Hi all,

I played my first 'real money' poker game 3 days ago. I joined up with FTP with $150 in the bank. I started playing micro limit but lost a bit. I played one on one with a few people which saw me go down to $100.

Well I got the kitty back up to $130 last night with some pure luck playing one on one but I lack strategy. Instead of loosing more money I though I'd check out this forum.

Basically I dont have a playing style yet. I play macro limits 1c/2c or 2c/5c games. I also like the one on ones but the sharks out there can smell my blood.

Do you have any advice on how I can get started? I learn better by visual so any vids I can watch would be awesome!

My plan is to win back the remaining $20 and then keep going from there.

I guess one of my biggest weaknesses is to know if someone is bluffing or not and also which hands to call on the flop.

Um a few things.

1. Don't focus on winning money back as that shouldn't be your main priority, playing well should be and sometimes in poker you can play perfectly and still lose.

2. If you have $130 then you shouldn't play heads up as on Full Tilt the games start at 25c/50c which you are not rolled for and it will only be a matter of time before you go busto.

3. I'd start with either 6max or Full ring and try to learn a basic style first. I started off playing in a very, very tight aggressive manor. This made me a small winner but a winner all the same which is more than 97% of poker players can say.

After you have solid fundimentals then you can look to add more creativity to your game later and or specialise in a format. But learn to breakeven or win first before doing anything fancy.

4. Activley learn! Read, post in forums such as this, watch poker training videos, ask questions, take notes then do it all over again.

Good Luck

Broker

Yeh, the funny thing is when I first started I lost down to $100 and then I won $30 back by playing heads up. After I did a silly emotional ALL-IN call with a high pair the cards showed I was gonna loose but I did catch the river and won $8. After that moment I probably wont be doing any more heads up.

I watched a few of the poker vids you got on your link. The NL100 Full Ring - By NL_Fool was good.

I turned $2 into $4 and then back down to $3 after playing that style. I think its a matter of me knowing how to calculate hands. Is there a software that can calculate my pre-flop hands so I know when its a good time to bet or fold? I'm not the best at math.

I'm glad you got something from the videos.

I have just put a few up on micro stakes, heads up sit and go's. These are a perfect way to build a roll, they are super easy to beat, I would say that if you have the abillityto count to 10 then you have the abillity to win the $2 heads up games for about a 20% ROI.

Funny thing is that I have always been a cash game player and used sit and go games to help with my tilt. If I had the kind of day where I lost four figures in a quick succession and I just couldn't stop playing because I was steaming then I'd fire up ten $1 or $2 SNGs and just spew the chips away in anger because I didn't care about the money and thus saving me from going on tilt in a $2/$4 game. They were my vice and I never took them seriously. But they are in fact an amazing way to build a roll on a limited budget.

Anyway I had a few students that only had tiny bankrolls but wanted to play heads up so I worked out how to crush the micro heads up games without any real trouble, playing a pretty exploitable game (which you can get away with because players at these stakes just don't adjust well and are fairly pasive or agro spew monkeys).So I have started the 'This is how we roll' video series to run players like you through being able to smash these games if you do like heads up action and actually want to build a bankroll.

Hope they help.

Good luck.

Broker