shadowvkc Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Hi all. I spend most of my time over at the horse racing section, but due to having alot of free time and an overactive brain iv decided I want to learn poker. Now I must admit I know almost nothing about the game. I am hoping to learn alot of this site, like I have about horse racing. I would really appreciate any sites that are tailored to complete beginners, and also any sites that allow me to play for free to hone my skills. In your guys opinion, how long did it take you to learn, and in that time what has been your greatest poker achievement. Thanks, Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlydaveLDN Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Re: Complete Novice In your guys opinion' date=' how long did it take you to learn[/quote'] I'm sure others will be better equipped to help you get started, the only thing I will say is that you never stop learning in this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowvkc Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Lesson 1. Never stop learning. Check :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Re: Complete Novice :welcome to the world of Poker The great thing about poker is that you can play it completely risk free - and I'd suggest you do - there's no need to ever deposit (or lose) any of your own money - the poker rooms will give you theirs to play with - and you can keep your winnings - If you're good enough, you can win your riches, without ever having deposited!! So my advice is to follow that route - play risk free and see how much you can take out of poker :) As you build a bankroll, you can buy into events (with their money :)) - To start off with - every poker site offers "play money" tables. These are a waste of time for learning strategy (your opponents wont take them that seriously), but a great way to learn the mechanics of the game - dont spend too long playing them, but use them until you're confident of the way it all works. - When your ready to move on from the play money tables, then I'd suggest going to Blue Square and playing their 10c STT (Single Table Tournament) giveaways. 10 players in each tournament, free to enter, and 5c to the winner, 3c to 2nd and 2c to 3rd. Not a lot of money - but the startings of a bankroll and the second step in learning the game. Track your results and keep playing here until you would be consistently making a profit if you were to buy in for 1c a game. Aim to return over $1 from 100 games. Again, you wont learn too much about strategy here from your opponents, but it shouldn't take you too long to work out how to beat them (Play tight and aggressive - tight means that you fold frequently pre flop and only play your stronger hands, aggressive means that when you do play, you play for a raise rather than calling). Always be aware of your stack size as a multiple of the cost of each circuit - the more time (where time is the number of circuits you can survive) you have, the more patient and tighter you should be, as you have less time, then you need to be looser and more aggressive. Time is often more important to you than the cards you are dealt! - Keep your eyes on the daily poker diary on PL - there are often freerolls listed there - freerolls are games that are free to enter but offer real money prizes. The freerolls in the diary will offer better value (and larger prizes) than the 10c giveaways. - When you are confident you are beating (i.e. profitable if you were paying 1c a game) the 10c giveaways, then look at using your winnings to move up the stakes. For 10c+2c (10c is your buy in, 2c is the fee that Blue Square take out of the prize money) you can play Helsinki STTs - look to move up through the STTs - and see how high you can go. Stick to bankroll rules - dont buy in to a game unless you could buy in 20 times - so you shouldnt play the Santiago (20c+4c) games until your bankroll is $4.80 (24c*20) - if it falls below 20 buy ins, then you should move back down a level. Good luck - let us know how you get on :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Re: Complete Novice In your guys opinion, how long did it take you to learn, and in that time what has been your greatest poker achievement. Agree with Dave - always learn :ok Within 3 months of starting poker I won a freeroll giving me a $10,000 seat to the televised UK Open. That was back in 2005 and I havent eclipsed that achievement since :sad You can see the Personal Bests of a lot of PLrs here :ok http://www.punterslounge.com/forum/f17/personal-bests-90664/. Most of the top prizes there are from freerolls - so you can see that there really are big prizes that can be won for nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nade Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Cool hand poker seems to be a good place to start as they only let you play max 2 tables and there's no rakeback so i imagine there's barely any real quality grinders on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowvkc Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Thanks for the replys guys. I found playing for free against the dealer (computer) is a good place to start as it allowed me the build up a little confidence as to when to fold straight away and when to play. I then graduate to the Ladbrooks Beginners tables. Which seemed to be going good. I had turned my $2 into $4.60. But then something went very wrong. I had 2 pairs so decided to play quite agressive. The problem is someone on the table had a full house and wiped out almost all of my profits. What your guys opinions on how to avoid things like this in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Re: Complete Novice What your guys opinions on how to avoid things like this in the future? Impossible (in general - not talking about your specific hand - we have no-where near enough information to pass any judgement on that). With poker, you MUST get into the mentality that you can play an individual hand perfectly and lose your entire stack, or you can play an individual hand very poorly and win someone elses stack - this will help stop you tilting (which is what costs most poker players most money! Everyone will often lose a lot of big hands. It doesn't matter, so long as you win more than you lose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy the punter Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Pretty much what GaF says. Don't just play YOUR hand, think what the other person may have given the board and how he played the hand. AK on a AK739 rainbow board is not the same as AK on a AKTQ2 showing 4 clubs. The AK may still be winning but two pair is NOT always the same strength. If that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowvkc Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Thanks guys. Im slowly getting the hang of this. One other thing. Because im on a Mac, i am unable to download the Blue Square softward to play. Can you guys recommend any freerolls that are instant play such as the Ladbrooks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averick Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Re: Complete Novice PKR has 10c giveaway Sit and Gos, you can give that a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowvkc Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Thanks Averick, the graphics are pretty awsome. Just one question.. Iv ran out of fake money, how to I go about adding more? Iv searched and searched but I just cant find it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averick Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Don't have the program on my computer anymore but got this from their FAQ: From the Portal go to MY PKR then click Account and select play money from the drop down menu (underneath your account details). Finally click the Request More Play Money button to reload your play money balance. Hope this helps!:ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris34 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Fantastic post, just wondering where i find these Bluesquare free 10c tournaments cant seem to find them?? :welcome to the world of Poker The great thing about poker is that you can play it completely risk free - and I'd suggest you do - there's no need to ever deposit (or lose) any of your own money - the poker rooms will give you theirs to play with - and you can keep your winnings - If you're good enough, you can win your riches, without ever having deposited!! So my advice is to follow that route - play risk free and see how much you can take out of poker :) As you build a bankroll, you can buy into events (with their money :)) - To start off with - every poker site offers "play money" tables. These are a waste of time for learning strategy (your opponents wont take them that seriously), but a great way to learn the mechanics of the game - dont spend too long playing them, but use them until you're confident of the way it all works. - When your ready to move on from the play money tables, then I'd suggest going to Blue Square and playing their 10c STT (Single Table Tournament) giveaways. 10 players in each tournament, free to enter, and 5c to the winner, 3c to 2nd and 2c to 3rd. Not a lot of money - but the startings of a bankroll and the second step in learning the game. Track your results and keep playing here until you would be consistently making a profit if you were to buy in for 1c a game. Aim to return over $1 from 100 games. Again, you wont learn too much about strategy here from your opponents, but it shouldn't take you too long to work out how to beat them (Play tight and aggressive - tight means that you fold frequently pre flop and only play your stronger hands, aggressive means that when you do play, you play for a raise rather than calling). Always be aware of your stack size as a multiple of the cost of each circuit - the more time (where time is the number of circuits you can survive) you have, the more patient and tighter you should be, as you have less time, then you need to be looser and more aggressive. Time is often more important to you than the cards you are dealt! - Keep your eyes on the daily poker diary on PL - there are often freerolls listed there - freerolls are games that are free to enter but offer real money prizes. The freerolls in the diary will offer better value (and larger prizes) than the 10c giveaways. - When you are confident you are beating (i.e. profitable if you were paying 1c a game) the 10c giveaways, then look at using your winnings to move up the stakes. For 10c+2c (10c is your buy in, 2c is the fee that Blue Square take out of the prize money) you can play Helsinki STTs - look to move up through the STTs - and see how high you can go. Stick to bankroll rules - dont buy in to a game unless you could buy in 20 times - so you shouldnt play the Santiago (20c+4c) games until your bankroll is $4.80 (24c*20) - if it falls below 20 buy ins, then you should move back down a level. Good luck - let us know how you get on :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Fantastic post' date=' just wondering where i find these Bluesquare free 10c tournaments cant seem to find them??[/quote'] You need to go to "Sit n Gos" and highlight All, they are called "3-2-1 Giveaway Sit n Go". Good luck :ok I notice that they've changed now - prizes are in GBP , not USD and 3p, 2p and 1p (6p is about the same value as 10c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris34 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Argh brilliant thankyou mate much apreciated!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowvkc Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 Re: Complete Novice Thanks for all your help guys. First freeroll and I bombed lol 670th of 972. I think i should give the dedicated PL games a miss for the time being :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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