When I first started out playing
online poker I actually did quite well....
[intro. story coming up to how it started]
..... my very first game of any kind online was a $1 MTT on Fulltilt. The tourney started at 10:30pm on a Sunday night.... but I'd actually started out at ~12noon, setting up my account & attempting to make a deposit via Moneybookers... and it took 10hrs. going back & forth til' they finally told me I'm not able to use Moneybookers from
canada. In that time I had to re-activate an old cell phone I no longer used so that they could send me confirmation codes (so I had to pay to re-activate & pay for a freak'n card on the phone I wasn't going to use). I was some kinda pissed but was determined to play. I finally discovered I could use a MC GiftCard. Here I'd hoped to treat myself to play some online poker for the very fist time on a Sunday afternoon & now it was almost Monday.... but I got the money on there & it was time to get started!
I opened the lobby which was exciting... it was colorful but confusing.
I wanted to find something cheap as I was only looking to spend a buck or two at a time to get started. I was browsing the Tournament lobby but I didn't know it at the time... I wasn't aware of the other lobby/tabs I just wanted to play. I looked down the column & saw one of the lines said '$1' to enter & it said 'registering'.... & a time of 10:30pm which was in just a few minutes. I clicked on it & entered.
I thought I knew what I was doing.... I thought I was good. Apparently especially at 'Hero Calls' & 'Huge 3-barrel bluffs' (I reviewed the Hand History a year later & then again a couple years after that).
Two hours goes by, I'm still playing although it moved me to another table (not sure why
).
Three hours goes by, I'm getting into it... playing LOTS of hands (why aren't all the others playing more hands?). I wake up the wife to tell her "I'm still plalying".
Just over 5 1/2 hrs.later it is just me and one other guy on the table. The others are all KO'd & we've got all their chips
The other guy ends up winning & as he does I was thinking "Oh well... that was fun playing. I'll try again soon & maybe I can win something next time" (I didn't even know I was getting paid for coming in 2nd). A small window pops up on my screen, telling me I'd won $114.00! "What?! pfff... this is great!"
That ^ is how it first started for me.
For the next while I was doing okay & winning but it didn't last & soon I was a losing player with maybe roi-10% at SNG.
At times I was shocked
by all the badbeats. "How was I supposed to win with all that sh1t happening so often!"
I joined a forum (after seeing
freerolls listed in the lobby) & they told me to hang in there, things would turn around for me & that 'luck would swing the other way' (I'm pretty sure they were mostly losing players too).
I joined another forum & then began doing some serious homework. (or so I thought). I read alot of stuff but found that strategy guides & some of the
poker books were best. My game improved immensely & I became a winning player.
I discovered there was alot more to this game than I first thought. I wasn't very good at all.... in fact I sucked big time.
There's many things that one can do to improve their
poker game... as others mentioned > books, videos, posting on a
poker forum, reading HandHistory reviews, etc. Also the mental/emotional & psychological part of the game.
Good luck & enjoy the journey!