hey guys, ive played poker for a few years but i havent taken it seriously or anything its just been for a bit of fun and to pass time. ive read a few books to get get some hints tips etc and i pretty much know what im doing but now i want to sit down with say $500, and just grind to try make a couple of thousand.

i was wondering what people would suggest i do. ive heard things about poker tracker? or some software thatr tracks everything so i know what im doing right and wrong, programs to see other peoples game stats etc? and whats best to play ? cash ? mtts? sngs?

if probably be looking at 6 tabling 1/2nl maybe 5/10nl with a few mtts and 180s mixed in.

can anyone give me some tips on how to get all the programs to maximise my potential profitability.

thanks.

This is probably wrong, but I'm in a similar situation and everyone has told me to move down to 0.01/0.02 and have all my money taken by 12-tabling regulars who datamine my exact playing style, where I 3-bet and my play on every street, etc. So you should probably do the same. Don't think of it as an investment, think of it as an entertainment budget. And if you make a couple of cents an hour, good, keep doing it until the database catches up to your exact style and you start getting exploited. Then move down even more.

This is all probably wrong though.

Just grab a coffee, listen to relaxing music, vary game types to avoid boredom and grind..

Not too easy if youre like me and have an attention span of a goldfish

These 2NL 12-tabler are one of the easiest to exploit. No good player would 12 table 2NL. You are giving these guys way too much credit. Noone at 2NL is exploiting, you can play highly exploitable. They are that limit for a reason.

"ive read a few books to get get some hints tips etc and i pretty much know what im doing but now i want to sit down with say $500, and just grind to try make a couple of thousand". Seems like you know nothing at all what you are doig, no offence.
Start at the lowest stakes, read all the stickies here, join a video site. Spent 200+ hours off the tables working on your game, then maybe then you know a bit what you are doing. And even then you are still not "good" and need to still learn and work on your game.

all right. Can you give me general advice for exploiting these 12-tablers? One thing I find is that if I keep barrelling they will back off with anything less than the nuts, unless my stats are too loose. Anything else?

I would not even focus much on trying to exploit these guys at 2NL. Could be a good learning experience though.
But you could just never play a hand vs them and only get involved in hands with weaker players and still make a profit at this limit.
Exploiting them depends a lot on the individual player but most of them are so straightforward ABC and very nitty you just have to apply pressure in the right spots.

If u have TPTK+ keep betting 2/3rds pot unless raised, if u dont have a good hand fold, or try and get to showdown cheap.

Your posting doesnt sound like ur in a happy place. Seriously, have a good read and understand what the stickies at the top say and you'll find things become easier as you'll have a better idea of how to play against villains of all types. Helped my game loads.

OP read up on bankroll management and make sure u know what ur doing. The limits u talk of are mainly for the pro's. Are u that good?

I think he means 1c/2c - 5c/10c dunna (?)

Hope so!

With an attitude like that why do you even bother asking for help?

it wasn't my attitude BEFORE I asked for help!! Apparently, I just suck.

Like I've said before, people here are just trying to help you. You seem to believe that everyone here is trying to screw you over. If you really don't like the advice given, then don't take it. good luck at higher stakes where they respect your raises

A good tip is that someone playing 12 tables isn't paying much attention to each table as they dont have time. They will play fit or fold on the flop most of the time. So, cbet flop and pick up the pot. If u get a call or raise then ur prolly behind unless u have a decent hand.
Stick to doing the simple things first, then add in tweaks when u are comfortable playing abc

first of all, I've numerously expressed my gratitude for the advice. You guys probably are saving me a LOT of money every single day until I beat the lowest stakes consistently and by a good margin and have bankroll skills that avoid ruin as I move up. Fine. At the same time it's very hard to be up against people who are stat'ing you and knowing exactly how to interpret it, whereas in my case I am trying to observe, learn ABC poker, maybe learning to read stats, all at the same time. Wouldn't it be nice if real good players weren't at my stakes? But they are. So, I'm not bitter, thankful for the advice, and very appreciative of this forum. I intend to improve, and the learning curve is pretty steep, I will just say that. Thank you for your support here.

by the way, even if I may have come off as a bit bitter, wouldn't you recommend to the OP that he start far lower than he has in mind in his OP?

I get the feeling you think other people having stats on you turns your hands face up. To some extent it does, and at the same time it doesn't. At best, they will see that out of the last 100 hands you've only played 10, so they can estimate your range to be mostly premiums.

Although I think you're severely overestimating the effects of having stats, I do recommend you get one if you play online. HEM2 and Pokertracker have free trials that I'd recommend you try.

I agree that it is frustrating to have better players playing at your stakes. The best you can do is avoid them and go after worse players than yourself because that's where all the profit in poker is.

Yes. The only thing I disagree in your post is starting it off with "this is probably wrong", repeating advice everyone gave you before, then ending with "this is probably wrong" again.

shark, work on your table selection skills and avoid the regs. Its easy to know who they are because you have 1000 hands on them in pokertracker rather than like 20.

OP are you playing live or online? $1/$2 nl online is HARD. Aiming to "make a couple of grand" is BAD. Aiming to - get better at poker, is GOOD.

I added this disclaimer so that the OP doesn't think I speak with any authoity. I am trying to abosrb what you (collectively here) are teaching me, but as reflected in other responses, I'm not quite there. So I add that even when the substance of what I say is OK, I'm probably off in some details (i.e. "wrong") and that you should take what I say with a grain of salt, as I'm just a beginner.

The #1 reason I like to speak with my best understanding AFTER the disclaimer, is that someone will correct my misconceptions. It's a hard game - it's built on misconceptions, and we like to reinforce misconceptions that help us while downplaying when someone is 'onto us' (for example at a tight game while stealing the blinds for half an hour, we should express frustration at how good a run of cards we're having, and that nobody is even calling us.)

I think here on the forum we're all very honest, and it's very important to 'take a look at the man in the mirror' and criticize myself first, which is why I add that everything I say is probably in pat or substantially wrong or misleading.

Don't mistake me for an old hand, just because I'm trying to learn their tricks and advice. In other words, I meant I'm the one who's probably wrong, or at least the exact way I try to repeat it - rather than the exact advice, which is better coming from a better source.

(I meant I'm probably wrong due to a technicality or my limited comprehension - the advice is sound or I wouldn't be repeating it or trying to master it or be reading books on it!)

So, I try to pay the utmost attention to what I'm told here, and thanks again as it is very helpful. Sharing my current level of understanding is also extremely helpful as I immediately get tips on e.g. how to deal with nitty 12-tablers. Immensely useful all around.

I am incredibly grateful for finding this forum and thank you guys for the help.

thanks for the input guys