newbie question!

I have been playing online poker for a couple of years, mostly as entertainment, I have occasionaly deposited real money only to get cleaned up in a hurry, not realizing the science of NLHE. After reading just a few of these forum articles I have already noticed a big improvement in play money ultra low buy ins. Play money is extremely different than real money I am sure, but I am not confident enough in my game to make another deposit. So my question is this..............because play money games are so much looser(the perverbial "its only play money") could this possibly ruin my approach at a real cash sit and go?
I am not sure Id play much differently but its my read on my "play money" opps that worries me, thanks great site.

Playmoney games are only good for learnings the rules IMO. If you like SnGs why don't you deposit $50 to PokerStars and play $1 SnGs there? Consider it your learning money. I did the same about 3 months ago. I busted the money eventually, read 2 poker books, deposited some more and now I'm with ~$850 bankroll doing fairly well in micro limit ring games.

I never really played play money because i found it too unrealistic but apparently the very high stakes play money games (that you actually have to work at to get to) play similarly to the lower stakes real money games. There are also some sites online that will buy play money chips for real cash although the exchange rate is something like a bazillion play money dollars for one real money dollar. The lower stakes play money games arent going to teach you an awful lot but if you do stay there then I think SnGs are much more realistic than cash games since the the craziest players tend to bust out very early. The other option if you are into tournaments is to play some freerolls and see if you can cash in those. Freerolls dont have a buyin but if you win you can win a reasonable amount.
If I were you id deposit $100 when you have some to burn, and then play the lowest stakes you can find of the game of your choice and with any luck you wont burn it anyway.

Originally Posted by Jupit3r

Playmoney games are only good for learnings the rules IMO. If you like SnGs why don't you deposit $50 to PokerStars and play $1 SnGs there? Consider it your learning money. I did the same about 3 months ago. I busted the money eventually, read 2 poker books, deposited some more and now I'm with ~$850 bankroll doing fairly well in micro limit ring games.

what were the 2 books?

Originally Posted by Mr.Gundlach

what were the 2 books?

Theory of Poker, by Sklansky
No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice, by Sklansky and Miller