New to the Forum
I just signed up as a member a few days ago, even though I have been visiting this forum for months on quite a regular basis. I wanted to first off thank all of the members who post here and give their thoughts and opinions on poker, as I believe you have made me into a better player just from reading them and applying them to my game.
I started off about a year ago playing on-line with the play money. I know that you really have to be careful learning this way as you can pick up a lot of bad habits so I really tried to play solid poker and to fight the urge to improperly call or raise because “it is only play moneyâ€. I also got my hands on a few books like Winning Low Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones and Hold’em for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth. I found the Jones book to be an excellent resource for me, as I wanted to focus on the low limit to start. (I am still getting through Sklansky) Finally, after the week-long set up with NetTeller I was ready to deposit at a poker site and start playing for real money. Against all rational advice I had read on this site, I decided to play at Stars, instead of Party, at the 1-2$ level. Looking back I realize that this was a little too high of a limit for me to start at but luckily I enjoyed some initial success and was able to almost triple my initial buy in of $50 in a matter of a few hours. (It is nice when the first hand you play for real money on-line is AA!) I managed to have more success at this limit and ran up my bankroll to about $300 within a week only playing about 7 or 8 hours at the table during the week. After that I experienced some mixed results with no real significant gains or loses. Then I had a few big losses and I realized that I might be a little more comfortable at the .50-1 limit for a while because I was thinking about the money too much. I figured if I was too concerned about losing the money I would not be able to play my best. I think I was a little over my head in the 1-2 to achieve any sort of long term success anyways although I hope to move back up there when I have a little more experience.
I think the reason why I decided to play at Stars, instead of other sites, is because I had been playing play money for so long against some really bad players and I wanted the challenge of going against what are considered to be the toughest low limit players on the net. I guess I wanted the challenge more than the money and I didn’t want the wild variance swings that can come with playing against weak players when they river you for the 5th time in a row. I think I would be too discouraged if I went onto Party on lost my roll but if I went on Stars and lost it I would be more inclined to come back for more because I knew that I was up against good players. Kind of weird logic, I know, but I guess I am more interested in becoming a better player right now than making the most money possible.
There also seems to be a lot of good well run poker tourneys run out of the K-W area that I hope to get up enough nerve to play in one of these days as I am located quite close in Guelph. I have only played live poker with friends and haven’t ventured to a casino yet but I think that will be in the cards for me in the next year as well. From my limited experience of live games I think I like it better than on-line anyways but it seems really
inconvient for me right now as I work a normal 9-5 job and I heard that Brantford is crazy on the weekends.
Anyways, I just wanted to thank all the people who post here regularly and I hope to share some of my knowledge with you all as I build some more experience. I check this site all the time from work and can't believe that it is not blocked by the company firewall under Gambling or Chat. Don't tell my boss...
Rich
I started off about a year ago playing on-line with the play money. I know that you really have to be careful learning this way as you can pick up a lot of bad habits so I really tried to play solid poker and to fight the urge to improperly call or raise because “it is only play moneyâ€. I also got my hands on a few books like Winning Low Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones and Hold’em for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth. I found the Jones book to be an excellent resource for me, as I wanted to focus on the low limit to start. (I am still getting through Sklansky) Finally, after the week-long set up with NetTeller I was ready to deposit at a poker site and start playing for real money. Against all rational advice I had read on this site, I decided to play at Stars, instead of Party, at the 1-2$ level. Looking back I realize that this was a little too high of a limit for me to start at but luckily I enjoyed some initial success and was able to almost triple my initial buy in of $50 in a matter of a few hours. (It is nice when the first hand you play for real money on-line is AA!) I managed to have more success at this limit and ran up my bankroll to about $300 within a week only playing about 7 or 8 hours at the table during the week. After that I experienced some mixed results with no real significant gains or loses. Then I had a few big losses and I realized that I might be a little more comfortable at the .50-1 limit for a while because I was thinking about the money too much. I figured if I was too concerned about losing the money I would not be able to play my best. I think I was a little over my head in the 1-2 to achieve any sort of long term success anyways although I hope to move back up there when I have a little more experience.
I think the reason why I decided to play at Stars, instead of other sites, is because I had been playing play money for so long against some really bad players and I wanted the challenge of going against what are considered to be the toughest low limit players on the net. I guess I wanted the challenge more than the money and I didn’t want the wild variance swings that can come with playing against weak players when they river you for the 5th time in a row. I think I would be too discouraged if I went onto Party on lost my roll but if I went on Stars and lost it I would be more inclined to come back for more because I knew that I was up against good players. Kind of weird logic, I know, but I guess I am more interested in becoming a better player right now than making the most money possible.
There also seems to be a lot of good well run poker tourneys run out of the K-W area that I hope to get up enough nerve to play in one of these days as I am located quite close in Guelph. I have only played live poker with friends and haven’t ventured to a casino yet but I think that will be in the cards for me in the next year as well. From my limited experience of live games I think I like it better than on-line anyways but it seems really
inconvient for me right now as I work a normal 9-5 job and I heard that Brantford is crazy on the weekends.
Anyways, I just wanted to thank all the people who post here regularly and I hope to share some of my knowledge with you all as I build some more experience. I check this site all the time from work and can't believe that it is not blocked by the company firewall under Gambling or Chat. Don't tell my boss...
Rich
Comments
But, welcome to the forum.
With regards to gathering the nerve to hit the KW area tourneys, I strongly suggest you do. The hosts at WPC, BSC and PPP couldn't be better guys. Its a great group to get in with to get live experience etc, just don't play AQ.
Good luck.
Welcome to the forum.
I am fairly 'young' in my poker life too and this forum has been one of the most informative and supportive sites I found - and it's Canadian!
If you've been reading the posts here, then you know all the great minds that converge here. Feel free to post questions or advice anytime.
Your post makes it seem like you are ready for a live tourney!!!
Don't be scared to come to K-W for a live event. As you can see, there are lots of tourament held here, and you can find a game within your price range.
I'm actually considering hosting a $10 buy-in $10 rebuy ,16-21 person tourney in the middle of April, while my wife in is out of town!!! (don't worry, she knows, and approves!)
Again, welcome to the forum!!
JohnnieH
AMEN! Dave, you are a wise fella.
JohnnieH
I likely will come out to a local tourney soon. I will keep my eye out for one in my price range. I might be dead money for the first couple but I am sure you guys won't mind
JohnnieH
- How auspicious 14 Dalai Lama!
- LMAO
- While the wife's away, da boys will play.