Name ONE thing you would tell a beginner poker player....

[player_one]

So if you had a beginner poker player sat beside you, and you really wanted to help them, based on your experiences, name just ONE thing you would share with the new guy.

"If I had known what I know now when I was in YOUR SHOES..."

Yes, I am the new guy BTW [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ShipitFMA]

Read the stickies and buy PT

[South Pole]

I assume you have put in hours and hours playing for free. If not that's first and foremost otherwise you're probably going to lose money.

I don't agree with the PT recommendation at all. By all means track your results and performance but you don't need to spend $55 to do that. Even if money is no object you'll spend a long time working out how to use the software.

There are more important things to deal with when you're starting out playing for money.

[PantsOnFire]

Stick to the recommended starting hand requirements. You will go on stretches of 20-30 hands where you fold every time. To many beginners, they find this unbearable and begin playing hands that are just below recommended for their position.

This is the most costly mistake, because due to inexperience, this causes more costly errors later in the hand. And unfortunately, sometimes playing these lesser hands pays off, especially against other beginners and this begins a cycle of reinforcement that these hands "ain't so bad" and then the long term picture becomes bleak.

[ottsville]

[ QUOTE ]
I assume you have put in hours and hours playing for free. If not that's first and foremost otherwise you're probably going to lose money.

[/ QUOTE ]

Free play is worth what it costs. The only reason to do it is to learn the mechanics of the game/site.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't agree with the PT recommendation at all. By all means track your results and performance but you don't need to spend $55 to do that. Even if money is no object you'll spend a long time working out how to use the software.

[/ QUOTE ]

When you are starting out, PT is definitely not necessary. Learn a good foundation for your game, and worry about PT after you've played a while and have several thousand hands + under your belt.

As for OP's question, there's a couple of things I would say. First off, you have an excellent resource in these forums - use it. Read and reply to hands in appropriate forum. Post hands. Don't be afraid to be wrong in what you post, that's why you are here, to learn from those who are more experienced.

Another thing I think that helped me, was to make notes. I made lots of notes on other players, and notes on my play as I was playing. You may not see the other players ever again, but the process of taking notes forces you to pay attention to what is going on in the game. Also noting what you are doing gives you things to think about/study away from the tables.

[South Pole]

I agree with Ottsville's comments other than.....



[/ QUOTE ] I assume you have put in hours and hours playing for free. If not that's first and foremost otherwise you're probably going to lose money.

Free play is worth what it costs. The only reason to do it is to learn the mechanics of the game/site.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing in free play stops you playing as if your money was at stake. If you adopt the right attitude you'll learn a lot about pot odds, implied odds, reading other players, value of position, and more. You'll probably develop into winning player as well - no bad thing. You'll need all thisa and more to take into money play.

What level are you at?

[jordiepop]

dont get fancy ..

[7n7]

Rakeback...seriously. Most do quite a bit of losing initially and that $$ back at the end of the month helps soften the blow.

Others: Find 2+2 and specifically read the books recommended in the Books and Publications forum.

[DQuadfather]

[ QUOTE ]
Stick to the recommended starting hand requirements. You will go on stretches of 20-30 hands where you fold every time. To many beginners, they find this unbearable and begin playing hands that are just below recommended for their position.

This is the most costly mistake, because due to inexperience, this causes more costly errors later in the hand. And unfortunately, sometimes playing these lesser hands pays off, especially against other beginners and this begins a cycle of reinforcement that these hands "ain't so bad" and then the long term picture becomes bleak.

[/ QUOTE ]

Too many new players play too many hands. Whether this is because they get board, think that they should be involved in a lot of hands in order to be "playing the game," or whether they place too much emphasis on bluffing, who knows. (I, alas, have fallen victim to all three.) But I would counsel a new player to understand the relative and long-term strength of his or her hand. The value in this is not just about saving money, but also about creating money-making opportunities. Once you understand the relative strength of your starting hand, you'll recognize how others' play is informed by this same understanding and, as a result, you'll begin to "put them on hands."

Understand what you have before you think about what you're going to get. This is the foundation. Depending on how you develop as a player, you may begin to see this core of poker understanding as a crutch. However, remember that Picasso had to learn how to replicate the work of masters before him before he could develop a style of his own.

Good luck.

[Sofisdad]

With a question like that you are on the right path to trying to get better. However, I think the answer you are looking for would be something along the lines of an AH HAH! moment for you and there's no 1 answer that will make you a great player. It takes time, patience, and the mentality to get over bad beats and not be results oriented with your play. Sometimes you play 'perfect'poker and lose.
I started with the standard $50 in February at the .05/10 NL tables and stuck with bankroll management for the first time in my life. You hear the term over and over again and usually think it won't apply to you if you have just $50 or $100 online to start with. I couldn't disagree strongly enough with this. If you are serious about building a roll and improving your game then don't play over your head or take shots with 25% of your bankroll to build it faster. If you win a $10 MTT for $500 at first and increase your roll it will feel good but you won't have improved as a poker player unless you put in the time and work to get better. Don't underestimate the players on these forums. You'll see a lot of lighthearted bickering and making fun of each other but the collective smarts of the players and the way each hand is played in a given situation will improve your game drastically. By reading the Rizen, Durrr, Sbrugby, etc., posts and looking through their posting histories you'll pick up a lot of information that took a lot of money for those guys to learn. In 3 months I've built my roll up to $830 from that $50 and to most of the posters here that isn't much money but as far as my online roll is concerned its a tremendous jump for me. Fortunately for me, my outside of poker income is substantially greater and I could put much more money online than I have now but I wouldn't be learning more than I have over the last 3 months. I think you just need to decide if you're going to be a serious student of the game and put in the time to build your roll or if you're going to have fun playing and taking shots you shouldn't. Serious players can tell you that the vast majority of the time you are playing it isn't exactly fun if you're grinding it out. Decide what playing poker means to you and act accordingly with your money.

Oh and a few things I've picked up specifically:
1. If you don't know if you should fold or call then fold.
2. If you think you have the best hand and want to call a bet then raise.
3. Don't defend your blinds so much without a strong hand.
4 Don't overestimate your ability in multi-table tournaments. I've given back about $200 of my roll since I started trying for a fast cash in a MTT. So much variance in short order will empty your roll.
5. The difference between hold em and no limit hold em is much greater than a beginner thinks.
6. Learn to play hold em profitably before thinking about moving to NL hold em.
7. You don't have to be a hero at the table with huge bets against you. Its ok to lay down a hand and pick a better spot to win if its a marginal call.
8. The easiest thing to pick up in hold em is the value of starting hands preflop. Once you feel you're above average in how to play preflop then expect it to take 100 times as long to learn how to play correctly post flop.
9. Pocket aces will and do get beat. Don't feel like the poker gods hate you or the site is rigged.
10. Not everyone is trying to bluff you off your hand.
11. There is no decision in poker that is absolutely correct or incorrect, all you can do is make the play that has the highest EV and over time you will become a better player.
12. The last thing I can think of is to find the style that fits you and works best for you. Plenty of TAG players make money, plenty of LAG players make money, don't try to be someone you're not on the table.

Find out who you want to be on a poker table, find out what you need to improve on in your game, post hands, reply to threads, don't be afraid to be criticized, and listen to what people are telling you. It will take time and lots of effort but if you're passionate and focused you will get better.

Best of luck.
Hope it helps.