Where to start

[CasinoR7]

What are the reasons to be playing NL from the beginning? From my personal poker experience, which is not more than two weeks, NL Hold'em is a dangerous game compared to limit poker. I have heard that you need to learn to walk, before you can run.

[agoldenbear]

i'd like to know lucksack's logic as well; he seems almost adamant that you start playing NL, a game which, as you say, can be financially hazardous to the fledgling player.

I feel that with a mere two weeks of poker experience, you'd be better off starting with limit, for the following reasons: (1) the number of good hold 'em books is disproportionately skewed toward limit (because it is a far easier game to analyze and understand). (2) A small stakes limit game allows you to play longer for less money. Usually you aren't in danger of going busto in one hand, so your stack (if you lose it) will dwindle more slowly. You will thus gain more experience with less monetary risk.

[jfk]

I'll give you a completely different answer. Avoid hold 'em altogether.

Online limit games, even at low levels are extraordinarily tough. There's no reason for a person who hasn't previously invested the time to start playing either limit or NL cash games today.

Learn Stud, Stud 8, O8B, HORSE or other overlooked games. Play one table at a time. Read the available lit, Ray Zee, SSII, Theory of Poker, etc. and blaze your own trail.

Hold 'em, especially limit games, is no longer the low hanging fruit of the poker world. If you're motivated by profit in cash games become an expert in other forms of poker.

[CasinoR7]

That sounds like good advice, hold'em is probably over hyped by television. On one side that brings in more fish, but on the other side it also brings more sharks. I have only been playing Hold'em for the last two weeks. I don't think I'll avoid it altogether, because I like it. But I shouldn't overlook the other types of poker. I have read in a part of Super System to be like a fox and learn different poker games.

A question about draw poker. Is there any skill involved in that game? I accidently ended up in a draw poker tournament online. It looks like luck is a bigger factor than skill in this game. Even more online, because you can't look people in the face. I did finish second of nine people.

PS. Is there any software that can track results from different games, separated by type of game (ring, tournament, sng etc.), pokerstyle (Hold'em, Stud, etc) by limit (NL, pot limit, limit) and by stakes?

[jfk]

[ QUOTE ]
PS. Is there any software that can track results from different games, separated by type of game (ring, tournament, sng etc.), pokerstyle (Hold'em, Stud, etc) by limit (NL, pot limit, limit) and by stakes?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, Poker Tracker offers various versions for the different games.

Poker Tracker is an amazing tool and should be an automatic purchase for anyone who has ambitions to play seriously.

[CasinoR7]

Thanks!

[Jeff76]

[ QUOTE ]
That sounds like good advice, hold'em is probably over hyped by television. On one side that brings in more fish, but on the other side it also brings more sharks.

[/ QUOTE ]I play HE because that's where the fish play. There are far more HE games than any other form of poker, and there are more fish than sharks for sure.

As a game I prefer Stud, but (recently at least) it is easier to make money at HE.

[Adman]

Definitely learn limit first. It would be crazy to jump into no limit games without a good deal of experience first.

[shyturtle27]

Get Getting Started in Hold'Em then read Harrington I. At that point if you want to get into NL cash, read Little Green Book, all the uNL stickies, sign up for CardRunners and get all their low limit series videos, play atleast 1,000 hands a day, and post atleast two of YOUR trouble hands a day.

[lucksack]

NL cash seems to be the most profitable game, so unless there's a good reason, should concentrate on that. Also, this is good for a beginner: http://www.notedpokerauthority.com/c...r-made-simple/