play money or real money?

i've read toaster's beginner's guide and i've recently taken up playing free "play money" games at a few sites.

the question is...are these sites really that good to begin with? i find alot of these people are just unrealistic calling stations, people who drop ridiculous amounts (like dropping 1/2-all their stack before the flop constantly) on absolutely nothing, and maniacs everywhere. i'm sure that if i continue practicing on these tables i can maybe figure out how to beat them (play very tight and calling the maniacs..?), but is it even worth it to learn how to beat these tables when "the real world" doesn't even work like this (maybe)?

IMHO, play money tables can be fun. They can teach you some things, both good and bad. If you are going to play them, keep in mind that it will be very different from real money play. Beating the crap out of play money won't mean anything when you get to real money.

I have started on the play money tables 5/10 NL. I set myself a goal of 50,000, when i get there i am going to switch over to real money.

Table choice is key to playing well. Some seem to be social gatherings, some are "all in fests" and some seem to be pretty normal.

One thing that this has taught me is to fold. Because i want to hit my goal i have had to learn to fold rather than continually tossing money in chasing draws.

Play money will do nothing more than get you used to the site that you're playing on.

You could simply camp and overbet your hands and win at play money.

-'rilla

Don't look at play money tables as a win chips vs lose chips proposition. Look at it as a way to build your discipline and skill. Play the cards you know should be played in the way you know you should play them. Learn consistency. If some jackass wins with 28o calling a large preflop raise, just disregard it. Did YOU play correctly.

The chips you win or lose playing with play chips will (in my opinion) predict very little about what you will win or lose playing real money - especially once you get above micro-stakes. But the skills and habits you instill in yourself will stay with you. If you find yourself calling AI bets preflop with TT then you're making bad decisions - even if you win. If your AA gets cracked every time, but you raised it correctly and bet it right, then when you hit money games the same hand will hold up.

Above all else - and this will be a temptation even in money games - when everyone else is playing loose, don't start slugging with them. There will be plenty of money games where you'll see a multiway pot that was raised preflop only to find out that no one even had an ACE, much less a legitimate hand for playing a preflop raise. Don't let that lull you into thinking, the next hand you can play 8Ts and expect your pair of tens to hold up post flop.

Hone your discipline on the play tables then continue that discipline on the money tables, and then you'll have something that will anchor your game.

thank you for the quick relys!

so, from what i understand, play money table teaches discipline but that's basically it?

i've been playing at these "fake" tables for about 2 months now. when i first started, i played after reading super systems (which i think is a good book, w/ good concepts....although i don't think that should have been my first book). following the book, i played extremely loose and aggressive (and badly now that i look back) and i went from 1k to 30k in about a week of playing. soon after, my luck died and i lost pretty much all but 5k.

that was when i stumbled accross this site and began reading all the articles/forum posts. i readjusted my play so i see on avg 35% of flops an i have since then slowly (but very consistently) built the money back up to about 15k. *oh...side question here.....look at end

should i continue playing these tables till i get to 50k? or should i try penny poker?


*i have found that when i play at these tables very tight, everybody just folds whenever i bet. pretty much whenever i bet, a majority of the players will fold and i will only get 1-2 callers. if i raise anything at all, they drop out as well. i mostly have the rely on some new person entering the table in order to make any money besides the blinds. is this normal? should i adjust my playstyle? maybe this only happens in fake money?

thanks in advance guys....so glad i found this site.

I started out with the play money tables as well. Mostly play money tournaments (seemed like people played a little better late in play tournaments). I had about 40,000 in fake chips But when I moved to the real money tournaments it was a lot different. More so than I thought. I havent tried the regular cash games yet because I play on party poker and their lowest stakes are still $0.50 $1. Im still working on the $5 + $1 tournaments. Trying to get a feel for the players and what not.

And yes ive also read Super System I do think its a good book if your that type of player. I wouldnt suggest it for a beginner because its very aggressive and you have to be fearless to play like that. Its also very risky to play that stlye, but a good read none the less.

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Hone your discipline on the play tables then continue that discipline on the money tables, and then you'll have something that will anchor your game.

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That is exactly what i am trying to do. I think i saw the flop <30% of the time last night. My win percentage at showdown was approx 80%, which was high, it is usually around 50%

If you've been playing for 2 months, it's time to leave the nest. Without question. What are you going to lose? $50? Play the micros. At this point consider it a hobby and call your initial buy in hobby money. Like playing a round of golf or buying a new computer game.

You obviously have put the work into having a clue. So make the move. If you lose it, you've bought valuable experience. I think if you play a "system". Any professionally written system will do, then you should be OK. And, again, what's to lose??