- Getting Started in Online Poker -

Daniel Reilly - 2007

Picking a Poker Site:
There are many online poker sites too choose from, some well known by all, like party poker and some known by only the best because they have a few donks and fish (some are like sea world!) like for example cake poker but once you have picked your poker room that suits you, you are likely to stay there. Download a few clients, try the play money games. It costs nothing to try them. I would personally recommend poker stars because of the range of games they offer but that is for more advanced player, I will cover that in a later article.

Editor's note: Due to recent legislation.. Some poker rooms may not be open to American players. Check this site to find out where you can play.

Choosing a Screen Name:
Odds are if you have tried the play money games you are likely to have chosen this name already, but that’s the beauty of play money! You can have as many accounts as you want as long as you don’t enter your details in e.g. address, name telephone number etc. So on to picking the name, don’t even bother picking a name like IWantYourMother or some stupid shit like that because that will make you an instant target for most players, its ok if your style welcomes that but chances are you aren’t that advanced because if you were you wouldn’t be reading this article.

Pick something simple like your name or something close to it, for example mines is dreilly my name is Daniel Reilly so its an obvious choice, players usually fear players who put there real names in and give them more respect as they think you’re some kind of pro (that’s what I was taught when I started)

Choosing Your Game:
There are so many games to choose from when it comes to poker, playing just poker isn’t enough these days you have to have a favourite type that your also best at, for me that game is 7 card stud, it’s a thinking mans game and I’m a thinking man so its really an obvious choice, not all things in poker are laid out for you though, some things you got to work at, so read the basic articles on all the games and try out some play money games on the various sites or even the site you chose, then you are ready to go into the game in a lot more depth. Start off slowly and go on from there take in everything you can and try it out because remember not all advice is good advice so you may as well try it out too see just how good it is. Just take your time with your choice though and remember Poker Geniuses are not made overnight, you need to work at it.

Choosing your Limits:
Before you deposit at an online site you need to look at the limits and think what would be the best kind of limits for you. You need to take into consideration your bankroll and poker skill level, my advice is to start out low and slowly grind yourself up in the levels using the 5% rule (later article) but for now play whatever feels comfortable for your game type and level. Remember never sit down with more than you can afford to lose!

Depositing:
Depositing is like a science for poker player, so many get it wrong so many times, so what is the secret to depositing and not losing it? Playing with an amount you can afford to lose+$5 works for me because then you are also scared you will lose that last $5 and go broke. All I can advise here is to try many different methods and see which works. You will go broke at least once, you gotta deal with it. Hell I’m broke just now!

Getting a Feel for the Site:
While playing poker you need to feel comfortable at the place your playing at, that’s why getting a feel for your site is so important, try out all the features before you sit down so that you are totally familiar with your surroundings,it will help you in the long run big time, that’s really all there is to say for this section. I Just needed to add it because I felt it was worth a mention, its pretty important.

Distractions:
One of the Most important facts in online poker is making sure you are not distracted at any point during it, your online poker game needs concentration, focus and you need observation skills, how else would you get info on your opponents to use against them on later occasions to your advantage, after all that’s what poker is all about-a game of imperfect information. If you use all of this imperfect information to your advantage you will become a much better player but the word “imperfect” suggests some things will be wrong. That’s a fact of life though “that’s poker” as they say when a bad beat is inflicted. There’s nothing you can do about these little mistakes but a great player minimises them to a greater extent by playing well, taking notes and staying off tilt. You need to work to get these things. Read a lot on them and you could yourself become a great at the game of poker. Just remember who started you off, Daniel Reilly.

This is just a starting basis for poker Online, there is always much more to it than this, I will try to cover a sufficient number of topics in the coming weeks to make you a winning online player. Join a few forums in the mean time and discuss the basic poker strategy or even advanced ones with other online players. It makes you friends and makes you better at poker.

Daniel Reilly (dreilly)

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