Learn Texas Holdem

Question: hi, i am a limit hold'em play money player, i have read many of your articles, and they really got me to thinking and little by little, I improved from mostly your articles. When i started planning to playing hold'em, my first goal was to win money( didn't even know the rule of the game). later on, when i knew how to play, i began intrested in the game too, but i have been playing fake money for awihle now, and don't think that i am doing my best, and the game is rather boring. i DO like the game, but when there is nothing at stake, it is just not that chanllenging, even though i like the game, but the losing really doesn't make me think about what i did wrong that much or keeping an eye on the situation or opponents, especially the fact that when you losing your "money", the next time you come in to your account, it is refilled, also when play fake money, people don't really try that hard, they also don't care about losing which sometimes make a whole table boring causing people coming in and out. therefore, i am planning to start playing real money( was trying to use fake to improve alot but...), what is your opinion? another thing is that sometimes some people on a table keep doing all in EVERY hand, or keep raising in limit game which actually works on people, I am not really effected by them when it is 1 v1, but when there are more then 4 people on the table, these people's style really bugs me. I try to raise, he raise back, other people know he is always like that, they just calls, make the whole game messed up. what should i do with them? And are there similar people like that in real money facilities, if so what do i do then? any advise would be great, especially your opinion about playing real money. thank you Mike

Answer: You pretty much summed up playing for fun versus playing for real money. When nothing is at stake, the game doesn't resemble its real money counterpart. In other games you have some pride involved -- chess or board games or even video games -- but with internet poker no one knows you and you don't care if you are seen as a loser; that makes it pretty useless unless you are just learning.

Even if I just played once every couple months, I would still want to play for at least a little money. It use to be that the smallest game you could find was a $2/4. Just about every internet cardroom now has micro limits where you can play for nickels and dimes. And come on now, everyone can afford to break out $10 and play; that's like going to Taco Bell and a movie.

I guarantee you that you will have more fun and longer entertainment using that $10 for poker than you would for a movie and a few burritos. And what is the worst case scenario? You lose your $10? The best case scenario is you use it as an investment into learning a game that can make you money for the rest of your life.

Now for your other question about super aggressive players who raise and reraise everyhand... Yes, there are some of those types of players in real money games but they are few and far between. I think of any type of player, they are the rarest. They also don't normally come in pairs, it's usually just one of them. When you can find one though at your table, consider it a gift and not a bad thing. Poker is all about getting a good hand and getting paid off for playing it.

With a player at the table who raises every single hand, you can not only get paid off for full value on your good hands but also pull some big pots with lessor hands. It can be intimidating if you are new to the game and one of these players is at your table. My advice is to just wait them out like a sniper in the woods, eventually you will get that perfect shot and take him down; until that shot comes, don't get frustrated, just let him splash around.

My philosophy when up against those types of players is that if I don't win the pot, I want them to. The reason is that if they have the chips, I have a great chance of getting them back.