So i'm new at poker, question and intro here

Hey guys, you are witnessing my first post ever here at FTR, so go easy on me.

So my first week of poker is finally over, have lost a couple hundred dollars, and can't do anything but laugh at myself. The first couple days were my biggest losses, thinking I could just luck my way and bluff everyone out of their money. Well, that didn't turn out to hot.

But recently, I have been actually playing decent, I was ITM at a 45player SNG on Full Tilt, played about 10 SNG's on Bodog and was ITM on i believe 4 of them. I actually broke even yesterday which was a big plus for me. I have read almost all the articles posted on this site, which have helped tremendously. I have read through a bunch of the forum posts which are also quite interesting and will reflect what I have read into my poker play.

To the questions...

First off, what are the abbreviations you guys have for positions? I see UTG, UTG+1, CO, MP all that mumbo jumbo, if you could translate that for me that would be awesome, I've looked around on the site and haven't found the meanings of those.

Should I post my hand histories on here often, to get advice and critiques and what not?

What kind of notes do I take on players?

What is the best tourney's for my whooping BR of 51$?

What poker tools would be most valuable to me?

What poker books would be the most valuable to me, or any other recommended sites for NL Hold'em strategies?

Thanks guys, so far you have been a real help

1.
UTG - "under the gun" first to act preflop
UTG+1 - acts after UTG preflop
MP - middle position
CO - one before button

2.
Yes, poker forums like FTR and twoplustwo.com are great places to get advice.

3.
I like taking notes on playing styles, ranges, and generally anything that's out of the ordinary. For example: TAG, JJ+ AQ+, slowplays aces

4.
I'm not that familiar with rules for bankroll management but I think 30 buy-ins is the standard. So I guess no more than $2 sngs.

5.
Poker Tracker w/ Gametime+

6.
Twoplustwo.com's forum is the best resource you could have IMO

This is much like how I started out, except I was on a $30 bankroll and I didn't lose much at the beginning (through pure luck). If I had to do it all over again with the same bankroll...

1. Make sure you play somewhere with EXTREMELY soft competition. I started at PokerStars but I wish I had started at Bodog because the competition is ridiculously easier than PStars. Bodog SnGs are fantastic for bankrolls under $100 as long as you're playing $5.50s or lower. I know you're underbankrolled for these but the amount of fish should (hopefully) compensate. Also, the beginner Bodog SnGs ($4.40) give you a lot of experience for the amount you pay and pay out to 5th place so that you will lose less money if you can't get 3rd, 2nd, or 1st consistently. I'm not sure of the value of these tournaments when you become a good player, though.

2. If I knew about FTR before, I would have become a winning player much sooner. If you play SnGs, post the full tournament using the tourney trimmer. Bad news though: Bodog doesn't have tournament histories or very good hand histories that you can post. So you're going to be limited to posting individual hands that you need help on. If you don't like this, move to a different site, like PokerStars, that can save the full tournament history on your drive so that you can post it here. Also, go to the Sit and Go section of this forum and read through tournament histories posted by players. We critique those and by looking at the history and the resulting discussion you can see the correct moves to make in certain places.

3. Don't tilt. It will destroy a short bankroll. The way I managed this on a short bankroll was, if I played a $5.50 and lost, I was done for the day. If I played a $5.50 and got 2nd or 1st I would allow myself to play one more. The second I lost a SnG (or took 3rd) I quit for the day. If I wasn't satisfied with it, I'd either go do play money (this is actually not a good idea as this can damage your real money play) or review my tournament in my head. I kept doing this until I was over the $100 mark.

Reading your post you mentioned you played a 45-man SnG. $50 is not enough to support tournaments like that (unless if it's a $1 buy-in or something). You need to be playing 10-man/9-man to lower your variance because your bankroll cannot afford that type of risk. Variance increases as you add more players to the tournament.

Also, this amateur article on "Mastering Sit and Goes" isn't very well written but it will point you in the right direction regarding the play you should adopt at the 5.50 level, especially at Bodog. I summarized the article for myself so that I would have a little cheat sheet to follow while I played when I first started out. Poker books I'd recommend if you're playing SnGs include all the Harrington on Hold'em series (except maybe III, as that's more of like a quiz). And read EVERYTHING. Read here, read the 2+2 forums, and read poker articles. If you aren't sure of anything, feel free to ask in the appropriate section.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

Hey guys, you are witnessing my first post ever here at FTR, so go easy on me.

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Hi and welcome to FTR, it's good to have you here, we're a friendly bunch over here (or at least try to be!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

So my first week of poker is finally over, have lost a couple hundred dollars, and can't do anything but laugh at myself. The first couple days were my biggest losses, thinking I could just luck my way and bluff everyone out of their money. Well, that didn't turn out to hot.

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At low buyin games, whether cash or tourney, the best strategy is to play ABC poker. Bet your good hands, fold your bad ones. If you're going to bluff, a) don't do it too often and b) set it up, for example by betting a missed flop after you've raised preflop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

First off, what are the abbreviations you guys have for positions? I see UTG, UTG+1, CO, MP all that mumbo jumbo, if you could translate that for me that would be awesome, I've looked around on the site and haven't found the meanings of those.

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MIW already answered this, also there's thi stickied post which should give you what you need.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

Should I post my hand histories on here often, to get advice and critiques and what not?

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Yes! That's the best way to improve. Post your hands in the appropriate forum, eg. if you're playing SNGs post in the Sit-N-Go Tourney Tactics forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

What kind of notes do I take on players?

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Whether they are tight or loose, passive or aggressive, what hands they show down, if they limp rather than raise with AA/KK, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

What is the best tourney's for my whooping BR of 51$?

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Stars have a $1.50 + $0.25 18-man turbo tourney, Full Tilt also has $2 +$0.25 tourneys both single and multitable. If you can reload, definitely play the $5.50 normal tourneys but be prepared to reload if you bust!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

What poker tools would be most valuable to me?

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Pokertracker + Pokerace heads up display; if you're playing single table SNGs then Sit N Go Power Tools or Sit N Go Wizard are invaluable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by housefish17

What poker books would be the most valuable to me, or any other recommended sites for NL Hold'em strategies?

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- Harrington on Hold'em vols 1 and 2 for general NL tourney play, these are the best books on the market at the moment for tourney play
- Getting Started in Hold'em by Ed Miller for general beginner poker information
- No Limit Hold'em, Theory and Practice, by David Sklansky and Ed Miller for NL cash games
- 2+2's forums are very good but newer posters very often don't get the time of day, I have 500+ posts there and my questions still sometimes get iignored.

Welcome to FTR.

Read the Stickies.

One of them is "what the hell does [x] mean?". It will answer your questions.

Read plenty and im sure sooner or later you will get winning :D

welcome.

some very good advice:

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Originally Posted by Pelion

Read the Stickies.

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Welcome to FTR

1. Read stickies
2. Profit


If you're unsure what the "stickies" are, they are the locked post at the top of each individual forum containing well written and thought out posts from some of the best players on FTR.

Good luck and welcome.

This thread demonstrates exactly why i like ftr

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Originally Posted by Taxi

This thread demonstrates exactly why i like ftr

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qft
"quoted for truth" - that's for you housefish17 :wink:

You guys rock my socks off, probably one of the best message boards I've been too

Anywho, I have great news

I bought Harrington on Hold 'em yesterday, I immediately saw results after just reading the first 100 or so pages. I won my first Sit 'n Go tourney yesterday. I made much stronger bets, used pot odds more efficiently, implied odds as well, and stole blinds efficiently at the later stages of the game.

Next thing to work on is reading hands and tendecies of players. There's a lot going on at a table at any given time so it's going to take some work

But yeah, thanks guys

that is good news but one thing you will learn about poker soon enough is that its a very, very, very long term game. One tournament + 100 pages isnt nearly long term enough. Its probably a start that you won the thing and you almost certainly wouldnt if you had been the worst player there, but winning it doesnt mean you were the best. Youll understand what i mean more in 6 months time :p.

Keep plugging and reading and working :D

Making money is fun!