Beginners Route Map to Poker Success

February 28, 2009 by Nick Wealthall

Nick Wealthall The point of it all
Poker is cool. Always has been; always will be. That’s why I started playing 12 years ago. That’s why I quit my city job to go to Vegas and play it. That’s why it still steals portions of my life. It’s fun, different, exciting, teaches you about life and yourself – but here’s the coolest thing when you get good at it you get paid; cold hard cash.

It took me a long time and too much money to get to the point where I was actually reliably making money and I want to short cut that process for you. If you follow this road map a few months from now you could be a winning player – and remember when you win at poker they give you cash…that you can spend…on toys – it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Whose this article for?
This article is for anyone that wants to learn poker the right way. I’m going to assume you know the basic rules of the game but not too much more than that. If you don’t check out our rules and Texas Holdem Tips articles to get you up to speed. The problem is, learning the rules of Holdem is easy – winning is hard. The other problem is that there are so many different ways to learn, so many different products on the market and people promising to unlock poker’s secrets.

To make sense of it all for you I’m going to travel back in time and imagine I was starting poker now and tell you what I’d do given the benefit of my years of playing experience and the time I’ve spent in the poker industry. If only I could do the same for relationships I’d go back in time to the young Nick and teach myself what I know now about women, which is of course … absolutely nothing.

Where do we begin…
First of all you must play. Play and play and play and play. Poker rewards experience and there’s no substitute for that – if you’re not playing you’re not doing and can’t be improving. For the rest of the article I’m going to assume you’re playing …a lot. In fact I’m going to assume you’re job, relationship and health are all suffering massively due to how much you’re playing – fair enough?

I would start playing on the internet. When I started, playing live was the only option and it was super intimidating. In fact I made several visits to poker rooms without having the nerve to sit down! Online not only can you start playing immediately in an anonymous environment but you can also play for free; in your pants if you like. Of course free games aren’t the same as real money games as people play in a care free fashion but you’ll learn the basics of the game.

Equally importantly you can play lots and lots of hands of poker really quickly. This is key because it allows you to get experience quickly and also allows you to get over disappointments fast and not be discouraged. Many times when I started I’d travel to the casino, play in a tournament and bust out and had the whole journey home to wonder what I’d done wrong; having to wait until the next day to try again. Online you can be in several games at once or start another game as soon as you bust out of one.

Sign up for a poker room or two when you start; check out the ones we reviewed on this site for some good options, you might try Virgin Poker and Sky Poker as they tend to have more beginning players for you to beat. If I was starting now I’d definitely take a look at Poker For Dummies – some say I should be reading now! It’s a good introduction to the basic skills you’ll need though it only goes so far but it’ll get your off table education off to a good start.

Master the Sit and Go
Eventually you’ll want to play for real money starting at the lowest stakes and aiming to move up as you build your bankroll. I started by playing tournaments at my local card room. This wasn’t ideal – I’d spend an entire evening and only see a few hands then; as with most tournaments, I’d bust out and not know if I’d played well or not (usually not). If I was starting now I’d start online and I’d start with sit and gos. These are one table tournaments where everyone starts with the same number of chips and players are knocked out until one remains.

Typically in a 9 or 10 person sit and go the top three would win a share of the prize money. They’re fast, fun and you always know exactly how much you can win or lose. They’ll teach you the basic mechanics of poker but also and this is the good part, at the low limits they’re a good way to make cash (which if you remember is why poker is cool) and run up a big bankroll. Some of the biggest names in online poker got started this way. The great thing about starting with sit and gos is you can play for short focussed spells and if you get unlucky in one you can start another one quickly without that dispiriting drive home!

Look first to yourself…
Poker is a game of bluffing, deceit and deception. I know I often lie to myself about how much I play and that I’m definitely going to bed early tonight without playing. It’s vital to get into the habit of keeping results and notes about your play. Not only to have a clear picture of how you’re actually doing but also to review your play in key pots. When I started playing I had to do this with pen and paper – sometimes at the table (which also let me draw offensive caricatures of people who got lucky against me).

Now you lucky people can have all the work done for you with tracking software. This software will record every hand you play online and your opponents too, to allow you to keep accurate records, review your plays and learn your opponents tendencies. For sit and go games I’d go with SitNGo Wizard for cash and tournaments go for Holdem manager – these are the products I use and some of the most profitable players in the world use. Some people wait to buy a tracker but if I was starting out now I’d get one from the very start – imagine the satisfaction at seeing your results improve as you get better.

Take it to the next level – Cash Games and Tourneys
I hope you enjoy these early stages of your poker life as much as I did. Every day I learnt something new and I loved it. At times losing could be frustrating but its all part of learning and when something clicked it was the biggest buzz. For example I’ll never forget the pot I played about two months into trying to play well when I knew the middle aged regular player at the table was just trying to bully me. I backed my instincts and called him with my second highest pair and average kicker and felt about 12 feet tall when he said ‘nice call son’ and threw his cards in the muck. You’re going to have a lot of experiences just like that in the next few months.

You may decide to stick with sit and gos but most players will graduate to either multi table tournaments or cash games. I’ve always preferred cash games because I like getting paid in real money, plus leaving and turning up for games when I want is great (I’m late for stuff…a lot). If you want to take a similar route then online training sites have the best information out there (such as Cardrunners) more on those later. They also have great stuff on tournaments but if you want to be a tourney specialist you should also check out some of the literature such as the Harrington on Holdem tournament series. I wish it had been around when I started out as it really unravels the mysteries of tournament play – it won’t give you everything you need but it will short cut your learning process a lot.

There’s plenty of other reading you can do to improve your knowledge as you play but you have to be careful as there is a lot of junk information out there. For example the Sklansky books on Holdem used to be the bible but I spent too long following their advice and played too tight. The book that freed my poker mind was Super System by poker legend Doyle Brunson. Some of the sections are outdated now but the no limit section is still the best written material to get you into the right aggressive mindset to win.

And finally get a regular dose of information and entertainment from poker magazines PokerPlayer and Bluff Europe – I confess I contribute to them but I also read them and they give me a regular hit of poker goodness! That’s your reading matter sorted – now you don’t need to be away from poker even when you’re on a journey, in a tedious meeting or on the loo; aren’t I good to you.

Becoming Excellent
When I was starting out what we’ve covered now was about as far as the formal knowledge could get you. I played a lot and had some success but knew there was a tonne of stuff I didn’t know and didn’t know how to get it. My next jump in knowledge didn’t happen until I found a poker mentor. I was playing in Vegas when an older guy I’d befriended – and a really good player – took me for a drink and explained to me I wasn’t using my image. At the time I was a young (obviously this was far back in the midst of time) clean cut ‘kid’ from England and the other players didn’t think butter would melt in my mouth – they’d never believe I was bluffing. This revelation led to me changing my game and his help over the next few months short cut my development time massively.

The quickest way for you to improve your specific game is to become friends with a really good player who can look at your play and tell you where you’re going wrong. Of course that can be hard to find but don’t worry because there are ways to get specific advice on your game. As so many times in this article I wish these resources had been around when I started. I went through approaching a lot of people to help me and got some advice that didn’t help before finding the right people – you don’t have to do that.

First of all you should use online forums for example eatmystack.co.uk is a really friendly UK forum and, when you get more advanced, twoplustwo.com which can be intimidating but offers some high level advice. You should have the courage to post your hands here and take the criticism as help for your game. You have to be a bit careful because anyone can reply but providing you listen to the advice from the better contributors you should do well.

Once you’re ready to take your game to the next level an online training site like Cardrunners is a must. These sites mainly consist of some of the best online players in the world showing you how they play and giving you advice. It’s mentoring for you from the best in the business. The sites are a little expensive but they’re an investment – one that I use – and they will pay for themselves if you study the information they provide.

Play and play and play and to all a good night
And that’s all I have for you – you’re on your own young Padewan. The amazing thing about poker is how rewarding it can be and for once I’m not just talking about cash. The more you play, the more you use the aides I’ve recommended, the more honest and rigorous you are with yourself the better your results will be. This is not a luck game, a game of chance or gambling – except for those that don’t put in the effort. I wish you all the success in the world; have a tonne of fun, make boat loads of cash and one day bluff me out of a big pot and tell me how you got so good.

Nick’s Beginners RoadMap To Poker Success Summary

Starting Off – Master the Sit and Go

Learn the rules
Join a suitable poker room – for beginners I recommend Virgin Poker and Sky Poker – check out my reviews
Read Poker For Dummies
Use Tracking software like SitNGo Wizard or Holdem Manager from the very start
Play lots of Sit N’ Go’s!

Take it To the Next Level – Cash Games and Tourneys