I truly do love playing poker, but how do i take my game to the next level?

pewep

pewep

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Nov 30, 2009
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My favorite is of course NL hold'em, and to be quite honest, I was reading quite a few books on improving the game, got a simulator that plays 1500 hands per hr so that you can really find out what your skill level is (reported to be about 15/30 NL strength), etc... I think I'm getting okish.

I'm thinking about playing for real money, and yes there are plenty of online casinos that still accept usa players and are reputable (at least 5, check out cards chat).

Let's say I was running 12 tables at .25/.5NL, what do you think my average earnings would be per hour? Now of course my goal is to eventually reach a level where I can guess my odds within +-1% and play even bigger games. I just like the game and I don't see anything wrong with that. I'd really like to hear from people who have actually played online poker for real cash.
 


i've played plenty of poker for real cash. i'd suggest "small stakes hold 'em" by miller/sklansky/malmuth. quality text.
 
running 12 tables is fucking lunacy unless you had them automated. if managing live yourself, no more than 3, and even that is a stretch. you have to know your opponent, and that can't be done unless you're there for every hand. poker is a boring game in that regard. i personally got sick of sitting there watching, once i realized what i was making per hour.
 
This^^^

You should start by playin limit holdem just to gain the experience and learn discipline. At the low levels you will play week players and even with discipline still lose. Learning to play tight aggressive poker is key to winning. 8 out of 10 hands will be thrown away. In NL it will be even less hands played (at least starting out). Don't try to be fancy just play text book (sklansky poker) poker and master the game. Don't add tables until you are consistently winning. And get a tracker program. When I was playing the one to have was called poker tracker. If its still available get it and get pro version. It tracks and labels not only every hand you play but your all your opponents as well. After you have say 100000 hands under your belt you will have enough data on most anyone you play against to have an edge.

One last thing and it's why I got out of online poker. Watch out for the bots. Guys have written and are running scripted bots to play perfect text book poker They are hard to spot and even harder to beat.
 
dmnEPC said:
One last thing and it's why I got out of online poker. Watch out for the bots. Guys have written and are running scripted bots to play perfect text book poker They are hard to spot and even harder to beat.
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this.

those texts i advised will teach you how to play quality poker live, but online, they've perfected it based on those same texts. poker is a percentages game, you look for opponents that don't play them. you can absolutely jack your local game, but the online game is over for poker.
 
You will likely get crushed at .25/.50 online over a statistically significant number of hands, not including 6-tabling. The play at .01/.02 online is going to be SIGNIFICANTLY tougher than a 1/2 live game, simply because you have people 10 tabling that only care to be in a hand with the nuts. I haven't played online since BF, but 2+2 makes it seem like it is a better idea to just go to a B&M and play 1/2 or the lowest level full of drunk fish.

1/2 Live I think runs at $20-40hr at absolute best, you're highly limited by the HPH, but solid ABC poker can make money as long as you control your leaks.
 
pewep said:
My favorite is of course NL hold'em, and to be quite honest, I was reading quite a few books on improving the game, got a simulator that plays 1500 hands per hr so that you can really find out what your skill level is (reported to be about 15/30 NL strength), etc... I think I'm getting okish.

I'm thinking about playing for real money, and yes there are plenty of online casinos that still accept usa players and are reputable (at least 5, check out cards chat).

Let's say I was running 12 tables at .25/.5NL, what do you think my average earnings would be per hour? Now of course my goal is to eventually reach a level where I can guess my odds within +-1% and play even bigger games. I just like the game and I don't see anything wrong with that. I'd really like to hear from people who have actually played online poker for real cash.
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PokerTracker
No Limit Hold'em -- Two Plus Two Poker Forums

Buy pokertracker and start tracking your hands and build a database. Then, I'd frequent that forum linked above more than wf if you're serious about improving your game. Specifically the micro stakes sub forum, read until you think you might have learned something....

Then read a shit ton more after that, because it takes a ton of hands/experience to put yourself in spots to make decisions that you're sure you can correctly make until the time comes when money is on the table and emotions start to mix in. Might as well hammer down the basics until you're done paying your dues in the beginning.

And yes, you will pay your dues and your graph of money won/hands played will go south for awhile, everyone goes through it. Good luck bro.

edit: fuck reading too many books, read one then you've read them all. they arent going to make you a winning player on their own. haven't played a single hand of cards online in 2+ years, but something like phil gordons little green book or super system 1 or 2 is sufficient to get an idea of the game. sklanskys books have gold nuggets of info in them but they're covered in game theory, something you don't need to bother with wrapping your mind around at the moment.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, definitely a lot of reading to do. It's definitely interesting/fun for now.
 
1 more tip don't keep money in either your poker account or the funding company. Ther are thousands of players that have lost millions of seized dollars
 
dmnEPC said:
1 more tip don't keep money in either your poker account or the funding company. Ther are thousands of players that have lost millions of seized dollars
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this can't be emphasized enough, i used to be an advantage gambler & when the bush crowd passed their laws in 2008 i got out, but many of my friends rolled the dice with neteller and got 6+ figures stuck in la-la-land for a long time.
 
pewep said:
My favorite is of course NL hold'em, and to be quite honest, I was reading quite a few books on improving the game, got a simulator that plays 1500 hands per hr so that you can really find out what your skill level is (reported to be about 15/30 NL strength), etc... I think I'm getting okish.

I'm thinking about playing for real money, and yes there are plenty of online casinos that still accept usa players and are reputable (at least 5, check out cards chat).

Let's say I was running 12 tables at .25/.5NL, what do you think my average earnings would be per hour? Now of course my goal is to eventually reach a level where I can guess my odds within +-1% and play even bigger games. I just like the game and I don't see anything wrong with that. I'd really like to hear from people who have actually played online poker for real cash.
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You've never played poker online for real money before, therefore you can't play poker for real money, let alone at "15/30 NL".

Multi tabling like that works best for SNG's. 180 man SNG's are still alright for building up a roll. That's likely too many tables to play good cash poker though, unless you've been playing for years.

The games are getting harder and harder every year. Big problem is the bad US players are scared to play, and it's only the pro's and good players that are bothering to jump through all the hoops required for US online play.

Best bet is the casino, I play in a cash game that's £1/£1 most saturday nights, and usually leave with a profit (although I play primarily for fun). There's a drunk millionaire that's always there. He called me with king high, 2 kicker, for his entire £200 stack, on the river. Just see some hilarious shit, which just doesn't happen at $0.50/$1+ online often.

Fuck, I should never have taken you off my ignore list.
 
mituozo said:
You've never played poker online for real money before, therefore you can't play poker for real money, let alone at "15/30 NL".

Multi tabling like that works best for SNG's. 180 man SNG's are still alright for building up a roll. That's likely too many tables to play good cash poker though, unless you've been playing for years.

The games are getting harder and harder every year. Big problem is the bad US players are scared to play, and it's only the pro's and good players that are bothering to jump through all the hoops required for US online play.

Best bet is the casino, I play in a cash game that's £1/£1 most saturday nights, and usually leave with a profit (although I play primarily for fun). There's a drunk millionaire that's always there. He called me with king high, 2 kicker, for his entire £200 stack, on the river. Just see some hilarious shit, which just doesn't happen at $0.50/$1+ online often.

Fuck, I should never have taken you off my ignore list.
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Which casino is this?
 
real money games flow way different from play money games. It's fine to learn the basics with play money, but it's completely different from sitting at real money tables. Be prepared to grind much longer and expect much tougher decisions.

mituozo is right though, if you can find a small casino that attracts lots of amateurs and tourists they can be a gold mine. I live 45 minutes from a small room in Daytona and the Hard Rock in Tampa and they are perfect for this. $1-2 NL that attracts idiots from every corner of FL.
 
music4mic said:
real money games flow way different from play money games. It's fine to learn the basics with play money, but it's completely different from sitting at real money tables. Be prepared to grind much longer and expect much tougher decisions.
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Be prepared to lose your money.
 
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