Saturday, June 28, 2008
Making the Transition from freeplay to cash poker
Playing Online Poker for CashMaking the Transition from Free Poker
The very first time I wanted to play online poker for real cash, I remember being fairly nervous and asking myself a series of questions. Which poker room should I choose to make my first deposit? Do they offer a deposit match bonus? How do I earn my bonus after I make a deposit? Is it safe to gamble online? Here are some guidelines that I used to determine when is the right time to start playing for cash and where to play online poker.
The very first online poker experience that I had was at a free poker site, which name I can not remember. They had a limited number of tournament tables running at any given time, and it was a challenge to get signed into the tournament quick enough. I remember that a lot of players would make foolish calls, and raise all in with no hand. Of course this is going to happen once in a while when you are playing in free tournaments simply because there is nothing at stake for any of the players. Even with the looser play at free poker tables and tournaments, you will learn all of the fundamentals of playing online poker. You will learn about the big and small blinds and the betting structure of a Texas Holdem poker game. After learning all of the fundamentals of poker play, you can start to improve your strategy by taking advantage of your position when your on the button or the blinds. As you play more, you will become more comfortable at the poker tables.
One of the first online poker rooms that I decided to make a deposit at was PokerStars. I decided to download the poker software and I signed up as a new player. Before I added any funds to my account, I played in freeroll tournaments, free table games, and browsed PokerStar's home page for testimonial on their poker room. I felt that a poker room like PokerStars would be a safe place to make a deposit. They actually hold all deposits "in escrow" in a bank account, they have 24/7 customer support if you have any questions or problems, and they offer so many tables and poker tournaments to play in with buy-ins from pennies to hundreds of dollars. There is always a tournament available to play for free, and they offer cash prizes for some of their freeroll tournaments. After playing for a few weeks for free, I really became accustomed to the software and look of PokerStars, and was satisfied by talking with other registered players that it was a good poker room to make a deposit into. They offered me a 100% deposit bonus which had to be earned by accumulating points based on play. It was paid in installments of $5.00 as they were earned.
I then started to play online poker in the penny rooms for a while, and sometimes would venture into the nickel or dime tables. I would play in a lot of freeroll Texas Holdem and Omaha tournaments, and would also buy into some tournaments. After a few months of playing, I finally had enough money in my account to make a withdrawal. It was an easy process, and I received my money by check within the promised time period.
I have since played at numerous online poker rooms, many that I liked. I was fond of Full Tilt Poker, due to the fact that they have poker professionals playing in their poker rooms and they offered a 100% match deposit bonus. Unlike many other poker rooms that claim to have real pros playing at their site that you never see, at Full Tilt Poker, the pros would play and chat all the time. I was once in a Stud poker tournament at Full Tilt Poker, and Andy Bloch entered the tournament. It was only a $5 buy-in, yet he was playing with us, talking about strategies and answering our questions. I have seen pros on Full Tilt play in low buy-in tournaments and cash tables on a regular basis. They also play each other in high stake cash poker games that you can watch. I have played with Hoyt Corkins, Jennifer Harman, and Andy Bloch, and have chatted with Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, John D'Agostino, Allen Cunningham, and Phil Lederer. There is no other poker room like Full Tilt Poker where you can really interact and play with professional poker players. I still have an account with Full Tilt Poker today and plan on keeping it. One of my favorite games to play is razz, a low hand poker game that offers a lot of betting action. Not many poker rooms offer razz, so there is yet another reason why I will keep an account at Full Tilt Poker.
Recently, I was offered a promotion at poker.com. I performed my usual review of the software and their website. I liked the fact that the number of tournament participants was relatively low compared to PokerStars. I think that the software at Poker.com is by far superior to any other poker room online. Most poker rooms use some type of avatar or character to represent a player. Poker.com is simple, and feels and appears like a real poker room. I also like that they offer freeroll tournaments to first time depositors, and for earning bonus points just for playing on their site. I am offered a coupon for free entry into the $4,000 Texas Holdem poker tournament almost every week and regularly earn entry into the $10,000 tournament. No other poker room has offered such lucrative freeroll tournaments just for playing at their poker room. The players at Poker.com are friendly, and are from all over the world. I am often the only player from the US at a poker table at Poker.com.
After you play at a number of online poker rooms, you will decide for yourself which features you enjoy the most. I would highly recommend that you visit PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Poker.com for a great poker experience. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.
The very first time I wanted to play online poker for real cash, I remember being fairly nervous and asking myself a series of questions. Which poker room should I choose to make my first deposit? Do they offer a deposit match bonus? How do I earn my bonus after I make a deposit? Is it safe to gamble online? Here are some guidelines that I used to determine when is the right time to start playing for cash and where to play online poker.
The very first online poker experience that I had was at a free poker site, which name I can not remember. They had a limited number of tournament tables running at any given time, and it was a challenge to get signed into the tournament quick enough. I remember that a lot of players would make foolish calls, and raise all in with no hand. Of course this is going to happen once in a while when you are playing in free tournaments simply because there is nothing at stake for any of the players. Even with the looser play at free poker tables and tournaments, you will learn all of the fundamentals of playing online poker. You will learn about the big and small blinds and the betting structure of a Texas Holdem poker game. After learning all of the fundamentals of poker play, you can start to improve your strategy by taking advantage of your position when your on the button or the blinds. As you play more, you will become more comfortable at the poker tables.
One of the first online poker rooms that I decided to make a deposit at was PokerStars. I decided to download the poker software and I signed up as a new player. Before I added any funds to my account, I played in freeroll tournaments, free table games, and browsed PokerStar's home page for testimonial on their poker room. I felt that a poker room like PokerStars would be a safe place to make a deposit. They actually hold all deposits "in escrow" in a bank account, they have 24/7 customer support if you have any questions or problems, and they offer so many tables and poker tournaments to play in with buy-ins from pennies to hundreds of dollars. There is always a tournament available to play for free, and they offer cash prizes for some of their freeroll tournaments. After playing for a few weeks for free, I really became accustomed to the software and look of PokerStars, and was satisfied by talking with other registered players that it was a good poker room to make a deposit into. They offered me a 100% deposit bonus which had to be earned by accumulating points based on play. It was paid in installments of $5.00 as they were earned.
I then started to play online poker in the penny rooms for a while, and sometimes would venture into the nickel or dime tables. I would play in a lot of freeroll Texas Holdem and Omaha tournaments, and would also buy into some tournaments. After a few months of playing, I finally had enough money in my account to make a withdrawal. It was an easy process, and I received my money by check within the promised time period.
I have since played at numerous online poker rooms, many that I liked. I was fond of Full Tilt Poker, due to the fact that they have poker professionals playing in their poker rooms and they offered a 100% match deposit bonus. Unlike many other poker rooms that claim to have real pros playing at their site that you never see, at Full Tilt Poker, the pros would play and chat all the time. I was once in a Stud poker tournament at Full Tilt Poker, and Andy Bloch entered the tournament. It was only a $5 buy-in, yet he was playing with us, talking about strategies and answering our questions. I have seen pros on Full Tilt play in low buy-in tournaments and cash tables on a regular basis. They also play each other in high stake cash poker games that you can watch. I have played with Hoyt Corkins, Jennifer Harman, and Andy Bloch, and have chatted with Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, John D'Agostino, Allen Cunningham, and Phil Lederer. There is no other poker room like Full Tilt Poker where you can really interact and play with professional poker players. I still have an account with Full Tilt Poker today and plan on keeping it. One of my favorite games to play is razz, a low hand poker game that offers a lot of betting action. Not many poker rooms offer razz, so there is yet another reason why I will keep an account at Full Tilt Poker.
Recently, I was offered a promotion at poker.com. I performed my usual review of the software and their website. I liked the fact that the number of tournament participants was relatively low compared to PokerStars. I think that the software at Poker.com is by far superior to any other poker room online. Most poker rooms use some type of avatar or character to represent a player. Poker.com is simple, and feels and appears like a real poker room. I also like that they offer freeroll tournaments to first time depositors, and for earning bonus points just for playing on their site. I am offered a coupon for free entry into the $4,000 Texas Holdem poker tournament almost every week and regularly earn entry into the $10,000 tournament. No other poker room has offered such lucrative freeroll tournaments just for playing at their poker room. The players at Poker.com are friendly, and are from all over the world. I am often the only player from the US at a poker table at Poker.com.
After you play at a number of online poker rooms, you will decide for yourself which features you enjoy the most. I would highly recommend that you visit PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Poker.com for a great poker experience. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.
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