Playing Real money - My first experience

[flopmonkey]

I thought I would post and let you all know that I finally made a deposit and played some .25/.50 this holiday week while I was off work.

After I thought I was doing good with play money, winning consistently, I wanted to see if real money really was different, like most of you say.
Well your right its different.


I played mostly by the book beginner Starting hands for full tables. I tried the short handed games, but I seem to lose alot less when im playing the full 9 player tables, so I stayed there most of the time.

Seems every time i get a good hand to play (about 20% of the time) someone has a better hand. Like the time i bet in a KK only to be beat by a AA.

I lost a total of $40 these past 3 days. Im not complaining, it was fun and it was a learning experience, and I now realize I need to hit the books and study this game some more.

[jyms]

Why .25/.50?

[flopmonkey]

why .25/.50? Because thats the lowest on fulltilt. I wanted to start small to get the feel of things.

[Chopper]

couple things, monkey...

1) did you sign up for rakeback? or bonus?
2) would you consider depositing again fairly soon? if so, would you consider a different site that offers lower stakes? i think it would be wise because you will be able to deposit about the same amount of money you did at FTP and it should, theoretically, last longer....allowing you to learn more while playing.
3) a week, depending on how many thousands of hands, may not tell you much. so, dont get discouraged just yet. KK matches up against AA every so often, and 888 flops with 444 sometimes, too. they are fairly rare, but it can happen in the same session, let alone a week.
4) did you learn anything about thinning the field, raising to force the others to call two cold, etc, that the books teach? if so, start asking the questions that invariably popped up so we can help you through those.
5) can you get FTP to email you some of your sessions/hand histories? i know stars can, and assume most sites can, too. this is a great way to review some hands and post some here for help. good way to practice with the converter, too.

* i assume you want to continue playing poker by asking these questions.

[HarleyGuy13]

why .25/.50? Because thats the lowest on fulltilt. I wanted to start small to get the feel of things.

Dude look around they have .05/.10 as well on FullTilt, I play it all the time. Click the low stakes button! You're way ahead of yourself in .25/.50 and I'm sure you've learned that the skill level to win at play money is no comparison to the real thing.

[Chopper]

dude, you are thinking of no limit, or you are not thinking of hold'em. FTP's "low stakes" are 25/50, 50/1, and 1/2. nothing more, nothing less. and, they offer no "microstakes" games in the LHE discipline.

[flopmonkey]

Chopper,

Of course I dont give up that easily
I know one week is not enough to really tell anything. I am working on trading the rest of my money from FT into pokerstars and play in their .02/.04 games for a while. They dont have rakeback, but have fpp which I hear is just as good.

I think I was just playing nervously, since it was my first time playing for real money, went up and down some, then went on tilt a while. (Can a fish really go on tilt? lol)

Im still a beginner in this game, and have only read one book. Waiting for my second book, lee jones to arrive. I also plan on getting that book you recommended, "SSHE" soon.

I automatically save all of my games. Next time I get an interesting one, I plan on posting it here for review.

[Chopper]

dont wait for one to be "interesting." go through and review if you will be out for awhile. that helps you immediately quite a bit. you will answer some of your own questions while reviewing. cover up their hands at the end. you may have forgotten some and start putting your villains on ranges while you review.

pick three and post them. this "down time" should speed your learning curve up the most.

oh, and fish on tilt? they are the best ones...lol. you'll be snacking on them soon enough to find that funny. but, it starts with reviewing some of your HHs soon.