Firstly Thanks for a refreshing beginner post and not a OMFG I AM A POKER GOD I MAKE $600 IN 2 DAYS one. For some reason they have been getting on my nerves recently.

The buying in short think I don't mind all that much when you're starting out. I used to do it too. You will come to a point when you are properly bankrolled however when you realise what it is to know how to win and you learn what playing poker really is. This kinda covers your point about playing better postflop but basically you will realise that poker involves finding an edge in a hand where you are ahead and not being afraid to push your full stack on it. That is how you make real money, but when you're starting I don't mind playing slow and kinda weak and getting a feel for things.

Don't worry about reading players yet I would say, reads are over-rated at lower limits. I think alot of players are more excited by the idea of reading players more-so then actually being able to do it. At low stakes basically everyone plays the same, ie they get too attached to TPTK etc. Set farming is a really easy, safe and solid way to play untill you get to higher levels. Again though, not buying in full will hinder this approach because you don't get full value from your sets. For this reason I think it would be a good idea if you played some 2nl or whatever untill you get to about $100 then go back to 10nl with full stacks.


I don't know shit about poker tracker or whatever so I'm afraid I cant help you there but I would say that you might have a problem using those programs if you can't get good hand histories. Make sure you check into that.