[Nanook]

I love chips as much as the next guy here, but I have to admit I am not the best player in the world. I have been playing poker for the last 20+ yrs but mostly in home dealer choice games. More recently I have read a couple of HE books (Winning low limit HE by Lee Jones and Harrington on Hold Em) and been playing on line some for real low limits. I'm up a little, but not nearly enough to make it remotely worth my time. I enjoy it, but would like to improve. What are the suggested next steps to improving my game?

AB

[hunterking]

Originally Posted by Nanook

I love chips as much as the next guy here, but I have to admit I am not the best player in the world. I have been playing poker for the last 20+ yrs but mostly in home dealer choice games. More recently I have read a couple of HE books (the small stakes book by Ed Miller and Harrington on Hold Em) and been playing on line some for real low limits. I'm up a little, but not nearly enough to make it remotely worth my time. I enjoy it, but would like to improve. What are the suggested next steps to improving my game?

AB

practice, practice, practice...

hk

[King DoDo]

Originally Posted by Nanook

I love chips as much as the next guy here, but I have to admit I am not the best player in the world. I have been playing poker for the last 20+ yrs but mostly in home dealer choice games. More recently I have read a couple of HE books (the small stakes book by Ed Miller and Harrington on Hold Em) and been playing on line some for real low limits. I'm up a little, but not nearly enough to make it remotely worth my time. I enjoy it, but would like to improve. What are the suggested next steps to improving my game?

AB

Play against me online, you'll feel like an expert.

Michael

[littlebu]

Originally Posted by Nanook

I love chips as much as the next guy here, but I have to admit I am not the best player in the world. I have been playing poker for the last 20+ yrs but mostly in home dealer choice games. More recently I have read a couple of HE books (the small stakes book by Ed Miller and Harrington on Hold Em) and been playing on line some for real low limits. I'm up a little, but not nearly enough to make it remotely worth my time. I enjoy it, but would like to improve. What are the suggested next steps to improving my game?

AB

I think the first thing is to figure out what game you are most interested in. Is it limit NL? Cash tourney? If limit cash SSHE is great. Reread it play, reread play... If you want NL tourney reread HOH1&2 and get Sklansky's Tournament poker. If sitngo's then HOH also touches on that to. I think by focusing on one game you will maximize the learning curve for whichever you choose to play. GL

[w16227]

You need to play to get better. Most of us (at least me anyway) started at the low limits as well. Can get frustration to play well for 2 hours, yet only pull in $10 in profit. Pay is better at McDonalds.

BUT - as you play more at the lower limits, you are learning. You should start to get a feel as to what the other players betting and raising means. You should get a feel for how the odds can be manipulated in your favor (very helpful in limit games).

If you want practice against better competition without risking $$$ - get ahold of Poker Academy or Wilsons Turbo Texas Holdem. I believe that TTH is better for limit only. PA has NL as well as tournamnet mode (single table only for the cheap version, but this is a great SnG trainer). You can play thousands of hands without risking a cent against decent competition.

In all caases - play within your bankroll. Realize that 1+BB/hour is a decent return (KEEP RECORDS). This may be why it seems like you are not making much headway. At .25/.50 you will probably max out at $1.50/hr unless you really have the miller strategy down in which case the max would be like $3/hr (see, Ronald pays pretty well compared to low limit grinders).

BANKROLL MANAGEMENT

Do NOT move up in limits until you have at LEAST 300x the big bet. For 1/2, this is a $600 roll. If you drop to 150x, then drop limits. Bad streaks happen. They can crush a bankroll.

If you are a SnG guy - then start small as well. Make sure to have 20 buyins for the given level you want to play. If you roll drops by half - then drop limits.

If you like the bit MTT games - the learn to play limit 1st. You can "reward" your good limit sessions with a MTT (hey , I am up $30 so I can enter the party $20K on Friday). MTTs are fun - but it can take a while to earn any cash with them. Lots of risk for newer players.



You are starting the right way - reading some books (and they are good ones) and asking questions. I would consider picking up theory of poker if you want to add to your arsenal. An all over look at the game of poker.

[brett freeman]

this is going to sound weird, but one of the ways some of my friends and i learned how to play better was to have games where we were required to take notes on what thoughts we had during a hand. for instance, seat 1 has been playing really loose all day, and he just raised from middle position on your button. you would then right down your thoughts, and explaining the thought process you were having. this can get tedious after a while, but these notes can be invaluable in trying to figure out how opponets are playing you. ive always felt knowing how people are expecting you to play can really help you mix up your game when needed and bring yuou to the next level

[Mok]

Great information for a budding online player. Both the initial books are on my Christmas/Birthday list this year, so hopefully I'll receive them as gifts instead of shelling out the cash myself. Those two seem to be getting the best overall "recommendations" from lots of sites (blogs, forums, whatnot) I've been visiting, so I feel those are safe "bets" to help improve my game.

As for the betting and buy-ins. 20x the Buy-in is a good thing to know, since if you've read my other thread, I have some left-over cash in 2 rooms, and it is good to get a feel for what games I should be playing.

Great info here. Not only is this site great for chip-a-holics, but it is a great community with lots of very valuable and insightful information.

[SpeakEasy]

SImple tips to better ON-LINE play:

1. Don't bluff. The exception is if you play with the same players regularly, in which case you have to mix it up. On line, very few players pay attention to your playing style.

2. Stick to the very strong starting hands. Play 2 or 3 tables at once if you get bored folding. You greatly improve your chance of winning a hand is you start with a strong hand.

3. Set goals. Setting goals gives more meaning to your play. Playing without a goal can make poker very boring. Try to achieve a certain bankroll size by a certain date, for example. Or, try to win enough money to pull some out of the account and buy a specific item, like an MP3 player or something. Or, try to win enough money on one site to pull some out and open an account on a new site. Be creative.

4. Join the CT tournaments and side games, or play with some other group.

5. Make a modest deposit that is a slight step up for your current bankroll, like $200. Set a goal of winning a modest amount each session. like $10-$20. After a while, this builds up nicely, and has more meaning than the penny tables.

[gmunny]

I must say, I still have a lot to improve on, but other than reading books and playing, I think the one thing that helped me improve was reviewing hands the next day. When I first started playing online, I use to play only SNG's (though I now prefer ring games) and would save every hand history and review them the next day. I think I did this for about 6 months. If there were hands I had trouble deciding if I played it correctly I would post to a board for other peoples opinons. Even though I don't review every hand now days, I do go back to what I consider key or tough hands and review them. If you play on Party, there is a free replayer here: http://www.tightpoker.com/replayer.html
Else, you can buy Poker Tracker, which I greatly recommend to any semi-serious player.

Now I am not sure of your skill set, and you may have already have this down, but this may help someone else. Train yourself to think of the same things in the same order. Just like shooting free throws, use the same repititive motions. An example of this is what is your position, what are blinds, how many people are in the pot, any raisers, what are peoples stack sizes, pot size, etc. It takes concetration, but after awhile it becomes more automatic.
Good luck,
G$

[Wooderson]

Originally Posted by w16227

At .25/.50 you will probably max out at $1.50/hr unless you really have the miller strategy down in which case the max would be like $3/hr (see, Ronald pays pretty well compared to low limit grinders).

What is the Miller strategy?