I am starting to play a little online poker after about a 10 year absence. I live in California. Wondering what sites everyone is playing on? I see that Carbon is still there, BetOnline, and also ACR. Is there anything else worth playing on? Are the above mentioned sites still worth playing on? I tried to update Bovada on my comp and it just dies during update, so i assume i need to redownload the software.
I started up after ten years off just last august. I think ACR would be the best for mtt if they were to change a few things, like have more freezeout games with higher gtd prize pools and lower the late reg times on the bigger games. They have those freerolls running all the time, like every half hour, and they are a good place to start out. I didn't know about them when I first came back, so what I did was play on
poker stars play chip for about two weeks, then I opened my account and deposited $40. I think I have been a bit lucky; my second game there I took 5th in the 1k 8max $2.20 entry game for about $70, and from there I was able to take down a couple more relatively big (for micro) cashes. Since then I have been trying to build up my roll and avoid wasteful wagering. It really is all about
bankroll management, whether you are a high roller or still playing the low and micro stakes.
If you do not want to deposit, and want to get in a bunch of
hands as practice for free, then I suggest you play the ACR $10 freerolls until you win about $10 from them--they are very hard to cash in and pay very little out to only the top ten finishers--at which point you could play the lowest stake micro games that cost 10-50 cents. You should also play the scheduled freerolls, like the jackpot, casinoOrg, trick2g, and of course the Cards Chat freerolls. Those are much better games and have bigger prize pools with normal payout structures.
Like I said before, it is all about bankroll management, unless you have money to burn on continuous reload deposits, which most of us do not. Bankroll management is a lot like weight loss and diets; people always claim to be doing their very best yet they still can't make any progress, and the only way to make real progress and succeed is to stick to the rules and be consistent. Be mindful of every time you wager, and avoid numerous re-entries; I only re-enter if I get knocked out really early by a bad beat. Only enter tournaments you actually have the time to play. Most of the good micro games take anywhere from 5-7 hours. But most of all, the size of your wagers should be in proportion to your overall bankroll. The lower the wagers are in relation to your bankroll, the safer your wagers and bankroll will be. The higher that percentage rises, the more risk you are taking on. Generally, if you keep your wagers to 1% or less of your total roll, you are practicing good management. So if you plan on playing the $2.20 1k game each day, you would want at least $220 in your bankroll.
Of course it is up to you how safe or risky you want to be with your wagering. But the riskier you wager, the more you are relying on luck; by being careful with your wagers you are mitigating risk and giving yourself a better chance at winning. Of course you also need to study the game and learn how to play and how to navigate the mtt in order to make final tables and reach those top 3 or 4 cashes, which is where most of the money from the prize pool is.
The more experience you gain, the better. But don't trick yourself into playing expensive games too early and calling it a learning experience when you inevitably struggle to cash. It may have been a learning experience, but you could have gotten the same thing out of it by playing a $5 game instead of a $50 game. Try to crawl before you see if you can sprint.