PokerGTA

Begin by Playing Small Buy-in Tournaments

As soon as you have mastered the basics in free games online, advance to a small buy-in tournament, preferably a single-table tournament in which you will be playing against nine opponents (when playing Hold ‘Em and Omaha). Play in a $5 or $10 buy-in single-table tournament. Once you experience playing for something, you will have a new enthusiasm for the game. I know I’ve said it before, but here it is again: in poker, decisions should matter. You should be rewarded for good decisions and penalized for bad ones. This concept is critical to your success at playing poker for money.

Try small buy-in tournaments when you first start playing for money. In cash games, you might lose more money than you originally wanted to put at risk. Even in the $3-$6 limit games, which are considered to be pretty small games, it’s fairly easy to go through $100. Why not take that $100 and play $5 or $10 buy-in tournaments? That way you can play time and time again on the same bankroll and experience the joy of playing poker for something.

At most sites, single-table tournaments pay three places. Usually, the winner gets 50 percent, second place gets 30 percent, and third place gets 20 percent of the prize pool. (Note that all online poker rooms charge a nominal entry fee, usually about $1, when you sign up to play in a tournament.) If everybody puts up $10 each, for example, the prize pool is $100. The winner at that table receives $50, second place wins $30, and third place receives $20. In other words, you don’t have to take first place to make a profit. As you progress in your poker skills, you will start to win some of those tournaments.

Small online tournaments are fun and exciting, and they give you a big bang for your buck. Play one and you’ll see what I mean.