Ok, so my girlfriend has expressed interest in learning poker. In managing her expectations I've been pretty frank about her chances. She seems fairly resolute though and even if the end result is only that she can dick around at a live 1/2 table without hemorrhaging money, I'm going to attempt to teach her.

So my question is where do I begin? I don't really have the ability or inclination to teach someone from the bottom so I'm wondering what resources you'd all recommend or even just more general advice.

I'm sorry, I know threads like this have been posted in the past but searching for them was kind of a pain in the ass.

Theory of poker

I'm in a similar situation with my girlfriend as well. I have bought her into a few low buy on tournaments (one that she chopped 4 ways for $1300) and 1/2 cash games. I've tried to teach her the basics of low stakes for someone with very limited poker knowledge... play premiums, be mindful of position, think about what your opponents actions can tell you, bet for value, not as a bluffs, etc. I know that's fairly vague, but she is doing reasonably well so far.

For beginners I think Bert Hanson's stuff is very good

microstakes bovada + hud. tell her to play 14/10 and nut peddle. translate well into a live game

HOC.

TOP.

If you don't know how much to bet, iow how to charge draws, "Bet 2/3 pot".

"Set mine against pre flop raiser only. Not in limped flops."

SPR and commitment.

Overbet the flop when u have TPGK+.

Remember your cards.

Post hands in LLSNL.

Read Gobbledygeeks well in LLSNL.

Also...

Buy in short for a long while.

50-70bb.

Playing short helps focus the mind. You quickly realize you cannot just bail yourself out of bad spots by aggression alone.

Let's get to the important stuff... Screen names. Suggestions:

FantasticCowett
FantasticHeifer
FantasticCalf

No one will get this and I am very okay with that

+1 to everything (well maybe not short stacking)

The concept or ranges and the amount of hand combos without forgetting that people do stupid **** all the time.

If you are really starting from the beginning, maybe something like hand strength, basic table reading (decent, not great tag opens from co 2/5 from what you have seen to 2.5 x, you don't have history with him, flat from bb with ATo, flop is QT5 with a fd (no bdfd for you), you have seen him c-bet 6/10 in hu pots. He c-bets, what is his range here, give an estimate of your equity, realistic lines and plan for different turn cards). There are simple programs that can help and maybe not all those questions at once.

Also maybe just telling straight up what not to do, even forcing to play pre-set hand ranges (yuck). Obviously start as small as possible, maybe online (cheaper and more hands quicker)?

Seriously?

I suppose you haven't played 1/2NL in a while.

Oh... actually never played it (if you mean live) but now I can understand what you meant.

I think that as a learning experience, online micro/small stakes are way better than live 1/2. Many more hands/spots/learning opportunities (which is what's needed), way more convenient/accessible, probably cheaper rake-wise...

First of all I think it's great that your girl wants to get into poker! Not a lot of women play the game or have any interest at all (my wife certainly does not).

I think the best option would be to deposit $100 on Bovada and play 10NL with you looking over her shoulder. Is there a reason why you guys want to play 1/2 live?

People have suggested books. HOC and TOP are obviously great, and PNLHE Vol1 after that. Also agree gobbledygeeks well in LLSNL is awesome. But unless she is a highly academic type, for a total beginner all this reading might be too boring and may even turn her away from the game. I think you guys should dive into Bovada with a hand ranking chart and get her started with tight/nitty preflop ranges.

Lastly I think short-stacking is a great idea for a newbie. It might be a little higher variance, but it would allow you to focus on preflop/flop play and make decisions easier. 100bb is pretty deep when you think about it, and involves a lot more complicated spots than 50bb would.

One more vote for getting some online micro play.

One table. If the pace isn't too fast for her, add a very simple hud with vpip/pfr.

Obv also get a solid book to build a decent foundation, but make sure she gets play time or she can burn out just reading.

Disagree to start with Bart Hanson for a complete noob. His videos are too piecemeal of an approach since he just looks at what ever random hands happen in the video footage. Total noob needs a basic overarching strategy drilled in.

For me, I would try to teach her the below basic concept to get that overarching strategy started.

Our edge in poker comes from 3 things (make sure you always have at least one of them):

- card advantage
- positional advantage
- skill advantage

Later on, talk about how pot odds can make us want to continue where none of the 3 advantages above clearly exist.

Gl!

Open face Chinese. Great for learning key concepts such as counting number of outs, card removal, hand rankings, etc.

I get it.

I would also tell her that trying to win at poker is stressful as hell for most people and not worth it.

Super tight up front. Experiment with broader ranges (suited connectors etc) in the back.

adderrall and poker snowie ldo ainec. have her play 100K hands and look at them in depth w/ snowie

Put her in some online games, small stakes obviously, sit next to her and start explaining.

+1 to FantasticCalf.

Cow, probably easier to just get a new gf

This is a fairly humble brag but I taught my gf hand rankings and how to b/f in the car on the way to the casino the first time she ever played live poker and she had 2-3 winning sessions in a row iirc. She had a solid rummy background so it's not like I literally taught her what cards were but yea she had never played a single hand of poker.

If she is math/strategy oriented and truly wants to understand the game I guess suggested books and micro online would be fine but if she wants to play live poker seriously just teach her betsizing, playing a tight range, and the concept of bet/folding and she will crush 1/2 & 2/5. Play a few sessions on her left, blatantly announce to the table she's your gf / never played / jokes to play easy on her etc. and then talk hh's after.

Hardest part for my gf (and most I supppse) was taking bad beats. She rarely plays now but talks through 5/10 hands with me very well and surprises me often with her suggestions.