Starting Stakes In Poker
Online poker is a wide-open game that features numerous stakes. You can play no limit cash games ranging from $0.01/$0.02 to $50/$100.
This variety is nice from the standpoint that it gives you plenty of places to start your online poker career. It also allows you to step up to bigger limits in hopes of earning more profits.
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- In fact, there’s an entire fleet of beautiful masseuses running around, chairs in hand, massaging players feeling the stress of high stakes poker. No, we shit you not—it’s a thing. But as moves start getting made, chips start getting lost, and the herd thins a little bit, the mood in the room starts changing.
- Start really small. Many players are surprised by the quality of play in $25 and $50 games online.
- Poker is a game where starting at the bottom is a very good idea. You'll make some bad mistakes, but they'll only cost you $2 and you won't walk around looking for something to bash your head against.
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The only problem, though, is that you’ll also have a tougher time figuring out where you should begin. Many players think the lowest limits are the best place to enter the game.
But as I’ll cover below, you should think about more factors than just the cheapest limits. That said, I’m going to discuss more on online poker stakes and how you can decide where to begin.
Online Poker Offers the Lowest Stakes and Has Free Games
When compared to land-based poker, online sites offer the lowest possible limits in the game. The micro-stakes feature blinds as low as $0.01/$0.02, which most players can easily afford.
You don’t even have to risk any money when playing internet poker. You can simply jump in free games at poker sites or use a social gaming site.
The great thing about micro-stakes and free poker is that you can practice without spending much or anything at all. This low risk factor means you can minimize losses until you improve your skills.
Many people start out playing social poker or micro limits for this very reason. The stakes are so low that they don’t stand to lose much, even if they play badly.
Sometimes Micro-Stakes and Free Poker Aren’t Great Starting Points
If your online poker goal is to simply play a few hands and have fun, then free games and micro-stakes are perfectly fine. In fact, you’re better off playing these games as a casual player so that you don’t have to face off against highly competitive grinders.
But if you have aspirations of moving up the limits and winning bigger profits, then the lowest stakes aren’t for you. The chief reason why is that the competition is mostly terrible.
Free online poker and social gaming sites are the absolute worst. They feature a large number of players who don’t really care about strategy, because they’re just pushing around fake chips.
Of course, you’ll find some people who take these free games seriously. However, they don’t study enough strategy to pose a threat to skilled players.
The micro-stakes competition is slightly better than what’s seen in free and social games. But you’ll still find plenty of inexperienced players and even idiots who go all-in on almost every hand.
These games are good if you’re looking to win a dollar or so every hour. Again, though, they don’t present any real competition when you’re already a competent player.
Going further, you won’t improve by playing against weak competition on a consistent basis. All you’ll be doing is racking up tiny profits against bad opponents.
Some grinders go out of their way to avoid this scenario by using reverse game selection. This strategy refers to finding tough opponents at your usual stakes.
The idea is that you’ll eventually become a much better player by testing yourself against the best at certain limits. Famed high-stakes player Dan “Jungleman” Cates used reverse game selection to improve when he couldn’t beat $0.25/$0.50 NL hold’em early on.
You don’t have to go this far to improve as a player. But reverse game selection shows how successful players think when it comes to competition and improving.
Use Your Bankroll to Determine a Good Entry Point
You can see where playing free poker and micro limits aren’t going to help you much in the long run. But how do you go about determining where you fit in as a new player?
A good way to figure this out is by finding cash game stakes that you can comfortably afford. Your bankroll will be the best measure of determining this.
You want to choose limits that allow you to have a comfortable amount of full cash-game buy-ins (100 big blinds). More buy-ins give you a stronger chance of surviving downswings and poor play in the beginning.
The next question becomes how many buy-ins you need for certain limits. It’s commonly suggested that you have at least 20 buy-ins for your chosen stakes.
Assuming you’re new to online poker, though, you might want to consider upping this amount to 25 to 30. Even if you’re experienced with live poker, it’s good to have more buy-ins so that you have a bigger cushion when adjusting.
Here’s an example of choosing limits based on your bankroll size:
- You have $5,000.
- 5,000 / 25 = 200
- 200 / 100 (big blinds) = 2
- You should start out with $1/$2 NL cash games.
As you become a more experienced and better player, you should consider choosing limits based on 20 buy-ins. But again, having 25 to 30 buy-ins gives you more comfort while learning the game.
Won’t I Get Crushed When Starting With Bigger Stakes?
Starting Stake Crossword
The biggest fear that players have about starting at higher limits is that they’ll get crushed. Many poker players don’t even want to play at $1/$2 NL tables in the beginning for fear that they’ll lose big.
Of course, these fears subside if you’re willing to play seriously and improve. Chances are that you’re not going to dominate $1/$2 NL and above right away.
HoweverYou can at least minimize your losses by studying opponents, learning poker strategy, and only playing a single table at a time.
As for observing your opponents, some online poker beginners aren’t good at paying attention to the games. They’ll surf the internet, listen to music, and even watch YouTube videos in between hands.
These habits aren’t so bad if you’re like the micro-stakes players I mentioned before who just want to have a little fun. But you won’t get any better if you’re not learning how to study and read opponents.
Regarding playing a single table, some beginners get bored with waiting on others to act in hands. They’ll open another table or two and start multi-tabling.
Multi-tabling is a good way to boost your profits when you’re already a winning player at certain stakes. However, this practice only accelerates losses when you don’t have a good win rate.
You want to instead thoroughly throw yourself into one table and keep learning other players’ tendencies until you’re a winner.
As for poker strategy, there’s no end to improving your game. Of course, you likely don’t have all day to study poker tips.
A good way to handle this is by dedicating at least one hour to strategy for every four hours you play. You especially want to keep up this ratio in the beginning, as you’re learning to become a stronger player.
Studying poker strategy helps you figure out how to deal with difficult situations and implement new techniques. By keeping up your playing, you can apply what you learn to the felt in every new session.
Poker strategy comes in a variety of forms, including articles, books, training videos, and Twitch streams. Twitch is especially helpful, because it allows you to watch how pros play the game without having to spend a dime.
You Stake Poker
Conclusion
Ideally, you’d be able to start at the lowest online poker limits and properly learn the game. The reality, though, is that micro-stakes and free games make poor starting points for those who have higher aspirations.
The biggest problem with low-limit games is that you don’t face any real competition. Most of the players don’t care much about strategy, while some are completely screwing around.
The only advantage to free and micro-stakes tables is that you don’t have to risk much. However, this benefit doesn’t mean much if you want to become a better player.
Your best bet is to use your bankroll as a measuring stick for where to start in the game. If you’re totally new to online poker, I suggest picking stakes where you can cover at least 25 cash-game buy-ins.
Of course, good bankroll management alone won’t help you be a winner. You also need to steadily improve your skills by learning strategy.
Starting Stake In Poker Crossword
Poker strategy is all over the internet, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding resources. Through a combination of experience, bankroll management, and learning strategy, you can work your way up the limits and become a successful player.
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