Poker Novice Questions

[Paul Ross]

I think we need this thread, so that people aren't afraid to ask questions, I certainly aint anyway.

Ok, here goes....

1. On Bet365, I notice there are FL, PL, NL, & fixed - can someone explain all these and the differences ?

2. Again on Bet365, I was playing for fun a minute ago, and somebody went "all in" yet the only options I seem to have, are check, fold, or raise. This guy was the first to go All In, basically he initiated it.

My question is, if I wanted to go "All In" on Bet365, where is the option to do so, bar when you have to stay in the game.

[Dave Mardell]

FL is fixed limit. The stakes will be expressed for the table as $1/$2 for example. In the first two rounds of betting you can bet or raise by is $1. In the last two rounds of betting bets and raises are done at $2. No more than 4 bets can be placed by a player as a result of reraising.

PL is Pot Limit. A player may be or raise any amount from the minimum (expresed by the table stakes) up to and including the size of the pot.

NL is No Limit. A player may raise his entire stack.

A player can go all in in all three game types by moving all his remaining chips into the pot. In Pot limit this would occur when the player has less chips than the size of the pot. In Fixed Limit this would occur when the player has less than the minimum fixed bet infront of him.

The Bet and raise buttons you speak of are for a minimum bet at any given time, or a minimum reraise. To bet more there should be a "slider". There should also be a text box where you can key your bet ammount in directly

[Paul Ross]

Nice one Dave.

Just had Jezza coaching me through a hand where I had a full house, poor guy got his house taken off him.

[jtw1]

Tempted to have a go on UK Betting poker ,which i've downloaded .
Am i better to try the £0.25/£0.50 limit Hold-em tables first in case things go tits-up.
Only going to stick £20 in at the start to see how i get on , had quite a few play for fun games and now want to try the real thing.

Advice anyone !

[Big Andy]

jtw1, I started playing the "sit and go" Single Table Tourneys where you pay a buy in of anything from $2 + $0.20 and upwards for instance and play against 5 or 10 others who all start with the same amount of chips. Some of these little tourneys pay 2 places, some pay 3. Personally, I found it a great way of playing for real money as a total beginner and although I do occasionally play cash games, I do like the Sit and Gos as they dont tie you to tables for ages if you have time constraints.

[slapdash]

Ian/Andy, I agree that STTs are a good way to start playing, but I don't understand
your point about being tied to the table. At a cash table you can leave at any time,
but in a STT you have to wait until you win or are knocked out (unless you just
leave and abandon your money).

[Big Andy]

sorry mate, fair point, didnt make myself clear/fooked my post up . Obviously you can stand up at anytime in a cash game. What I missed out was a reference to the other MTT`s which I intended to mention but didn`t, they obviously can tie you up for a considerable lenght of time. I suppose what I was trying to say was these little tourneys can be over and done with fairly quickly and there`s that little bit of security knowing exactly how much you`re gonna lose before the game starts. I found this reassuring as a novice. If jtw is gonna start on the .25 / .50 NL table he could see his 20 sheets dissapear within the blink of an eye.

[slapdash]

Yes, Andy/Ian (is the "Ian Curtis" just a Joy Division thing?), I agree with
all that.

jtw1 asked about playing limit cash tables. Well, Jezza's going to question
your sexuality if you play limit holdem, but I quite like it every now and then.
It's a more mathematical game, where no limit is more psychological: you
get more opportunities to make "pot odds" bets when you suspect you don't
have the best hand. Also, it has advantages for beginning players. When I
started playing no-limit, I frequently found myself gradually building up a profit
and then blowing it all with a stupid mistake (When I started? It still happens
a lot. ) That happens a lot less in limit: the cost of your mistakes are
limited. Just remember that if you then move to playing no-limit, it's a very
different game.

[Big Andy]

Originally Posted by slapdash

Yes, Andy/Ian (is the "Ian Curtis" just a Joy Division thing?)

Yes mate, it is..... or was I should say.

[slapdash]

Was? Love's torn you apart one too many times?

[jtw1]

Thanks for the advice BIG ANDY ,went on a single table tourney and came 3rd winning £2 .

[Jezza]

Good advice there from the big man jtw....try out some small stake no limit STT's - lots of chips and plenty of play for a small investmant + the chance to win some bucks

Jez

[jtw1]

Many thanks once again chaps , have played in 3 SST's since my original post and have been in the money each time , 2 thirds and a second.

At the risk of being over-confident , any ideas when i should start thinking of moving up a notch on the buy-in front , or am i just on a lucky streak.
I am of the opinion that maybe another dozen or so Min buy-in games ,if i'm still in profit then i should move on .
Any advice very welcome

[Jezza]

jtw...

Poker is a volatile game, massive losing and winning streaks happen to the worst and best of players all the time. You've done well to make some profit so far and have obviously picked up the game well..just be careful about moving up stake. Of course moving up is fine as long as you are comfortable with the stakes involved but dont go battering in to heavy action straight away...its not a friendly game!

Jez

[jtw1]

Aye , lost the next 3 games , back down to earth.

Thanks for advice mate

[Paul Ross]

Ok, I'm looking at Betfair and in particular this...

0.25/0.50 No Limit - $10 buy in

Where does the $10 buy in come into it ?

[mrmuzeman]

Hi Paul,

In a cash game you have to take a minmum of money with you to the table, this would be the $10 buy in.

At the same time you cant take take unlimited amounts and the maximum buy in here would be $50.

So at $0.25/0.50 youll be able to take between $10 and $50 to the table with you to play with

[Paul Ross]

Right, gotcha now.

To a novice it almost sounds like, pay $10 and then play to those stakes, although I knew it wasn't at the same time.

[Carl]

just found this if its any use.
certaintly for me it is.

Texas Hold'em Poker Strategy, Hints, Tips... Basic Texas Hold'em Rules

General Poker Basics

Texas Hold'em basic strategy

GreedyHog knows poker strategy

More Texas Hold'em Strategy and hints

Advanced Texas Hold'em Strategy

More Poker rules

Poker Variants

Texas Hold'em Poker Book reviews and discount sales

Pokersyte.com: Winning strategies for Holdem, Seven Stud, and Omaha poker games

Online Poker strategty and information (pokertips.org)

[davidmphill]

I've just started playing on betfair poker, whats the best site around for playing?