Restarting online poker after 10 yr absence

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abominationmc

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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.
 
VIP_TARIFF

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Try playing on the pokerstars site, basically everyone plays there. Good luck playing poker.
 
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abominationmc

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Is that the same pokerstars from back in the day?

Try playing on the PokerStars site, basically everyone plays there. Good luck playing poker.


It seems that if you reside in the good ole US of A, you are not welcome at pokerstars, unless you live in the great state of New Jersey. Unless i am missing something...:confused:
 
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belladonna05

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Is that the same pokerstars from back in the day?




It seems that if you reside in the good ole US of A, you are not welcome at pokerstars, unless you live in the great state of New Jersey. Unless i am missing something...:confused:
Yes, I still miss playing there , any sites still available in the US just don't have the traffic or games I used to love there. But us beggars can't be choosers in the land of the free, now can we? :p:rolleyes:
 
Mr_Hand

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I have almost the exact same story. Haven't played seriously since Jan of 09. Built a roll of over 25k from $10 in 05. Luckily I cashed out before Black Friday. I just joined ACR today. Seems like a good site. One of my fellow Ohioains has some pretty good success there. I'm grinding their free rolls just to start a roll again. Good luck!
 
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abominationmc

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Luckily when i logged back into my account at BetOnline there was still $2 in my account. Same at Carbon. Probably start off on some freerolls and grind a bit in the $1.50 double or nothing SnG. Good luck to you also!
 
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Dontnonothin

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Luckily when i logged back into my account at BetOnline there was still $2 in my account. Same at Carbon. Probably start off on some freerolls and grind a bit in the $1.50 double or nothing SnG. Good luck to you also!


Wow, they did not delete your accounts!?

Good luck and be careful, the competition is much tougher that ten years ago. There is not really much money in online poker anymore.
 
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firephreak

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Americas Card room has high traffic but also has the most grinders using heads up displays. It's my personal go to for mtts.
Bet online is softer and offers lots of low stake tournaments they have 10 3.30 1ks a day on the weekends and many good value tournaments.
ignition is basically bovada exact same layout. super fishy but mtts arnt the greatest and everyone is anonymous.

I've withdrawn off both ACR and BetOnline in the last year and they were both extremely fast though I used bitcoin.

Good Luck
 
VMVarga

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Americas Card room has high traffic but also has the most grinders using heads up displays. It's my personal go to for mtts.
Bet online is softer and offers lots of low stake tournaments they have 10 3.30 1ks a day on the weekends and many good value tournaments.
Ignition is basically bovada exact same layout. super fishy but mtts arnt the greatest and everyone is anonymous.

I've withdrawn off both ACR and BetOnline in the last year and they were both extremely fast though I used bitcoin.

Good Luck


Anyone who feels the need to use HUDs to play this game is kidding themselves if they think they will ever, EVER be able to play live games, which is where all the real money is in poker.
 
VMVarga

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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.
 
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abominationmc

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Played in the Trick2g and the cc monthly $250. Got ITM in the Trick2g for a whopping 78 cents haha. Rollin in the dough =)
 
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duson

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The biggest US sites are Americas Card Room, Bet online, and Bovada/Ignition. Betonline and Bovada can be considered softer then ACR. As well for Bovada it can be easier on newer people because of the anonymity that the software provides if you're ok with the non-sync'd breaks.
 
MrPokerVerse

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Good luck at the tables. At least you shouldn't have the learning curve when you first hit the tables back in the day.
 
leogetz79

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man how did you do it!!!! i was out for the holidays and just came back last week. i was craving for some poker!!!! hope you have a blast on you way back. good luck
 
Poker Orifice

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As others have mentioned... the game has changed significantly in the past 10yrs. (the atmosphere, the prizepools, the skill level of average player, & the % of fish vs. regs. on the tables).
Just yesterday I was looking back on what some of the prizepools were on Fulltilt back in 2010, 2009... some of those $26 ($24+2) buyin MTT's paid out huge... a person could place 2nd & win $8k... for $26!!!! And even in the ones running later in the day, a top 5 places in a $26 all paid out over $1,000. Now tourneys later in the day pay out about as much as a big SNG.
Speaking of SNG's... this has changed significantly as well. Gone are the days of multi-table SNG's filling up within seconds, where you can have 10 of them running... all within 20mins. (I mean 27man, 45man, 90man stuff). More popular now is games that are tougher to beat ... ie. 'hypers', Jackpot sng's, where one's winrate (ROI) is going to be +2% maximum (some games now are considered not beatable due to increased rake, lack of benefits (rakeback, etc.),
The play is much tougher as well. There's so much available info ('free' info.) on the internet for those who want to improve.

gl
 
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Anyone who feels the need to use HUDs to play this game is kidding themselves if they think they will ever, EVER be able to play live games, which is where all the real money is in poker.

Depends if you prefer tournaments or cash games.

If you're a tournament player, online is going to be more profitable. Some of these guys are playing 30 or more tournaments a day which is not even possible live.

Cash games can be lucrative online or live. You will run into less talented players online than live however.

If you play online, a HUD is only going to benefit you. There's no reason to not use one. And just because you're using a HUD, doesn't mean that you'll struggle playing live. A strange assumption you've made there. For certain, there's a lot of great live players who also play online and probably use a HUD.
 
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congratulations and welcome back. its always nice to see a fellow player back on the felts. hope to see you in a game or two. I like playing on acr. hope you enjoy yourself.
 
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kalelisback

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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.



Similar 10+ years disappearance from the game (hence my username). hoping to freeroll to a bankroll. It's good to success stories from people who started with nothing or close to nothing. Cashing ITM for 55 cents is not something extremely motivating , but for sure, it keeps you at bay and helps to play better when the goal in only up.
 
MMaki1981

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Good Luck & Welcome Back

hoping to freeroll to a bankroll. It's good to success stories from people who started with nothing or close to nothing. Cashing ITM for 55 cents is not something extremely motivating , but for sure, it keeps you at bay and helps to play better when the goal in only up.

I have only been playing for less than 2 months after a 15+ year hiatus and even back then I didn't play much or even truly understand the game like I do now. With that being said, since i started playing at the beginning of November I have won just over $200 total with 0 deposit and that is just at ACR. So it is very possible to build your bankroll with freerolls and micro buy-ins.
 
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