Different type of poker game?

[s0095063]

I am a relative newbie to online poker, i've played now and again on betfair on the small stakes tournaments.

I have just signed up for everest after reading Fellas thread. I have been playing the tables where you come and go as you please, and have fairly easily doubled my money in around 15mins. I realise this is more beginners luck than anything else, but i was wondering if these tables where you can come and go as you please are more profitable than the tournaments where you are in for a set amount of time?

I hope that makes sense?

thanks in advance.

[Andy]

I have only ever lost money playing poker. I found it took me longer to lose if i was playing at tournaments as at least then "All in" only cost me the buy in amount not my entire bankroll.

So I would definitely favour tournaments over cash play but thats not because i make money, its damage limitation.

[wndllll]

Cash games aka ring games are a totally different game to tournaments in many ways.
If it's length of time involved that's your only reason for not playing tourneys, then be aware that tourneys can vary from heads up (2 player!) to 1 table "sit n go's(SnG;s)" that generally last an hour at most, right through to massive 30K player multitable tourneys (MTT's).
Nowadays it's easy to find ANY style you like but most advise to specialise in one as there are subtle variations in best game theory.

In terms of ultimate profitability, from what I have read, most pro's play cash games but that's waaaay off in the distance in terms of what you're looking at right now!

I'd suggest you win the free books from the everest offer and pick 1 each of Harringtons books - Harrington on Hold'em 1 and Harrington on Cash Games 1 and read them while playing small stakes at each to see which you prefer the feel of. They're excellent books to start with.

Enter plenty of freerolls to see how u manage the long term games.
Enter some low fee sit n go's
Enter some turbo tournaments and sit n go's
Play at the lowest stake cash games

Basically find which of these you find most enjoyable and then try and stick to it. I personally have worked hard at cash games but still love entering freerolls and low-fee MTT's to have a change occasionally! And of course there are some excellent websites out there.
2+2 forums are probably the best known but I prefer Poker Forum | Online Poker Forums Community

Anything else, just ask, I'm sure I'm not on the level of some on the forum but I know the basics!

[robtrip]

Hey there,
also some sites offer double or nothing SNGs, whereby half the table win a buy in and the other half lose it. can be an absolute gold mine on certain sites, however as the stakes get higher can be tougher as everyone has figured out the optimal ish way of surviving!
good luck!
i also recommend the 2+2 forum, very hand for hand reviews.
also you might wana check out some of the poker training sites like cardrunners, they cost a bit but can definitely add a LOT of value to your game!
good luck at the tables

[s0095063]

Cheers for all the information/advice guys.

I'm thinking about using a set amount of money i have set aside to get a feel for the online game. Ive managed to make my $50 Everest into $110 so i was thinking about using that to enter 20 $5.00 tournaments, and then take stock of how well i do (or not).

What kind of things should i be recording (other than obviously profits or lack thereof), should i try and keep a record of the amount of hands i play, flops i see etc?

cheers iagain.

[wndllll]

PokerTracker - Online Poker Tracking & Analysis Software Tool
PokerAce Software // Home and News
:: HOLD'EM MANAGER :: Online Poker Tracking and Analysis Software
More tournament based: SharkScope - The Largest Online Poker Tournament Results Database
PokerStove: Poker Software and Analysis

I use the slighly older version of pokertracker (PT2) along with pokerace HUD, it's a very useful tool as a beginner, right through midstakes up to 100NL (1 dollar big blinds cash games) and I got it through slightly dubious means *cough splutter p2p software cough* but PT3 and Holdem Manager both look infinitely better and would be worth considering an investment in if you can't find them elsewhere.

They basically log every hand you ever play along with anyone else you play against and overlay the stats on the tables as you play. So for example you can see that the shortstack 2 seats to your left only plays 2% of his hands out of 150 hands, so if he raises and you don't have QQ+ or AK, you might as well fold as he'll almost definitely be playing nothing more than those hands.

That's the most basic application, once you've logged 5k hands or so, you can really learn a lot about your own game. I have a ton of awesome links I'd be happy to share on the subject if you decide on any of these routes.

Last point while I think of it- give plenty of timeto consider bankroll management, it's the first and most important point to consider when starting out. Read here and then go get 'em!
Bankroll Management 101

[s0095063]

PokerTracker - Online Poker Tracking & Analysis Software Tool
PokerAce Software // Home and News
:: HOLD'EM MANAGER :: Online Poker Tracking and Analysis Software
More tournament based: SharkScope - The Largest Online Poker Tournament Results Database
PokerStove: Poker Software and Analysis

I use the slighly older version of pokertracker (PT2) along with pokerace HUD, it's a very useful tool as a beginner, right through midstakes up to 100NL (1 dollar big blinds cash games) and I got it through slightly dubious means *cough splutter p2p software cough* but PT3 and Holdem Manager both look infinitely better and would be worth considering an investment in if you can't find them elsewhere.

They basically log every hand you ever play along with anyone else you play against and overlay the stats on the tables as you play. So for example you can see that the shortstack 2 seats to your left only plays 2% of his hands out of 150 hands, so if he raises and you don't have QQ+ or AK, you might as well fold as he'll almost definitely be playing nothing more than those hands.

That's the most basic application, once you've logged 5k hands or so, you can really learn a lot about your own game. I have a ton of awesome links I'd be happy to share on the subject if you decide on any of these routes.

Last point while I think of it- give plenty of timeto consider bankroll management, it's the first and most important point to consider when starting out. Read here and then go get 'em!
Bankroll Management 101

Thanks for the information, especially the bankroll stuff. going by that information i should really be starting at the very lowest micro limit games. I think the key will be discipline.

I need to read up more on what hands to play etc, i suppose it wont be long before the free books arrive.