Are "Play Money" games going to help my play?

Hi everyone. I'm new to the site and very happy to see what seems to be a very supportive community. I have done a search through the forums but havn't been able to find any information on this topic.

Basically, I am very new to HoldEm. I have been playing for a few weeks, have read a fair bit on the Net and have read Killer Poker: Holdem. I made the mistake of jumping right in on pokerroom.com to play a few games for real money and not suprisingly lost about 5% of my BR. I have since logged about 1000 games at the "play money" tables in hopes of improving my game before heading back to the money tables. I guess my main question is whether this is going to end up being a deterance in the long run to the improvement of my skills. Players at these tables don't seem to take the game seriously and the players to the flop are consistantly up at the 80%-90% level.

Should I move to a micro-limit table in hopes of finding a more serious game? Or should I continue working the play-money tables?

Thanks for any advice.

IMHO, the play money tables will only lead you to reinforce bad habbits. I would say you are better off in the real money tables, making sure to stay at a level suitable to your bankroll.

definetly stay away from play $ tables. Just play the micros for awhile, you wont sacrifice too much money from your bankroll while you learn.

oh and welcome to the site :D

Thanks for the quick responses! Looks like I'll be moving to the micro tables at Party Poker. I'm sure you'll see me posting a few hands in the near future!

I'd say they'd be useful in learning the interface for a little bit. Better to get the hang of the software with fake money than screw up a bet in a real money game.

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Originally Posted by cassette

Thanks for the quick responses! Looks like I'll be moving to the micro tables at Party Poker. I'm sure you'll see me posting a few hands in the near future!

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WHOA WHOA WHOA

Partypoker tables are not micro. The lowest limit tables they have = .5/1. If you want micro limit, move your money to pokerstars.

Steve Badger wrote:
"I'd make sure you can consistently win at the play money tables before moving to the real money tables."

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Partypoker tables are not micro. The lowest limit tables they have = .5/1. If you want micro limit, move your money to pokerstars.

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..or Ultimate Bet -- they have a nice progression of nl games starting from 0.01/0.02

I didn't realize that Party Poker doesn't have micro tables. Not really sure why i thought they did.

I was going to go over the Ultimate bet but you have to be 21, so I think I'll play at Absolute Poker for now. I played the .2/.4 tables there last night and ended up about 500%. It was kind of rediculous. I was used to the games at pokerroom.com and the stuff at absolute seemed unbelievably soft.

Steve Badger wrote:
"I'd make sure you can consistently win at the play money tables before moving to the real money tables."

This is actually what my original post was regarding. Is playing long enough at the play money tables going to just end up teaching me bad habits? It seems like you need a completely different still of play when you have 90% of players to the flop and 50% in a showdown.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice.

Play money is just that, and no one is going to treat it like real money. Which, for the most part, results in bad play. It can help to discipline yourself and maybe learn some patience, but as some have already said here, be careful not to form any bad habits.

ahh


PLAY MONEY = NO FOLDEM HOLDEM


sure its fun but like it says its play money.


Then again before I started playing with real money I played my play money account like it was real. Just be carefull no to get bad habits.

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Originally Posted by Corey

Then again before I started playing with real money I played my play money account like it was real. Just be carefull no to get bad habits.

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I did the same and came away thinking I was a poker all-star ready for the big time. I was wrong. It's easy to take play money from idiots...but the game changes when you play for real money.

As for the original poster.....Your strategy in play money games may be solid for real money games too....but because you're playing for real money, sometimes YOU change. Somebody puts you all-in for $40? At a play money table you do it in a hearbeat. Not only because it's the best play, but because it's play money...

In a real money game you think twice about it.....and might even fold, even though you shouldn't.

JMO, though.

Play money tables are good for adjusting to the interface of a specific site and also for helping you recognize hand possibilites on the board if you are a beginner.

If you have some poker knowledge play on the micros. The play money tables, like everyone else said, will only reinforce bad habits instead of rewarding good play.