KatieBoots said:
i've yet to learn to play poker. i've been coached through a few games with friends and my grandparents (lulz) but haven't had many opportunities to really catch on. i have always had good luck with cards though and know i can bluff like a champ (or so i was told). i've read up and thought about trying to learn on free play sites, but i'm afraid i couldn't keep up. i can be a bit shy and i know i'll be self conscious of looking like a n00b. i want to be able to hit some tables for my birthday in a couple months and need to get better at black jack and learn to play poker... any recommendations for a way to ease into it without scaring myself off haha?
Absolutely I do! You can sign up with
Carbon Poker for free and play their Free Roll tourneys. I would definitely recommend
that, as opposed to Facebook poker when it comes to practice, because most FB players really don't know what they are doing and are not going to make the same plays as your opponents will at the tables in actual card rooms.
Like anywhere on the internet
(and IRL for that matter) there will be A holes and trolls, so if you're feeling self conscience and think that some ass talking shit about the way you just played a hand might get you feeling discouraged, then simply turn off the "player chat" feature. I recommend this for in the beginning though, because unlike playing online, when you're playing live in the card room, you don't have this option. So I feel it's a goo idea to turn it on some times and train yourself to not let them beat you down mentally.
Another really important tip that I feel I can't stress enough is this...
fold Fold FOLD!
Patience is KEY to playing this game! The majority of what you will be doing is
FOLDING. A common mistake that new players make is not being selective enough with their starting hands. I hear ppl say all the time that the one thing that gets them into trouble when playing Hold Em' is that they get board and start getting involved with more hands then they should. I never get board at the tables anymore because I learned this other very important thing... When you're not playing a hand, you need to pay attention to how the others play! Doing this will keep your mind from wondering, and it's something that you need to do anyways.
Another thing I do is I study. Just like any profession, if you want to be successful, you go to school and do your home work. Now even if you aren't trying to go pro, it's still a smart thing to do. I read books and poker magazines on a regular basis and I take notes. I keep a journal of how my tourneys went, if I did well or if I did poorly. And I write down what happened and try to learn either from my mistakes or remember what I did that helped me play well. I also go to a lot of poker websites too.
Here's a really good site I just found that I think will help you out. It has a lot of very good advice for beginners with articles that are easy to understand.
http://www.thepokerbank.com/strategy/general/beginner-tips/
Good Luck, and if you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask. :thumbleft:
