10-STEP PLAN FOR LEARNING TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER
Learning Texas Hold'em at a casino can be an expensive proposition. Usually the very lowest stakes are $2/4 limit, and if you're unfamiliar with the game, you can lose quite a bit of money fast!
The best way for a cheap education is to start playing online at low limits, and gradually move up in limits when you become sure that you can beat your current limit. Below is our 10-step plan for learning the game with a minimal amount of risk.
1.) Sign up with Full Tilt, or alternatively, Ultimate Bet. If you click through this site, Pacific Poker will give you a 25% deposit bonus up to $100, and Pokerroom will give you a bonus of 20%. AND don't forget to bookmark this page for future reference!
2.) Deposit what you feel comfortable with--- $50 is a good start.
3.) Play at the lowest limits available--- the $.05/.10 tables will introduce you to the game.
4.) Try to practice discipline--- if you are seeing
more than 25% of the flops, you are probably playing too many hands. Try
to follow our starting hand recommendations
and strategy advice.
5.) Once you have made some money, invest in "Winning
Low-Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones. Concentrate on one section
of the book at a time, applying the advice and techniques to your game
until you understand it.
6.) Whenever you have over 300BB (big bets... see the "Your Bankroll" section) of the next higher limit, try moving up to that limit.
For example, if you have been playing at the $.05/.10 limit and you now have $60 in your account, you should try to move up and play the $.10/.20 games (300*.20 = $60).
If your account drops to less than 150BB at the limit you're playing on, drop back down in the limits. So, if you are playing at the $.10/.20 games and your account falls below $30, drop back down to the $.05/.10 games.
7.) After a lot of practice, your account will eventually reach $250. At this point we recommend that you transfer your money (via Neteller) to Party Poker. Sign up with the Party Poker Bonus Code "POCKETCASH" for a 20% deposit bonus.
8.) Buy the book "Small
Stakes Hold'em" by Ed Miller. This book is filled with excellent
material, and once you master the concepts in it, poker will not only
be fun for you, but very lucrative.
9.) Start playing the $.50/1 tables at Party Poker. We recommend that you "graduate" to Party Poker because of the wide variety of limits and tables that they offer. At peak hours, there are over 50,000 people playing simultaneously. The competition is very weak at the $.50/1 level (probably due to it being the lowest limit offered).
10.) Gradually try playing multiple tables at once. If you are playing correctly, you will be folding most of the time, and it won't be hard at all to play two or three tables at once.
Sticking with this plan takes discipline, but the results will pay off. Of course, if you don't mind paying a little bit more for your education, you can always jump straight into the Party Poker $.50/1 games, but be prepared to lose a little cash before you start crushing the games.
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