I have a problem

yup...I have a problem. I'm totally a fish. I love playing poker, but I always seem to do poorly. I've gotten advice from this site and others and friends and nothing seems to work. I started out alright with my first money deposit at Party Poker playing $25 NL, but then my luck ran out and I got beat bad.

I've considered playing on Ultimate Bet just for the lower limit games. I tried out the play money games there just to get a feel for the software and I did poor there also. Everytime I hit three of a kind I was beat by a straight or a flush. I know real money is different, but I feel I should at least be able to beat the play money games.

So I'm really not sure what to do, but I have a few options. I could quit playing for money completely, since it's just costing me money. I don't like this option because I think it's a fun game. Should I get back into the $25NL tables at Party Poker? I only lost $50...maybe it was just some bad luck? Or should I try the low limit games at Ultimate Bet and work on getting a little better?

Also, A lot of people here seem to have PokerTracker. Is this something I should consider? I don't like paying a lot of money for software if it's not going to help me win.

Hmmm....

Actually implement the advice that you have read, I know a few people who have heard it all, but still perform badly.

Have more than a $50 Bankroll at P@rty, read Rilla$ banroll post too. I'd play at Party for the bonuses too, it really helps if you're goal oriented (ie I have 650 more raked hands of solid poker then I get $200).

Read FTR Very Happy

Well according to most people's suggestions for minimum bankroll on this site, I don't have enough to play at Party Poker. $50-$100 is about all I'm willing to drop, especially with how well I've been playing.

I've also played in a few tournements and I usually do much better there. A lot of times I make it to head to head and then get dominated because the game changes so much.

Play within you bankroll fo sho.

Playing in tournaments is fine, it's also nice because you can only lose so much if you're playin in one tournament.

I say go to UB, because their interface is the shiznit, PokerStars is another viable option (especially if you're gonna focus on tournies).

Oh, if you wanted to increase your bankroll, pm me Wink

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He's talking about getting about $200 in bonuses by putting up $200, by the by.

This may seem a strange suggestion, but you could try gettin a poker simulator application. I don't have any particular one in mind. I haven't looked at them for years. I know they have them for limit, not sure about NL, but someone has probably made one.

I suggest this because:
1. You can play a few thousand hands within your bankroll (since it's just the cost of the software).
2. Any decent one will let you select the "player profiles" for your competition, tighness/agression/etc.
3. For training a simulator will give you a better feel than playing with play chips online, since that is notoriously loose and wild.

Again, I did it with limit, but when I first decided I wanted to play poker I read the books and then spent a 100 hours or so until I could consistently beat the simulator. Then when I played live in Palm Springs on vacation (3 times), I won money with no "real" experience at 2/4 limit against the leather ass crews that sit in those casino's by the resorts and take money from tourists.

Also, I'm hoping that the simulators out now will also do game analysis for you. So it can tell you where your weakness are.

That will give you the experience you need, but can't afford.

My other suggestion is to play micro-limits. There are .05/.10 NL games online. $50 on one of those sites will give something approaching an appropriate bankroll to play those if you insist on NL - which is my favorite as well.

That Poker Academy simulator is frikin expensive.

50 bones. I bought it when I was starting out because I was watching The Screen Savers and "Thunder" Keller told me to. Embarassed

Not really sure if it was worth the money or not. It helped my game a lot but I only really played with it for 5-10 hours. I think microlimits would be just as helpful and a little cheaper.

Ultimate Bet is a good place to play if you're starting out with a small bankroll. .01/.02 limit and no limit ring games, $1 + .10 buy in SNG's and a lot of freeroll MTT's (many of which pay out in Bonus points which can then be used to enter money tourneys in place of cash). So a 50 dollar bankroll can do you just fine.

The software is, IMO, the best I've seen so far. Rather than an overhead view of the table you get a view as if you were sitting in the seat. And it's fast. I was playing a freeroll on UB and one on Absolute Poker at the same time and UB was playing 3 to 4 hands for every one hand on AP.

The downside is that the play is measurably better than most other sites, even at the lower levels. But even that can be an advantage for leaning the game so I guess it all ballances out.

Another downside is that UB's way of clearing bonuses is pretty bad. It can take forever to clear even a small Bonus. Not the best place to go if you're looking to use bonuses as a way to build a bankroll.

Dean

Do I have to enter a Bonus code for Ultimate Bet? I've never seen one listed.

and I don't understand why people like Ultimate Bet's interface the most. I hate Pacific pokers interface though. I couldn't even stand using it. To be honest, I like party pokers the most, but that's partially because I've used it the most. I still do play money tournements there often. Which brings me to another question...

What happened to the 2,000 player play money multitable tournements at Party Poker? I have a friend that is using older software, and it still shows up for them, but on my newer software it's not there. Also if I download the software on another computer it's not there either.

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