Help for a newbie

[banana182]

Hi. I'm sorry if this isn't the right forum (I know you people take that stuff seriously) but I'm playing mainly small stakes tables so i thought this forum would get my post to seasoned small stakes players. I'm a relatively new (and bad, I'll be honest) poker player. I'm wondering if any of you have any resources that would help donkeys like myself become better players.

I'm sure posts like this pop up frequently and for anyone letting out a groan, my apologies. Not trying to waste your time, just wanting to get some help.

I'm hoping you can understand how hard and overwhelming it is to basically realize that you know NOTHING about poker. In fact, I think a lot of players who are really bad THINK they know something about playing poker because they know the rules or have learned through "experience" (aka, losing money). These are most likely the players you guys make your living off of (and I don't want to be one of those players).

I'm thinking though that the more I can learn before I hit the tables, the better off I'll be. I want to revolutionize the way I play and think about poker on a deeper level so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks. Again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Good luck at the tables.

[XmasXmas]

hi and welcome to the forums.

if you're playing limit, you're in the perfect place. start off by reading small stakes hold'em by ed miller et. al multiple times. take the quiz at the end. that will teach you how to think and what kind of concepts you should be looking to apply in a large number of situations. if you're playing online, as a general rule, you should be applying the "tight" table conditions preflop chart. those loose games aren't quite as common as they used to be.

whenever you run into a hand where you were perplexed at any stage, copy the hand history and post it here. give all information available to you at the time (your opponent's play style, his tendencies, the table conditions, your own image, anything else you think may be relevant). use a converter to make the hand more friendly to read. here is the one that i use, but there are others out there if you like other ones better.

make sure you are properly rolled for the game you're playing. 300 big bets is good, 500 is super safe. realize that the game is extremely swingy, don't get on tilt, don't berate other players at the table for playing poorly, examine big hands you lost to see if you could have done something better.

hope this is a good starting point for you. again, welcome to the forums.

[bennyhana]

If you are a live player, you might drop a few limits to get used to the faster pace of online poker. You will want to but some software like Poker Tracker, and later, Poker Ace. Those will pay for themselves in no time. Theory of Poker is another must read to get your mind thinking like a poker players mind.

When you feel like you have figured it out, try taking this challenge. It works in all the forums.

GL,
Ben

[Mygtar]

Welcome to the forum.

I am new to the game (about 18 months) and was a very bad player. I am now above average at the lower limits (4/8 live LHE and .5/1 online).

This is what I did:

1) Purchase, read, study mark up, underline etc. Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, Mason Malmuth and David Sklansky.

2) Purchase, view, study etc. Expert Hold'em: 4 Volume Set, Ed Miller. Includes all four volumes in Ed's Expert Hold'em Set: Reading Hands; Adjusting Your Play; Advanced Pre-Flop Concepts; Protecting Your Hand #D31, $69.95. get it here

I have made some noticeable improvements and plugged a few leaks after a viewing this 4 or 5 times. The $70 investment was made back on my first time out playing $4/$8 live I was up $215.

3) Practice, practice, practice.

Best of luck,
Mygtar

[Harv72b]

[grunch]

What I did when I first started playing was to read. A lot. I started with Matt Hilger's book, "Internet Texas Hold'em", which I think is an excellent starting point for anybody interested in limit hold'em. He does a very good job of explaining what he's talking about, gives plenty of examples, and teaches a solid foundation for your game. It's not the best book on the subject, but it's great to get you going.

Then, I moved on to Small Stakes Hold'em, by Sklansky, Malmuth, and Miller, which I'm sure has already been mentioned here. This book is much more in depth & detailed, and teaches a more advanced (but clearly more profitable) game style. The thing is, if you don't already have the basics down I don't think this book is going to help you out a whole lot, at least not immediately...which is why I recommend Hilger's book first. As you do become comfortable with the game, though, this is a must-read. As are Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players (Sklansky/Malmuth) and The Theory of Poker (Sklansky).

And of course, the whole time I was reading all of these books I was also logging hands, first at the nanolimits, then at micro, and finally up to small stakes. Because when it comes down to it, all the book knowledge in the world isn't going to help you if you can't apply it correctly in a real game...and there really is no substitute for experience when it comes to poker.

Along those same lines, these forums can be a huge help. Don't just read posts...participate in other threads, try to answer other peoples' questions & see if you're on the same track as the veteran posters. And don't be afraid to argue (politely [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )...just because someone has 10 kazillion posts doesn't automatically mean that they're right. And even if they are right, it doesn't do you any good if you don't understand why.

You would also do very well to check out Homer's Building a Bankroll thread...I'm sure the information in it is somewhat outdated now, but the principles are the same. When I think about how much money I "lost" because I didn't really understand things like bonuses & rakeback when I started out...

Welcome to the forums, & good luck. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/grunch]

[Psydoc]

I happen to know the OP and he's definitely focused on NL...so his first post looks like it's in the wrong spot.

Is it possible for this to be moved to SSNL?