Texas Hold 'em Suggestion

[KevanGuy]

So, Ive become addicted to Poker After Dark. I'm itching to play but I dont want to join the obvious sites because, well, gambling is something that I need to be wary of. And I dont really want to play against online players at this point, Id just like to play vs. the comp and learn to play the game.

Ive played the version at shockwave.com but you can only play at the amateur level without having to pay for the download and it is too easy. Anyone know a site that has the game online where I can play vs the comp without paying?

[Ro]

Don't know of any online sites that offer something like that. One thing you could do is play the freerolls- that would certainly be 1000% better than developing bad habits in the play money games. And you could even win a little something.

Offline, I believe this is the one of the premier software programs around:

http://www.poker-academy.com/

I know Jennifer Tilly and Joe Sebok both used it when they were learning the game, and have spoken highly of it.

Also, what about video games? I know that Stacked game sponsored by Daniel Negreanu is supposed to have some pretty good AI- maybe that would be an even better option. No chance of "accidentally" depositing $50 that way. Ha ha.

[KevanGuy]

Cool, thanks for the tips Ro. Im downloading the trial at poker-academy to check it out. I guess video games are the next step if I cant find what im looking for online, thanks for the Stacked heads up.

[calculoso]

I play on Facebook... not necessarily a super professional place, but there are varying degrees of players there.

I used to play at PokerStars.net, but after having to reload Windows on my laptop, I haven't gone back.

Both are free.

[Crispy's Critter]

www.pogo.com has a few different versions of poker, all free, and if you go into a room, select a table noone is sitting at, then in the options lock the room up with a PW you can play against only computer opponents. They aren't incredibly hard or incredibly easy, just kind of average, so might be a good place to try.

[Crazy Flamer]

Facebook is a good suggestion.

Also, pokerstars.net is a 100% play money site.

[BigBCalgary]

I found Facebook poker is too slow, I do like Pokerstars.net and again, it is free, without any realmoney implications. In fact I think it would be fun to create a table (tournament?) and play against some CP'rs. I "lurk" and play poker fairly often and I'm sure I'm not alone.

[JohnnyFlame]

For sure go and play at Pokerstars.net. A lot of fun and free. You can play different games and enter tournaments. Heck you can even enter freerolls where you could end up winning money without risking any. I've played it a lot --if you want more info just PM me and I can give you pretty much any details you would want.

[BlackEleven]

Well the good thing about gambling online is you can play much smaller stakes than you can at a casino. I suggest just signing up to pokerstars or partypoker and depositing $50. That's what I did. And I thought of it as a fee for playing, not money I ever intended to see again. Since its basically what it costs to have a good night out, it wasn't very hard to do.

I started playing the $5 SnGs (sit and gos). They're great to start, because after the $5.50 buy in, there's no way to bet anymore. Thus no temptation to bet your whole bankroll when you flop a full house or something. Doing that I turned the $50 into $150 in two months or so. Then I started playing the $10 games.

[droopydrew19]

KG all the cool people are at pokerstars.net so please stay away NERD!

[Slava]

I got bored of the play money stuff pretty quickly. Its not because its not real money and I'm some high roller or anything. Its just that if you play against other people and everyone is using play money then people don't act accordingly.

I'm not advocating using real money unless you want to lose it, but it does change the game and how you play IMO. For the best learning I would try to stick to playing against the computer.

[Agamemnon]

nm

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Slava

I got bored of the play money stuff pretty quickly. Its not because its not real money and I'm some high roller or anything. Its just that if you play against other people and everyone is using play money then people don't act accordingly.

I'm not advocating using real money unless you want to lose it, but it does change the game and how you play IMO. For the best learning I would try to stick to playing against the computer.

Agreed. Only play using free money if you NEVER EVER intend to play for real money. If you play for free money to practice to one day play for real money (as advertised on tv), you will pick up some very bad habits.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

KG--why not start up a home game? You can choose the stakes to suit your comfort level, and it's way more fun than playing online.

Plus.... beer and chips. Need I say more?

[DementedReality]

i agree, the problem with free poker is people just dont play it right. for instance, they stay in the pot with hands that any reasonable person wouldnt bet on.

eg .. a 3 & 9 ... flop has nothing, but they bet anyway (since there is no money on the line). then out comes a 9 and a 9 and bingo they have a great hand that would have been folded before the flop.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by DementedReality

i agree, the problem with free poker is people just dont play it right. for instance, they stay in the pot with hands that any reasonable person wouldnt bet on.

eg .. a 3 & 9 ... flop has nothing, but they bet anyway (since there is no money on the line). then out comes a 9 and a 9 and bingo they have a great hand that would have been folded before the flop.

it's not only in free poker that people do this, believe me. I play at poker stars as well and actually cashed out $300 without investing a cent by winning money through freerolls and then entering sit and go's like black eleven said.

If you are going to invest a little bit of money I actually suggest full tilt, I don't know what it is but it just seems that the percentage of rediculous bad beats are a lot lower (just my opinion though)

Black Eleven, what username do you play under at Poker Stars, perhaps I will have to search you out some time

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by DementedReality

i agree, the problem with free poker is people just dont play it right. for instance, they stay in the pot with hands that any reasonable person wouldnt bet on.

eg .. a 3 & 9 ... flop has nothing, but they bet anyway (since there is no money on the line). then out comes a 9 and a 9 and bingo they have a great hand that would have been folded before the flop.

Actually my fear would be winning too many hands. For example you start with 1000 play chips and within a month you turn it into 10000 play chips because you're playing fairly well and the pots you win are waaaaay too big because everyone is raising for fun. A person will think that this is easy money, start to play for real money and be in too many poor hands for smaller pots.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by return to the red

Black Eleven, what username do you play under at Poker Stars, perhaps I will have to search you out some time

epicxero

Any CPers are more than welcome to look me up. I'd be up for a CP tourny sometime if anyone else is interested.

[KTown]

I've been playing online at party poker. They send me a free 25 dollars to play each year. Last year I lost that 25 pretty quick, this year they sent me the 25 bucks and I've been playing with the free money for over 4 months. I now have 400 dollars in that account. If I lose that money I will stop playing till they send me the 25. I just can't seem to loseit, I've learned the odds and the ropes and I win more than I lose. I also take players note on there betting trends.

I don't think I'm addicted because If I lose like 3 games in a row I tend to stop for like 4 days because I'm pissed. I also hate throwing my own money away. I have a hard time parting ways with it for stuff like this.

The problem I find is when you play at the 50cent or 1dollar tournaments people call raises with anything because they don't care about parting ways with a dollar.

So I play at the 10 dollar sit and go game. Its a 10 person tourney 11dollars each (10 to the pot and 1 to the house) 50 for first and 30 for second and 20 for third. People tend to not gamble as much and beat you with crappy hands too often. It will happen though. As much as skill is involved it also is luck. The key is just to put yourself in the best odds of winning. If you do that most of the time chances are you come out ahead.

[Crispy's Critter]

I've never played for real money. I've thought about it, but have kept away because I've read/heard stories of rigged tables where basically a group of 3 or 4 friends will start a table, and allow 1 or 2 others to join, then converse back and forth via yahoo or msn to determine what cards the other players are holding, ensuring that they will win in the end and the others lose.
Not sure if this really happens, but have heard it from a friend of mine that he had been approached to get in on a scheme like this from a couple other players at one site he always played at. They told him they had done it all the time. (can't remember the site, thought it had 'tiger' in the name though )
Are there any sites out there that you can't control who sits at the tables? That would prevent something like this from happening probably.