How do I build up the confidence to play w/ real money?

Up till now iv either played play money games, or used someone else's account when dealing with real money.
I recently deposited £50, but the problem is I'm too much of a wimp to play with it.
Great, so I can break a leg and continue walking like nothing's happened (which still hurts after 7 years since I'm so stupidly stubborn to go to a damn doctor), bluff the hell out of everyone on play money games, but I'm a sissy when it comes to doing something with those £50.
I'm just scared I'll lose it all after going gaga over AA, then deposit more and lose that again, until iv lost everything.
So how the hell do I start playing with some confidence?

Playing some SNG's may help you in playing in real money games, and give you the confidence that you need.
SNG's should work, everyone starts with the same size stack.
You are playing with scared cash/money, that's never a good thing.
You will get some bad beats, but you will just have to look past it.

bankroll management. If you're managing your risks well by limiting the stakes you play, you should never be afraid to make the right play.

Diya05 said:

bluff the hell out of everyone on play money games,

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I did not think bluffing at play money to be possible!!!

Maybe begin with a good book. Some knowledge coupled with a win or two should bring confidence. I would start with tourneys since you get a lot of hands for the money, and cash can get expensive quick for novices.
I can promise that if you play enough, your aces will get cracked, so having realistic expectations (i.e. losing is an unavoidable part of poker) may help as well. If you recognize compulsive tendencies in yourself, then take advantage of pokerstars' self-imposed deposit limits.

Start small. 2nl if cash. Max you can lose at a time is $2. If that makes you nervous most sites have really, really cheap SnGs available. I play on Carbon and they have them as low as 11c. Yes, 11c. If losing 11c, bothers you.....maybe poker is not your thing.

Thanks for the advice guys.
What do you lot think of the Ferguson BRM? I thought maybe I should follow that...

Big_Rudy said:

Start small. 2nl if cash. Max you can lose at a time is $2. If that makes you nervous most sites have really, really cheap SnGs available. I play on Carbon and they have them as low as 11c. Yes, 11c. If losing 11c, bothers you.....maybe poker is not your thing.

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Wow, 11c? That's low.
I don't think it'll bother me, first time I'll lose it I'll probably fall off my chair straight into a pit of despair, but then I'll man up (as much as I can due to being a female lol) and get it back.
Poker is my thing! Iv loved it since I was 7

BRM

I have zero confidence. Luckily my opponents can't see me behind my screen.

You cant start thinking about the money when you play.

Diya05 said:

What do you lot think of the Ferguson BRM? I thought maybe I should follow that...

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It's a good system, probably ideal for you. And if you play pokerstars they have a 10-cent 360-player turbo. At least they used to, haven't been on stars since Black Friday .

WVHillbilly said:

I did not think bluffing at play money to be possible!!!

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+1

grow some balls

Take a look at the amount you are bankrolled for, 50 pounds is probably a Saturday night out. Play at the lowest stakes possible and measure your performance. If you are losing every session you know you need to work on your game, on the other hand if you are generally winning but do still have losing sessions then try to gauge a profit margin based on a set number of sessions. Take 20 sessions and average your win/loss perhaps throwing out the low/hi sessions. This should give you some idea where you are at at that level. Even if you are slowly losing how many hours have you played on 50 pounds vs. one Saturday night outing?

TylerN said:

grow some balls

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That would shock me even more than losing, since I'm a female xD

WVHillbilly said:

I did not think bluffing at play money to be possible!!!

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dj11 said:

+1

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+2.

How about playing cash limit holdem tables instead of no limit. The fact of knowing that your opponents (and you) can't go allin in one hand and lose it all could help you feel more relaxed. Then, when you're more comfortable playing real money, you can hit the no limit tables.

Do you want to play cash games or SNGs?

Like others said, start low and work your way up as your confidence and bankroll grows.

It's only a few dollars...no need to be scared about losing a buy-in or two!

I'll probably play cash games...

Then play nl$2. (.01/.02 blinds). That gives you 25 buyins, so if you lose one then you are still in decent shape.

Good choice

You have enough BR to play 2nl...I would avoid bluffing at this level btw.

Ferguson BRM says you need 20 buy-ins, but most of the cash players on here agree that having 30+ buy-ins for the level you are playing/want to play is better....but 25 buy-ins should be fine for 2nl.

GL

Ferguson used his BRM guidelines for a couple of challenges where he built up his roll from nothing. In these situations, he can use a smaller number of buyins because he has the game to beat the micro, low and mid-stakes levels where those challenges take place. When he moves from say 5nl to 10nl or 50nl to 100nl, he (a) won't lose because he hit a level his game isn't ready for, and (b) is less likely than most to experience as large a downswing because he'll lose less when he does run bad.

Plus since he did the challenges to prove a point, it was easy to have the self-discipline to drop down if he fell even a bit below 20 BI.

Since you stated that your fear is the scared money fear of losing it all, and trust us, we all share similar fears, I have decided that I will endorse SnG's as the way to overcome your fear. Ring cash tables will probably fuel your fears with the possibility of you deciding to reload after a busto, and continue at a table where it is fairly likely the other players will have you marked 'fish'. This is not to condemn you as a fish, but there are moves that occur in those first ~~ 20K hands at cash games that you will make, and need to understand, that the rest of the poker world will see as fishy.

SnG's are inherently safer because even tho you may be marked 'fish', the game moves along quick enough to dodge the regular pitfalls, and along with the fixed risk, give any poker talent you may have a chance to shine.

Choose single table SnG's. Not multi-table Sng's.

The thing here is that you are working on overcoming your self felt fear. That is a thing worth spending (losing) money to fix, you don't need to overpay for that fix.

So IMHO....single table SnG's aka STT's.

dj11 said:

Since you stated that your fear is the scared money fear of losing it all, and trust us, we all share similar fears, I have decided that I will endorse SnG's as the way to overcome your fear. Ring cash tables will probably fuel your fears with the possibility of you deciding to reload after a busto, and continue at a table where it is fairly likely the other players will have you marked 'fish'.

SnG's are inherently safer because even tho you may be marked 'fish', the game moves along quick enough to dodge the regular pitfalls.

Choose single table SnG's. Not multi-table Sng's.

The thing here is that you are working on overcoming your self felt fear. That is a thing worth spending (losing) money to fix, you don't need to overpay for that fix.

So IMHO....single table SnG's aka STT's.

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I like this idea a lot if you opt for the SnG format. If you follow-through with your plan to stick to cash games, though; there are a few options. There is always limit poker as someone suggested, but be aware that is a very different game from nl.

For cash nl, I'd definately suggest setting yourself a stop-loss for the session/day; especially since you are anxious about losing anyway. Set your limit at something like 3-4 buy-ins a session. If you hit that; quit for then so you don't start playing even more scared or tilt-off even more. If you have extra time on those days you are forced to quit because you've reached your stop-loss limit; spend it studying the game. Read a book, analyze some hands, stop in here and browse some of the stuff we have to offer. Get your mind straight and then go back at it again in a better frame of mind when your next session starts.

I play limit and nl; I seem to be good at limit. My initial idea was to play cash limit, but now you lot have convinced me to play SNGs.

I spend a lot of time studying the game from books, and watching videos, so that spare time won't be a problem.

I suggest trying some ring, SNGs and MTTs to see what you enjoy the most. Maybe budget $10 to try each one, which will give you a few buyins. Try not to focus on the results, but rather to determine which type of game is the best fit / most enjoyable for you. Once you've figured that out, it's obvious what you should mainly stick to.

Just start at really small stakes and slowly work your way up, just tell yourself "it's only a dollar" or "it's only 20cents" whatever. Look up articles on loss aversion - it's very common. I don't feel any different when losing $20 or .20 cents if it's a similar proportion of my bankroll on that site. Fear of losing money is not the same as confidence in your play - decouple those ideas.