My previous article told you what you shouldn’t do. This month here are five do’s if you’re new to online poker. If you don’t like being told what to do then stop reading now. Just don’t come crying to me when your poker game suffers.
DO try play money: Don’t dump $100 into your account and hit the tables for your online poker primer. I have yet to find a poker site that doesn’t offer play-money tables. Use these tables when you first join a poker room for two reasons. First, it gets you acquainted with the software. Unless your poker room is affiliated with another each one will have different software. Don’t think just because you’ve played one poker room you’ve played them all. Head into a play-money room and make sure you figure out the buttons and checkboxes before you start putting real money on the table. Second, use play money to learn the rules. If you’re not sure how to play the game don’t learn when it’s costing you cash.
DO keep notes and stats: If you want to improve your game you need to plug the holes. The best way to do this is to keep notes and stats. A lot of poker rooms will do this for you, or there are plenty of poker tracker software demos floating around online. Find one you like and use it to your advantage. If you don’t want to spring for poker software there’s also the old standard: pen and paper. If you don’t think your poker game has holes in it, you deserve to lose you because of your arrogance.
DO fold trash early: Don’t be afraid to get out of a hand. Many newbie poker players get enamoured with their cards even when they aren’t very good, and it costs them money. Don’t think about the two cards left in the deck that could help your hand in a positive way. You should be thinking “I only have two cards that will give me what looks like a winning hand, so I better fold.” If you’ve got trash don’t hold onto it hoping for it to turn into gold. Dump it like you would any other garbage in your house. You’re supposed to be a poker player, not an alchemist.
DO avoid losing tables: If you’re at a table and other players are continually raking you across the coals and pilfering your account then LEAVE! Don’t hang around with the notion that you’re going to take your money back from players that are clearly better than you. On the other side of the coin, if you find yourself at a table where you’re schooling everyone else and raking in the chips, ride that table as long as you can. Oh, and don’t make fun of the players whose money you are taking. You don’t want to scare away the fish.
DO be patient: Don’t expect to sit down at a table and start pulling in huge pots that will set you up for life. Becoming a winning player takes time and dedication. Be prepared to see your account fluctuate. I’ve been playing for just over a year now and my account has gone from $100 to $85 on up to $160 and back down to $65. The day it hit $160 I thought I was on my way to a nice check in the mail. Now I’m just hoping to get back to even eventually. If you’re a newbie expect to deal with amounts like this; you’re not going to win a huge WSOP payday right away.
