Let us start with some practical information. First and foremost, it is a very good idea to read many poker articles and books, to get to know different situations, techniques and practices. The best places to start looking for valuable information are poker forums where you can find opinions on the game, read hand reviews and analyses written by pro players.
If you want to get involved in the game right away, we recommend you start out at the lowest stakes, such as $0.1/$0.25, and very slowly work your way towards higher stakes. The motto is ‘Start small, think big’. You could also try playing with ‘play money’ which most poker sites offer for those who are not committed enough to play with their own money. Virtual money is not the same, however, success at play money tables not necessarily reflects your skills at poker. However it can provide a reasonable training ground for higher-stakes poker action.
If you are rather comfortable at one table, you might as well try playing at more tables at a time to increase your decision-making power.
If you are becoming successful, you can start thinking about building your bankroll. The basic idea is that if you want to win big, you should never take money out of your poker account (not even if you are broke). Big money is won at higher stakes, but at first you must build a sufficient bankroll to be able to move to bigger stakes. The only investment that justifies taking money out from your bankroll is to buy a 30” monitor to be able to play many tables comfortably. :)
You must also accept that No Limit Hold’em Poker involves serious fluctuation and volatility. Sometimes we all have serious losing sprees, when we lose all our hands and buy-ins. It is crucial to know that this is perfectly normal, and is a part of the game, no matter high-stake or low-stake, all players have been through it. You can’t have the good without the bad. It’s not a good idea either to think our downswings are due to other players explicit cheating. Showing discipline is key to success.
When Lady Luck is not in your favor, it is a good idea to take a few hours or even a few days out to relax, and evaluate your decisions from a distance. This time-off gives you enough chance to recharge your batteries and mind and to evaluate whether we had bad luck, or just played badly. Softwares such as PokerTracker 3 or Holdem Manager can help you analyze your previous hands, and you can post them to forums as well to request help and opinions from others on our gameplay.
If we find that we have still no success, or lose more than 10 buy-ins at one stake, we should seriously consider going back to a lower stake, or even taking a long break consulting our favorite poker books.
If you want to get involved in the game right away, we recommend you start out at the lowest stakes, such as $0.1/$0.25, and very slowly work your way towards higher stakes. The motto is ‘Start small, think big’. You could also try playing with ‘play money’ which most poker sites offer for those who are not committed enough to play with their own money. Virtual money is not the same, however, success at play money tables not necessarily reflects your skills at poker. However it can provide a reasonable training ground for higher-stakes poker action.
If you are rather comfortable at one table, you might as well try playing at more tables at a time to increase your decision-making power.
If you are becoming successful, you can start thinking about building your bankroll. The basic idea is that if you want to win big, you should never take money out of your poker account (not even if you are broke). Big money is won at higher stakes, but at first you must build a sufficient bankroll to be able to move to bigger stakes. The only investment that justifies taking money out from your bankroll is to buy a 30” monitor to be able to play many tables comfortably. :)
You must also accept that No Limit Hold’em Poker involves serious fluctuation and volatility. Sometimes we all have serious losing sprees, when we lose all our hands and buy-ins. It is crucial to know that this is perfectly normal, and is a part of the game, no matter high-stake or low-stake, all players have been through it. You can’t have the good without the bad. It’s not a good idea either to think our downswings are due to other players explicit cheating. Showing discipline is key to success.
When Lady Luck is not in your favor, it is a good idea to take a few hours or even a few days out to relax, and evaluate your decisions from a distance. This time-off gives you enough chance to recharge your batteries and mind and to evaluate whether we had bad luck, or just played badly. Softwares such as PokerTracker 3 or Holdem Manager can help you analyze your previous hands, and you can post them to forums as well to request help and opinions from others on our gameplay.
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