Poker training videos

[JEDI]

i'm ok at playing monthly poker w/my friends. after a year i'm around break even.

first time i tried microstakes (.1/.25) at Pokerstars, i lost $5 (real cash) after 1hr 4 tableing.

Any free sites?

What pay sites do you recommend?

And which training videos do you recommend?

thx

 

[JEDI]

bump

 

[Malak]

Watch WSOP reruns. Beats anything else.

 

[DingDingDao]

Watch WSOP reruns. Beats anything else.

Do this if you want to lose money. Seriously.

If you actually want to win, books will help, but experience trumps everything. Play as much as you can, both live games and online will be beneficial. Doesn't have to be for a ton of money either.

RE:books, I recently read Dan Harrington's books and they're all really good. Obviously books like Super System are also good reads, but the game has changed over the last few years and some of the "rules" for playing well are changing.

 

[Udgnim]

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/

 

[Arkaign]

Watch WSOP reruns. Beats anything else.

I agree, though people will play any old crazy way on the web poker, even for real $. I lost $12 last night going all in with AA, guy who called me had 4-9 offsuit. I had been playing for a while in the room anyway, my usual very conservative style, so he should have known I'd have something solid to raise $1 pre-flop in a .10 game. He raised to my max so I called 😛

So poker pro play may or may not apply to the bingo players that plague these sites.

My best advice is to establish a very narrow range to call with (suited ace+face, pocket tens or higher), and only raise preflop with KK or AA. You may end up with a very boring game, but I've been playing this with for a few months with very low stakes tables, and have taken my $10 deposit to around $400 so far.

 

[Malak]

My best advice is to establish a very narrow range to call with (suited ace+face, pocket tens or higher), and only raise preflop with KK or AA. You may end up with a very boring game, but I've been playing this with for a few months with very low stakes tables, and have taken my $10 deposit to around $400 so far.

There is a lot, lot more to the game that just what is in your hand.

You have to learn about pot odds, position, bluffing, reads, etc. I've won enough tables and enough tournaments. The WSOP is good to watch for the commentary the most. If you do cash games, things are very different than in a tournament, but the commentary when watching a tournament can be gold for new players. WPT and invitationals will have better players to watch though.

 

[Malak]

If you actually want to win, books will help, but experience trumps everything.

Unfortunately(or fortunately) most people will never know why they keep losing, experience doesn't help in a game like poker as much as it does in other games. There is some education that is necessary to actually be good.

 

[DingDingDao]

I agree, though people will play any old crazy way on the web poker, even for real $. I lost $12 last night going all in with AA, guy who called me had 4-9 offsuit. I had been playing for a while in the room anyway, my usual very conservative style, so he should have known I'd have something solid to raise $1 pre-flop in a .10 game. He raised to my max so I called 😛

So poker pro play may or may not apply to the bingo players that plague these sites.

My best advice is to establish a very narrow range to call with (suited ace+face, pocket tens or higher), and only raise preflop with KK or AA. You may end up with a very boring game, but I've been playing this with for a few months with very low stakes tables, and have taken my $10 deposit to around $400 so far.

I'm glad you're winning, but I have to disagree with your advice. Having such a narrow range (both raising and calling) is going to make you very predictable and very easy to play against. This will probably work at low stakes, where opponents are playing their hole cards only and ignoring opponent tendencies, but if you play like this at higher levels, especially against the same opponents over long periods of time, you are going to lose.

OP, I think that while it's important to play quality hands, it's also as important (if not more so) to pay attention to your opponents' betting habits. Do they overvalue pocket pairs? Do they raise or call more frequently (aggressive or passive)? How do they play their draws? Do they tend to overbet or underbet monster hands? Look for patterns in the way they behave (with their chips or otherwise) and use it to give you a good idea of what they're holding and exploit it.

 

[DingDingDao]

Unfortunately(or fortunately) most people will never know why they keep losing, experience doesn't help in a game like poker as much as it does in other games. There is some education that is necessary to actually be good.

I think experience helps if you know how to apply it. Obviously if someone keeps ramming their head into a brick wall (my J-2 was suited!!!) that can't be helped. But I'm definitely a better player now than I was 9 or 10 years ago. Sure, the books I've read probably helped, but I think experience is invaluable.

 

[Arkaign]

I'm glad you're winning, but I have to disagree with your advice. Having such a narrow range (both raising and calling) is going to make you very predictable and very easy to play against. This will probably work at low stakes, where opponents are playing their hole cards only and ignoring opponent tendencies, but if you play like this at higher levels, especially against the same opponents over long periods of time, you are going to lose.

True, there are all types of players. But I can't lose what I don't bet, and the only reason I'm in a hand is because I've got good cards and got in with no pre-flop raise (unless KK/AA). The only reason I stay in a hand after the flop is if nobody raises, and if I've got a solid set of top trips or nut flush, that kind of hand. If there's a solid flush or straight draw and I don't have a commanding bite on it, I let the trips or top pair go.

It's excruciatingly boring, but it works on low stakes. I don't mind losing a few .5c and .10c blinds if I'm only playing two hands of every 25 or so, and win 2/3rd or more of the hands I do walk into.

I can definitely see this being an issue with higher stakes and players that you play with more frequently, but it's such a tight NIT strategy that it keeps me from too many unexpected losses.

Playing in tournaments is hugely different of course. I play in a few local freerolls, and you have to be very aggressive to get through, and a lot of it is of course just luck. I see stuff like having top two pair, someone keeps raising, and it turns out they have pocket 3s and the last card is a 3.

 

[DingDingDao]

True, there are all types of players. But I can't lose what I don't bet, and the only reason I'm in a hand is because I've got good cards and got in with no pre-flop raise (unless KK/AA). The only reason I stay in a hand after the flop is if nobody raises, and if I've got a solid set of top trips or nut flush, that kind of hand. If there's a solid flush or straight draw and I don't have a commanding bite on it, I let the trips or top pair go.

It's excruciatingly boring, but it works on low stakes. I don't mind losing a few .5c and .10c blinds if I'm only playing two hands of every 25 or so, and win 2/3rd or more of the hands I do walk into.

I can definitely see this being an issue with higher stakes and players that you play with more frequently, but it's such a tight NIT strategy that it keeps me from too many unexpected losses.

Playing in tournaments is hugely different of course. I play in a few local freerolls, and you have to be very aggressive to get through, and a lot of it is of course just luck. I see stuff like having top two pair, someone keeps raising, and it turns out they have pocket 3s and the last card is a 3.

While I agree that a nit-tight strategy works, I think the problem with playing too tight boils down to two things (for me at least):

1) You're not going to get maximum value for your made hands. Opponents simply won't pay you off when you have a monster, since they know you're not open-betting with anything less than a set.

2) You're folding too many winning hands. This is a bigger problem than #1 in my opinion and it might be killing your potential winnings without you even knowing it.

 

[Arkaign]

While I agree that a nit-tight strategy works, I think the problem with playing too tight boils down to two things (for me at least):

1) You're not going to get maximum value for your made hands. Opponents simply won't pay you off when you have a monster, since they know you're not open-betting with anything less than a set.

2) You're folding too many winning hands. This is a bigger problem than #1 in my opinion and it might be killing your potential winnings without you even knowing it.

I agree, and I can really tell you know what you're talking about. I see hands all the time that I would have won had I played a bit looser (along with a few where I would have lost a good bit). I just rarely feel like risking more than .5 or .10 unless I have something pretty much in the bag. At freerolls or tournaments I play a lot more diversely. I'd also imagine player quality would step up hugely in higher stakes. As it is, I usually spend about 30 minutes in a room, try to take a couple bucks, and then move on.

 

[DingDingDao]

I agree, and I can really tell you know what you're talking about. I see hands all the time that I would have won had I played a bit looser (along with a few where I would have lost a good bit). I just rarely feel like risking more than .5 or .10 unless I have something pretty much in the bag. At freerolls or tournaments I play a lot more diversely. I'd also imagine player quality would step up hugely in higher stakes. As it is, I usually spend about 30 minutes in a room, try to take a couple bucks, and then move on.

It steps in both directions lol. Seems like the higher you play the players change from a group of mostly average players to a group with several really good players and several shitty awful players (with deep pockets and no common sense). Honestly, you seem like you know what you're doing--the skill level at higher levels isn't necessarily harder, provided you avoid getting into big pots with the really good players.