UltimateBet.com Sit and Go's

st0neC0ldNutz

For the record: I have not spent ANY real money gambling online. I have only been playing for free. Over the past 2 months I have been playing in the free sit and go's at ultimatebet.
I keep track of all my personal statistics and right now I average winning $100 fake dollars per game I play. This means I pay $100 to play and I go home with $200 when the game is over.

My question is this:

If someone becomes a "winning" player (means: averaging in the money) in these free sit and go's - is there any translation into playing the games that ARE for real money?

Watching a $100 + $? Sit and Go the other day, the play was so much more different than the free games. That was expected. That is obvious. But what about the $1 + 0.50 games or similar small amount games?

Should I feel safe moving into the low real money games at this point? Or do you have to absolutely dominate the FREE games before you even think of getting to the real money games.

Please share your experiences if you have any.

Thanks.
:canada:

alex_844

Free games and real games have no correlation in my experience. In fact you could be developing some bad habits by playing in the play money games. I'm sure if you know how to play you will be able to do reasonably well at the low level real tables, just don't have huge expectations. Play where you're comfortable, then when you are dominating move up again.

BBC Z

If you want to be successful starting out playing poker for cash online, read Lee Jones or Ed Miller's book and play ultra tight at a very low limit table until you feel comfortable with the flow of the game and the 'nervousness' of playing for cash..

I'd say you'd probably want to forget anything you learned at play money tables because (as alex said) you may have picked up some bad habits..

I think the key is being willing to grind out small $ wins and putting in the time.. Dont get frustrated if you start out losing, we all do.

st0neC0ldNutz

Thanks for your comments.

I never thought about the fact that I may have picked up some bat habits.

Now I am wondering what bad habits I may have picked up?

Can you suggest what some bad habits might be for the player that has played way to long in free money sit and go's - that would get me killed or hurt in real money games?

Cheers,

:canada:

BBC Z

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few..

1) Seeing too many flops. You generally want to see about 20-25% of the flops in holdem. Tighter is righter.. In a play money game no one folds. ever.

2) Not respecting raises. Anyone will raise anything on the play tables. In the real money games you dont want to be calling 3 bets preflop with an offsuit connector..

3) The ability to fold when you hit bottom pair/folding the low pocket pairs. I see this mistake all the time in real money games, but I dont know where it comes from. People will call bets all the way to the river with a hand as weak as bottom pair, or they wont be able to toss thier low pocket pairs away when they dont hit a set.. no set, no bet.

4) Constantly moving all-in preflop. I'm sure in a NL play money SnG people are just constantly pushing in. You may be used to calling all-ins with A8o-ATs, you don't really want to be doing that..

5) Concepts of position. Since everyone is constantly ramming and jamming the pot, the nuiances of position get completely discarded. You need to understand the pros and cons to your relative position to the button. ie the later your position, the weaker your hand can be to open the betting preflop.

anyway, theres a few for ya Dont know if any apply but it's food for thought.

st0neC0ldNutz

Thanks for the tips. I agree with all of them. What I have been noticing is that only when it is down to three handed do I see some nice solid poker from the other players...and not always...
I guess I will try out the lowest possible real money sitngo's for a while. Once I have made my $8.50 in hard earned cash I might move up to a bigger limit !

:canada:

BBC Z

If you don't find immediate success with the NL SnG's, you might want to try out limit ring game poker.. I wasted a lot of time playing NL SnGs and NL ring games, staying pretty much even over time.. Then I switched over to limit poker and things just started clicking.. so dont be afriad to experiment with different games (Shorthanded/ring/NL etc), you might just find a combination you can dominate..

Hork42

For sit and go's, if you're playing on Ultimate Bet, you can enter Sit and Go's for Ultimate Points. I've found that the 100 and 200 point ones are a good start for the low limit player, they actually are at par with and sometimes more of a challenge than the $5 or $10 games... I think because it is probably harder to accumulate 100 points than it is to get 5 bucks. I'd stay away from the free ones, because really, people have no incentive to win, and thus play very poorly which doesn't give you very valid experience.

I agree with what BCC Z mentioned about taking a look at the literature that is available on the subject... I really recommend reading the Lee Jones book if you're serious about low-limit holdem. It will pay itself off almost immediately.

It makes sense to study the game a little bit before putting your cash on the line.

I've also read the 2+2 book by Ed Miller. While I think there are some very good concepts in the book, it is not meant for beginners to the game. It still is a worthwhile read, but just starting out in cash games, I think your game would benefit a lot quicker with Winning Low Limit Holdem, by Lee Jones.

As for getting started in the low cash games, go for it. You won't know how you will do unless you try it. Thankfully there are plently of choices online for very small stakes, so you don't even have to put much at risk to get into it. Start small and see if you can build your bankroll up a bit. Try not to make any really significant jumps in limit right away.. ie. going from a week at .50/1 right to 3/6. There is a huge difference in those games online.


hork.

st0neC0ldNutz

Again, thanks for the tips.

I am going to read the book you have both recommended. I am not
one to get into anything without some pre-game learning. Once I have read that I will be willing to put some small amounts of my own money on the line - and I will start out very low.

As for the ultimatePoints, can you purchase points? or do you only get them from playing time? Somehow, I have like 32 of them right now, but that isn't enough to buy into anything...

Also, do you use NetTeller with UB.com? is that the best thing? I dont like the idea of using my creditCard (CC) - I heard it comes off the CC as a cash advance and NOT as a purchase...which sucks cause you get hit with little fees if that is the case. Is it true that with NetTeller you can just transfer $ from a bank account into it and transfer money from the NetTeller account back to your normal account with no problems? where are the hidden fees?
there is ALWAYS hidden fees.

Thanks
:canada:

alex_844

Netteller is a good option, and yes you can do it directly from your back account. Just a word of advice when you put your money on the line, it's a big mistake to buyin for the minimum amount. Have enough money in your account that you are comfortable if you take a little losing swing. Other people can you give you advice on what is best. You won't always win, but you always want enough money around so you still can play. That said you might not get to play with all the cash you put in your account... but that just means you're winning. Good Luck!