[Harv72b]

"The Mathematics of Poker" by Bill Chen & Jerrod Ankenman. From the sounds of things, that book may as well have been written specifically for you. I think you'll get a lot out of it, as well as from Theory of Poker & Small Stakes Hold'em...really, from just about any poker book. You're a grad student, so by now I'm sure you're well acquainted with reading things critically, which will help to siphon out the good from the bad in many other books.

Starting at the very bottom is a good way to get the experience & work out the kinks in your game, and for a person who prefers the mathematical approach to poker limit hold'em is probably the best fit. Not all sites spread limit games down to .10/.20, though, so do your homework before you deposit...bonuswhores.com is a great resource for that (as well as for getting most out of the bonuses available to new players).

Which brings me to a very important point which someone else may have mentioned already: do not deposit to any site until you have surfed around & compared the various initial deposit bonuses you can get. Also, if rakeback is available for that site, get it. Rakeback is basically free money for you if you plan to play the hands anyway, and even if it won't add up to much while you're playing microstakes games, the day may come when you're playing much higher & it will make a much bigger difference to your bankroll. Many sites will not allow you to switch over to a rakeback account once you've already established another account with them, or at least make it difficult to do so. Actually, don't even download the poker software from any site until you're ready to make your first deposit to it.

I'm sure somebody mentioned PokerTracker by now, but if you plan to play online it bears repeating--get it. Especially in the hands of a person who already understands programming & advanced mathematics (by which I mean algebra, not chaos theory or anything), it will pay for itself in a matter of weeks, even at the limits you're starting at.

Other than that, welcome to the forums, good luck at the tables, and keep trying to improve. Also, put in some hours reading through the micro stakes limit hold'em forum on here...there is a lot of great information there from very knowledgeable posters, on everything from getting started in LHE to specific situations you're likely to find yourself in during hands. Don't be afraid to get involved in the discussions there, either--the worst that can happen is that you say something incorrect & learn from it. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]