the government shut them down. After that I was under the assumption that online poker became illegal in the US, and recently found that it is not, and hadn’t been the case. So I’d like to jump back into the poker world as I enjoyed it while I played. However, even though I only want to play casually in hopes of making some extra money to spend, I want to improve my game and take it seriously, studying the game.

In the short amount of time I’ve been on this site, reading the articles and threads, I realize that previously my winnings were, if not wholly dumb luck, more luck than any amount of skill on my part. Moving forward, I want to go about things intelligently, and very, very conservatively. I want to lay out my plan and see what advice I can gather from the players that have been in my shoes before.

As for bankroll, I’ve read numerous times that you should have 300 Big Blinds in the stakes that you plan on playing in. I plan on starting in the 1C/2C games so the minimum deposit of $20 should suffice, am I right? I actually plan on depositing $30 on Bovada, but I would like to know if I’m understanding the bankroll theory right. On top of cash games, I also plan on playing in Single Table Sit N’ Go’s. How would I account for that in my bankroll, if at all?

If my initial investment is okay, my initial plan is to work my bankroll up to $50 no matter how long it takes. Is this a reasonable goal to start out with?

As for studying the game, I plan on picking up two books that seem to be highly recommended: Getting Started in Hold ‘em by Ed Miller and also Small Stakes Hold ‘em by Miller. Any other recommendations for microstakes and beginners? I love to read so the more books the merrier!

I know I’ve asked a lot of questions, and I’m not asking each person to answer each and every question. Any advice, criticism is welcomed. I appreciate the time you take to reply.

Thank you.
 
fletchdad

fletchdad

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Good luck, and welcome to CC.

A good book is Crushing the micro stakes by Nathan “BlackRain79” Williams. Mainly about 2 and 5 nl.

As far as BRM goes, the opinions differ. You dont calculate your BR in big blinds, but rather BI= buy in. You should have at least (IMO) 20, 30 would be better. If you deposit 20$, you have 10 BI at 2nl, so if you run bad, you could be broke fast. But that does not mean to not try anyway. But just be aware of that.

As far as SnGs go, most people advise sticking to one format at first, but that depends on what you feel more comfortable with. You should get some SnG literature if you plan on going that route.
 
Arjonius

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Your BR is all the money you allocate for poker, no matter where it is or how it's split up, not just what you deposit or have on a single site.

So for example, if I have $5 on a site and $150 in my e-wallet, it's NP to play 5NL because my entire BR is more than 30 buyins.

Also, if you're playing at the absolute lowest stakes, the real purpose of the 30 buyin guideline is for gauging if you're rolled to move up. If my BR is $2, for example, it's NP to play 2NL since there's nothing lower available. The only catch is that if I lose it all, my only option is freerolling; if I'm willing to deposit more, my BR wasn't $2.
 
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Losing thousands on online poker, its unreal to say the least. Even with best hands going in, we all think what we play are the best for that flop,we can only calculate what the other guy is on. making money online in the poker world isnt easy and moving up is always a challenge.I would stick to small buy ins if your spending under fifty dollars to start.we will never know why people keep calling with nothing and get incredibly lucky.I do know its easy to lose 500.00 in two hands when you get sucked out on bigtime.careful out there and goodluck to you.
 
A

A Fallible Poet

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Good luck, and welcome to CC.

A good book is Crushing the micro stakes by Nathan “BlackRain79” Williams. Mainly about 2 and 5 nl.

As far as BRM goes, the opinions differ. You dont calculate your BR in big blinds, but rather BI= buy in. You should have at least (IMO) 20, 30 would be better. If you deposit 20$, you have 10 BI at 2nl, so if you run bad, you could be broke fast. But that does not mean to not try anyway. But just be aware of that.

As far as SnGs go, most people advise sticking to one format at first, but that depends on what you feel more comfortable with. You should get some SnG literature if you plan on going that route.

Thanks for the Welcome! And thanks for the clarification on the BRM. I guess I simply misunderstood the article I read.

I've been reading all the articles and watching any video I can find, soaking up as much information as I can. I will certainly pick up the book you recommend. Any books specifically on SnGs?

@Arjonios Could freerolling be a legitimate route to building a bankroll? If you're a smart player, how difficult is it to win in the freeroll tourneys?

Thanks for the replies everyone.
 
Arjonius

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Lots of players have built up their BRs from 0 by starting with freeroll winnings. A well-known one who comes to mind is Annette Obrestad who has won millions and a WSOPE main event. She couldn't deposit when she started because she was only 15.

It used to be much easier several years ago. Because there were many more freerolls with larger prize pools and weak fields, it was very feasible to average hundreds of dollars per month just by being half-decent. Not really good, just half-decent.

These days, to get into that hundreds per month range, you have to build enough game to beat the micro-ring games and/or low buyin tournaments. While that's not as easy as it used to be, thankfully, it's still not very hard.
 
A

A Fallible Poet

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Lots of players have built up their BRs from 0 by starting with freeroll winnings. A well-known one who comes to mind is Annette Obrestad who has won millions and a WSOPE main event. She couldn't deposit when she started because she was only 15.

It used to be much easier several years ago. Because there were many more freerolls with larger prize pools and weak fields, it was very feasible to average hundreds of dollars per month just by being half-decent. Not really good, just half-decent.

These days, to get into that hundreds per month range, you have to build enough game to beat the micro-ring games and/or low buyin tournaments. While that's not as easy as it used to be, thankfully, it's still not very hard.

An update on my progress. Would like to gather your and anyone else's thoughts.

I've played in 6 Freerolls so far. Now I know that that's not many, and I still plan on playing in quite a few more. Out of the six, I've made the money twice, top 100 twice, and out in the middle of the tournament twice.

I feel like I'm playing smart, and I feel like I'm understanding when to bet, 3bet, cbet, and most importantly, fold em'. I plan on making it up to $10 and then play some 2NL. I know it's only 5 BI but I'd like the experience. Would this be okay to do, or should I wait until I've built it higher than that? Any advice on this is appreciated!
 
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