Beginner Forum FAQ's (Please Read Before Posting)

[jyms]

Welcome to the Beginners Circle Forum FAQ.


Contents:
1. Welcome to the Beginners Circle!
2. Searching the Forum
3. How should I post a hand?
4. How do I post images?
5. I don't understand a word or numbers someone posted!
6. How big of a bankroll do I need?
7. What kind of programs and tools do I need?
8. What books should I read?
9. How can I get better at poker?



1. Welcome to the Beginners Circle!


Welcome to FTR! In this thread, you'll find answers for all the frequently asked questions.



2. Searching the forum

If you have a question or want to start a discussion, please search the forum before you post a new thread!




3. How should I post a hand?

There are just 3 easy steps to posting a hand


1. Convert it!

Converting a hand makes it much easier to read. Simply copy the hand history text from your poker client, and paste it into the FTR Hand Converter. Make sure to untick the results box so that they can't influence the advice you receive!


2. Add relevant information

Statistics come from Heads up display (HUD) programs, while reads come from previous hands. They may include:

- both your table image and villain's table image
- recent hands of importance

Posting long paragraphs detailing your thought processes or other information will mean fewer people read your thread and even fewer will reply. Be concise.

Also make sure you post a thread with a descriptive title. As spoonitnow said, "if a poster cannot tell what the hand is about before he clicks on your thread, you did not make a good thread title." A good title would be "4bet all-in preflop with QQ vs a nit?", while a bad title would be "am i a donk?"


3. Read the advice!

While it's not a good idea to take all advice posted as gospel, at the very least consider everything which is posted. Try and work out who the best posters in the forum are and listen closely to them. Don't be afraid to disagree with what someone says, if you think you have a good reason for suggesting an alternative option. Asking for advice about how to play the river and ignoring when everyone tells you to play the flop differently won't help your game.

Always remember the people posting in your thread are giving up their time and effort to try and help you get better. From the other perspective, if you want to reply to a thread, make sure you are courteous and friendly. Everyone had to start out somewhere, and what seems simple to you may be complex to them.




4. How do I post images?


1. Take a print screen (Print Screen button for the whole screen, Alt and Print Screen button for just the current window)
2. Open Microsoft Paint
3. Press Ctrl and V to paste the screenshot
4. Optional: resize the image. Easy in Windows 7 - just click resize and choose "Pixels". 700-800 pixels is a good width.
5. Save the picture
6. Go to imgur: the simple image sharer , click Computer then select the picture and click Start upload
7. Copy the "BBCode" text on the right of the image
8. Paste this text into your post



5. I don't understand a word or numbers someone posted!


The best place to start is in FTR's very own glossary. If that doesn't answer your question, try the poker dictionary which has over 1200 entries!

You will also see numbers like "20/17" or "65/20" regularly. These are taken from tracking software. The first number is VP$IP - Voluntarily Put Money In Pot - which is the percentage of hands the player has put money in the pot, not including blinds or antes. The second number is PFR - PreFlop Raise - which is the percentage of hands the player has raised before the flop.



6. How big of a bankroll do I need?


Just check out FTR's Bankroll Management Calculator for an easy to read, instant answer!



7. What kind of programs and tools do I need?


Players who play more than one table tend to use tracking programs. The most common are Holdem Manager (HEM) and Poker Tracker (PT or PT3/4). These process every hand you play, allowing you to create graphs and analyse your own play as well as overlaying a Heads up Display (HUD) onto your poker tables with statistics on other players. Both of these programs come with free trials!

Other useful tools include:

- Pokerstove, for analyzing the equity (or percent chance to win) with different hands, ranges and boards
- EquiLab, like Pokerstove but with some extra graphical features (thanks to MadMojoMonkey)
- Flopzilla (7 day free trial), showing how different ranges hit different boards
- ICMIZER (3 free hands a day), which considers final table payouts as well as hand ranges to help you work out if a situation is +EV or not

There are a variety of training video websites out there. The most popular are DeucesCracked, Cardrunners and Tournament Edge. The best websites tend to require a monthly subscription fee, and some have a signing fee on too. If you want free videos, check out FTR's Poker Videos.