Poker For Beginners

This article is from The Poker basement . One of the initial challenges you'll have when you decide to embark upon your poker journey is deciding which game you should focus most or all of you attention on. Here are your options:

*No limit hold em
*Fixed limit hold em
*Pot limit Omaha or Pot limit Omaha Hi/LO
*Limit Omaha or Limit Omaha HI/LO
*Limit stud HI or Limit Stud Hi/Lo or Limit Razz
*5 Card Draw

Then of course there is what type of game you want to play:
*Cash games - full ring, 6 max, 5 max, Headsup
*Single Table tournaments (sngs) - 9 max, 6 max, Headsup, 45 man, 90 man, 180 man
*Multi Table Tournaments - Rebuys, shorthanded, knockouts, etc

It's amazing the options you have. It's no wonder most people have trouble finding their niche or what they are best at right away. So, how do you find what's right for you. I believe these steps will help you find that answer:

1. What game do you enjoy the most? Regardless of your reason to play poker, you probably play it mostly because you enjoy it. Picking a poker game that you don't enjoy will likely lead to you having a short poker career. Right now the game that is most popular is No limit Hold em 6 max and full ring. I would suggest to you that if you haven't played 6 max or NLHE then you should probably give it a try. If the thought of giving that a try churns your stomach, then don't. Play what you enjoy because every game has enough fish to be profitable.

2. How much variance can you withstand? By variance, I mean not just going up and down like a rollercoaster but, how long of a losing or a break even streak can you handle? This is, of course, dependant upon your skill level, but for the most part Variance goes this way (from lowest amount to highest amount): Sngs < Cash Games < Multi table tournaments. Sure you can go 20+ sng's without cashing, but IMO it's much more likely for you to go 4-5000 hands without making money or breaking even in cash games. 20 sngs = 2-4 hours of play, 5000 cash game hands equals 10+ hours of play. Mtts are in a whole category on their own. If you can handle not cashing or losing money over a long period of time, then you shouldn't have any problem in any of the games you pick. However, if the thought of playing an entire week, month, or two months as a losing or break even player disgusts you, then you may want to stay away from Mtts.

3. What games are most profitable or popular right now? If you just like making money and you are willing to learn whatever is most profitable at this time then you should probably stick to No limit Hold em. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing other games. I personally, have a passion for stud. So, I'll play stud and its variations when I need a break from hold em. But, I don't spend most of my time playing or learning those games. I suggest you do the same.

4. Another equally important thing to consider is your bankroll. If you haven't made yourself a detailed bankroll plan then I suggest you check out my bankroll building series ASAP. Each game has a different effect on your bankroll. Make sure you are playing the correct stakes and you are not wasting too much money trying to learn a new game or a new game type. I suggest if you've never played tournament poker and you want to get into it, then start slow. Play a much lower game then your bankroll guidelines say you should. Once you get more comfortable or become a better player, then move up to what you should be playing.

If you are at all serious about playing poker, then you probably have intentions on playing a lot of it. Why put in hours and hours at something you won't enjoy? DON'T! Find out which game is right for you right away. The Poker basement

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If you've ever asked a question on a poker forum, most likely the first reply you got was, "it depends." Now, hopefully the person went on to tell you what it depends on. But, to be honest that person may not even know. I think this answer is sometimes used as an easy out. By saying It Depends they are trying to show they have knowledge about poker, when really they probably don't. But, anyways%u2026 enough of my rant about bad poker answers to legitimate questions. Yet this is always the opening to an answer, whether they actually end up answering you are not. Why is that?

Well, simply put, it's because, well, it depends. Most people when starting off have questions about poker. What they don't realize, through no fault of their own of course, is that almost everything in poker is situational. Not many things/decisions are mechanical or an answer that is 100% right in 1 situation can be 100% wrong in another, very similar situation. The questions that are usually asked are very broad. For example, a person not very experienced with poker could ask; "What is my expected win rate at 25NL?" or "I have a bankroll of X amount of dollars, where should I start or what games should I play?" or "is calling/raising with KQ okay here?"

These are all very legitimate questions that you need an answer for. The problem is these questions are way too broad. These questions need to be re-worded in order for an actual answer that is helpful to you. (On a side note, if you notice someone answering these types of questions without asking for more information, it's a good sign that the person answering probably doesn't know what he is talking about or is trying to steer people the wrong way.) So, how would you re-word these questions?

Let's start with the question about winrate. It is absolutely impossible to gauge what someone's win rate should be. Even someone with a track record can only, at best, guess. Let's say you have 25,000 hands at 50NL. In those 25,000 hands you have made 5bb/100. But, you can't simply say that you will make that same amount of the next 25,000 hands. Most people, no matter how experienced in poker misunderstand or underestimate variance. It's very possible to run bad or good or even over that many hands. You could break even over the next 25,000 hands and your win rate would drop to 2.5bb/100. But, even that might not be your actual win rate. The standard way of guessing what your win rate would be is generally 100,000 hands. However, be careful in this as well. There have been plenty of good players with good track records who still lose money or break even over 100,000 hands. Not to mention that the game itself could change drastically, as well as your skills during the time it takes you to amass those hands. So, this question then becomes almost pointless to ask to begin with. But, in order to get at least a chance of an answer, here is a better way to ask that question.

I have been playing 25NL for 35,000 hands. I have a win rate of 3.5bb/100. Could I expect to make more over my next 35,000 hands and should I use this as the low end of my win rate?

While this question is still IMPOSSIBLE to answer, it at least gives people an idea of the type of player you might be and therefore someone could offer you an estimate to answer your question. (Another side note: I'm sure there is a way for someone or a computer to simulate your stats over a longer period of time which could provide you with information that might allow you to get a closer estimate of your actual win rate. I am not mathematically inclined enough to even attempt to go in that direction.)

In my next article I will address the other 2 questions that I have listed here. The Poker basement

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We left off last article with a few questions that new poker players would ask. I answered one of those questions (well, sort of). In this article, I will attempt to answer the other two questions. Those questions were;
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"I have a bankroll of X amount of dollars, where should I start or what games should I play?" and "is calling/raising with KQ okay here?"
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Hopefully, you have read my entire bankroll building series that I have here on the site. If not, you may want to take some time to do so. I believe it would be well worth your time, if you are indeed a person who has this kind of question.
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So, what is the problem with this question? First off, a bankroll and more importantly an X amount of dollars means different things to different people. Do you think $500 means the same thing to someone who makes $300,000 a year as it would to someone who makes $10,000 a year? Absolutely not. So, how can you expect someone to answer a question for you when they have no idea what that X dollar amount means to you? So, in your question, you have a much better chance of getting a good answer if you let them know what that bankroll means to you. Can you easily replace it if you go busto? Having you been saving up or you just received a big check for something and you decided to put it all on poker, meaning once you go busto you are broke? Tell them which case it is. It's different for everyone and therefore someone isn't going to be able to tell you exactly what's right for you. Here is a better way to ask the same question;
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I have $400 on poker. I won it at a casino last night. I can't afford to put more money into poker if I lose it. Which games or limits should I play at in order to give me the least chance of going broke?
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Like the previous question, there are still some holes in this question. People will want to know what games you are best at. What games you enjoy. Are you a winning player? How do you know? BUT, this is a much better starting point then the much broader original question. This is a question to build upon.
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Hmm, I guess this is going to be a 3 part article. I didn't realize I would get so type happy with this. The next article will address the final question. The Poker basement

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