Beginner's Forum FAQ (Please read before posting)
Welcome to the Beginners Circle Forum FAQ.
Contents:
1. Welcome to the Beginners Circle!
2. How should I post a hand?
3. How do I post stats or graphs?
4. What do all of these abbreviations and numbers like 17/14 and UTG mean?
5. How big of a bankroll do I need?
6. What kind of programs and tools do I need?
7. What books should I read?
8. How can I get better at poker?
1. Welcome to the Beginners Circle!
Welcome to FTR and the Beginners Circle. Here we hope you'll start to take your poker career to the next level. Please be advised of a few things:
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7365/searchl.png
This is the location of the search button. Please use it before starting new threads about specific poker topics. For more elaboration on this, watch this video. Best of luck!
2. How should I post a hand?
The goal of posting hands is to gain a better understanding of poker. There are a few things you can do to make sure you get the most out of every hand you post. By following these guidelines, not only does it help you improve faster by getting more out of each posted hand, but it also helps others get more out of the discussion of your hands, so it's better for everyone as a whole if you do the following.
First use the FTR Hand Converter (link) to convert your text hand history file into a format that is much easier read and understand in the forums. Using the converter makes it a lot easier to read your hand in the bulletin board format, so you're more likely to have people reply to your thread. It also makes it less likely that people misread what went on in your hand, which can only lead to confusion.
Then add stats and reads for the opponents in question, including any table image or recent hands that might be of importance. So many decisions in poker come down to our opponents' tendencies and what our opponents think of us at any given time, so if you don't post this information, you will rarely get good replies since it's often too difficult to determine what the best course of action is if you're only given the hand history and nothing else. As a result of posting stats and reads, you will get better replies, which will increase the benefit you receive from posting hands.
Next, remember not to post results in the thread. This includes whatever action you took during the decision you're asking about. For example, instead of setting up a question like "Should I have called on the river here?" you should edit out your decision on that street and the result of the hand and ask something like "Is a call +EV here, or should I just fold?" If you post results, you skew the replies you get and the type of advice you can get in the hand, which will severely lower the potential for growth you have in posting any single particular hand.
Finally, post your thread with a descriptive title. If a poster cannot tell what the hand is about before he clicks on your thread, you did not make a good thread title. For example, the title "4bet all-in preflop with QQ vs a nit?" is good, while "am i a donk?" is bad.
3. How do I post stats or graphs?
This thread explains it pretty well: http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerforum/beginners-circle/how-do-i-post-my-poker-graph-my-poker-tracker-stats-130720.html (link).
4. What do all of these abbreviations and numbers like 17/14 and UTG mean?
The numbers like 17/14 or 10/8 or 24/21 when giving stats on players means VP$IP (voluntarily put money in the pot) and PFR (preflop raise). These are measures of how often someone put money in the pot preflop (not counting blinds/antes) as a percentage, and how often someone put in a raise preflop as a percentage.
Thanks to Toasty for providing the rest of this in a clean, consise manner.
UTG = Under the Gun, the first person after the blinds. First person to act pre-flop and third to act after the flop if the blinds play.
UTG+1 is the one after
UTG+2 the one after UTG+1
MP1 = Middle Postion, just after UTG +2
MP2 = like above
MP3 = like above
HJ = The Highjack seat, one seat before the cutoff
CO = Cutoff seat, not sure why it's called the Cutoff but its just before the Button
The Button = The dealer button, the very last player to act on almost all rounds of betting apart from Pre-flop which is closed by the blinds unless they raise.
Just to clarify BB has two meanings Big Blind and Big Bet. Taking a $2/$4 fixed-limit game as an example
SB Small Blind = $1
BB Big blind = $2
BB Big Bet = $4
Where a $2/4 no-limit or pot-limit game would just have
SB Small blind = $2
BB Big blinds = $4
BB Bet Bet = None, NL and PL games don't use a big bet
When people say BB/100 or BB/hour they are usually talking about Big Bets. For NL and PL they will say ptbb/100, where a ptbb is twice the big blind (similar to a big bet for fixed-limit games).
Feel free to check out the FTR Poker Dictionary (link) if this doesn't answer your question.
5. How big of a bankroll do I need?
This is a subject of much debate, but can be solved using ideas from mathematics and statistics. In general, you need 20-30 buy-ins (2000-3000 big blinds) as an absolute minimum to play no-limit or pot-limit holdem. For limit holdem, you'll need 300-500 big bets. A bigger bankroll is better on you emotionally and financially.
6. What kind of programs and tools do I need?
The main tracking programs these days are Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager. They both keep databases of your hand histories so you can evaluate your own play and study your opponents. Important analysis tools include a free program called PokerStove which will calculate holdem equities for you (here is a basic explanation of PokerStove), and a program with a free 7-day trial called Flopzilla which will calculate hand range combinations for you. In addition, you can check out the Tools of Poker (link) forum for other information.
7. What books should I read?
The main books on no-limit holdem now are No-Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice, Professional No-Limit Hold'em, and Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em. Again, you can check the Tools of Poker (link) forum for updates in this area.
8. How can I get better at poker?
Read and study the threads in the Beginners Circle Digest, post hands that you have questions about every session, and study as much as you play. You can also join the IRC chat room (there is a sticky on how to connect in the community forum).
Best of luck!
