Beginners luck or some natural ability?

[bkkboy8888]

Hi there guys, It was proposed to me by a pal that I should give poker a try. Never played the game before, but I thought "why not try it?" So, I read up on the rules of the game and a bit of strategy, and decided to give it a go earlier this week. I have been quite impressed by my results, but obviously, I know I am far far away from being a good player. I am quite a mathematical guy, and do sports betting, so understand the concept of value. I entered one at bwin, and came 42nd out of 5000. I then used the money they gave me to enter a 10 person game, and came 2nd. I then used that money to enter a 30 person game and came first for $54. I know that is not the way forward (i.e. I should have stayed at the lowest buy-in level), but I was just having a bit of fun. I then entered some motogp competition qualifier, and came 1st of 64 for a place in the final on sunday. Then I moved onto fulltilt poker, and played some of their free rolls. I have come in the top 250 (out of about 5000 entrants each time), in 7 of the 8 games. They have also given me some ticket to another game on sunday. I understand that this will be generally weak opposition, and I know there is so much more to learn. I guess I just want to know 2 things: 1. Is it possible that someone has a "natural" ability for poker? 2. Do any decent players play freerolls or is it just full of useless idiots like myself? I wouldn't feel confident to play with real money yet, so will continue getting tournament money from these freerolls for now. I haven't actually used much of the money, just keep playing the freerolls! If anybody has any advice on how I should progress from my current position, I would be really grateful.

[glceud]

Re: Beginners luck or some natural ability?

1. Is it possible that someone has a "natural" ability for poker? 2. Do any decent players play freerolls or is it just full of useless idiots like myself?

Dont tell anyone, but poker is partly an instinctive game and that along with good maths and the willingness to gamble would in my eyes create a "natural" ability for poker. A lot of decent players play freerolls but dont play them like they would a normal buy-in tourney in the early stages. If you are still around at the later stages you will find a few decent players about as well as a few bad players who have got lucky. The clever bit is knowing which is which, just because some one built a stack playing apparently bad poker doesnt make them a bad player. Plenty decent players play shit or bust early doors.