Getting Started (for the newbie)

If you are a newbie, pay attention!

1. Play low stakes. Start out playing very lose stakes. I can speak from personal experience; if you are new at this, you are guaranteed to lose for awhile particularly if you are foolish enough to try higher stakes before you are ready. You can lose several hundred very quickly. The people at the higher stakes know what they are doing and will take your money. Sure, not everyone in the higher stakes are super poker players, but you will almost find one at every table. Sometimes 2 or 3. these people will read you like a book. You'll be lucky to win one or two hands before they figure you out. They are like the Borg in the way they adapt quickly to your playing style. Stay at the micro stakes for a thousand hands, at least, until you get the feel for it. And even though the amount of money seems like chicken scratch, play it like it's a hundred dollars. Take it very seriously. That is the only way you will learn poker . Learn how to play the hands, and how to read your opponents while you are doing this. Study everyone; figure out what they have and the way they play, even if you are not playing

2. Only play one table at a time. I was fascinated when I first started, to find players at several tables, and these were the players that were winning. So I tried it. Guess what? When you are a nube, you can't handle more than one table. You can't even handle one. Stay focused and pay attention.

3. Play larger rings. If you play the smaller rings, you will lose more on blinds alone then you will win. You need the larger tables for two reasons. One; you have more hands for "free" in between blinds. It costs you less to simply sit at the table and do nothing. Two; you get more practice this way.

4. Money management. Remember ... you are going to lose! So start with the small stakes, and stay there until you win consistently! How much do you select to sit at a table? Select the max in limit poker. You need the power to back you up. If you select a small amount, or the minimum, you will burn through the money quickly. With a larger stack at the table, you will be in longer, and have more opportunity to win. You will also have the power to bluff. Bluffing is part of the game. You cant win overall without some bluffing, and you cant bluff without a big stack in front of you, because if you get beat on a bluff, you'll burn up your whole stack if it is small. For no limit, never buy in for more than 25 times as much than the big blind. This is the advice of the professionals from Full Tilt Poker Academy, and it is based on the fact that if you play above your bankroll, you will go broke. It's not unlike buying a house with a mortgage you cant afford. It is foolish, and it guarantees financial disaster.