I'm relatively new to poker; been playing on and off for about a year. It's a game I have grown to love, but I am currently at a stalemate of sorts in my objective to become a solid player.

I lack any sort of monetary means to play online or otherwise, as I'm a Freshman in college with a very very limited budget. So my question for you guys is what can I do to improve as a poker player without playing for money?

Obviously, books are an easy option, but I don't even really have the money to buy a [censored] book.

Play money tables feel counter-productive to me. Same for most freerolls.

Any adivce you could supply me with would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Post $10 in there. If you really are a solid player you should be able to grind it out no problem.

Agree with Peleus. Get some real money on there. $10 is enough to grind up and get going. Keep that alongside reading the books and forums/articles on 2p2.
Play some freerolls alongside this aswell. chances of winning theses are slim but downside = 0 with a chance to bolster your bankroll.

stick to strict bankroll management and you may find this $10 lasts for a very long time.

Good luck

Try to find a library with Getting Started in Hold em and Small Stakes Hold Em, both by Ed Miller. Deposit a few dollars at a site and grind out microstakes. Those books are a worthwhile investment even if you have to buy them, they will pay for themselves hundreds of times over.

He did say he has no money. Assuming that means none then $10 he may not be able to afford.

So on that basis go for freerolls. Practice can only help but I have to admit the standard is dubious in these.

As for books if you can't afford them and you can't borrow any then the internet is a godsend. There is so much info - just search for it and continue at forums such as this.

I appreciate it guys, in particular those who conveyed a basic level of reading comprehension.

A couple months ago I actually cashed for 4 bucks in a freeroll, and proceeded to grind it out in $3 Sit & Go's to about $150, at which point my previously logical approach to bankroll management vanished and I crashed and burned at higher stakes. I attributed this to variance and inherently, my game not being up to par.

My first order of business will be to aquire those books somehow, thanks again guys.

Haj,

I sold off a bunch of play money and got $2 transferred to my P Stars account. This was like 2 days ago. I have since ground out micros and have built it to $15 (had it to $20 but lost a few bucks on one hand).

Perhaps this might be an option?

Nice option but what freaking morons buy play money

Exactly my thoughts.

They buy then resell. Who wants to buy it I have no idea.

Some extreme fish even when it comes to play money is my guess. The going rate is about $1/100k play money chips.

eventually someone will be a playmillionare. bill gates type phmoney. he could take over the monopoly world. run for the hills.

This might come across as harsh, but oh well.

Saying you don't have $10 to put in there is bull****. I don't care if you're at college or not, if you've got time to sit down and play free rolls for hours trying to get a $1 to start with, or you've got time to sit down and study the game for hours then you've got time to go and do some random odd job, wash a car, help a lady across the road or whatever you have to do to get a measly $10 to put into poker.

Saying you don't have that as an investment into your poker playing is a friggen cop out, your obviously not serious about it.

You do have a point but yes, it was harsh. Could you not have phrased it better in this Beginner's Forum

Are you serious, who the hell are you to say all this? I've been lurking on this board for a bit and there seemed to be some major D-Bags but WOW. You do realize to put money on a Poker site you need a Debit or Credit card, is this not correct? I have neither and will not anytime soon. I didn't realize that if I'm not 100% commited to poker I should just quit..I play for FUN. I could get 10 dollars to spare, but I have things that, in my eyes, are more important then poker to take care of. You know like food, laundry, rent, etc. Should I skip dinner to play a [censored] Sit & Go????? No thanks.

If you could enlighten me as to what you were trying to accomplish, other then come off as a complete [censored], with this gem of a post I would greatly appreciate it. You have absolutely NO idea about my economic situation and you shouldn't pretend you do.

Haji, he was out of order with his tone but he had a point in so much as if you are going to spend time reading and studying the game as well as playing freerolls then it perhaps would be an idea to use some of that time just to earn say $20 and then use it to play.

There are ways to get the money onto a site. Also, the best learning experience is definately to play.

He was a jerk in the way he said it, no doubt.

Anyway, good luck in what you do and keep posting. There are plenty of helpful posts. Just ignore the bad ones.

Ok, re-read it and it was way to harsh. It was a 1 minute post job at work. To start with, I appologise (seriously).

The underlying point, which I should have said in a much nicer way, is that you will probably find infinatly more value out of scraping together $10 and depositing it, through perhaps a friend or family with a credit card, or saving up a bit more and doing it from a bank account, then what you will any other way of improving you're game.

I am in no way suggestion you should put other things down the priority list, food rent etc are infinently more importaint. My point was that chances are you have a few hours spare at some time, which you can probably use doing SOMETHING to earn you a spare $10, that a fair point? I'm not saying take you're money out of your normal day to day livings that you have already.

So like I said, sorry about the way I worded the first post, it was to harsh, but the underlying point is you're best value for money by far in terms of playing poker is to get some money on the site. I was perhaps a little harsh because of your "I appreciate it guys, in particular those who conveyed a basic level of reading comprehension. " which was I believe directed at me.

Now that was much better. Credit for coming back - I think we have all posted in haste before.

Many losing poker players never withdraw anything, and don't really have a hope of withdrawing more than their deposits. Compare their deposits with buying play money.

On sites that give anyone a fixed amount of play money at a time, there is a significant difference in the quality of play at the higher play money stakes relative to the lower play money stakes. If it is more fun or more educational, why not spend $2 to skip the lower levels?

However, it is against the rules of many sites to buy or sell play money.

I'm frankly amazed how friendly this forum is. If you look at the heat generated on most other forums and the general publics generally pretty low opinion of the poker playing community, I think most 'outsiders' would be shocked to see just how much time and effort you more experienced guys put in to helping us new folks on an up the ladder.

This thread proves that once again.

I don't know, but it looks like you have an attitude problem. You asked people to help you. Maybe you shouldn't be so eager to attack people who took the time to respond thoughtfully, even if you disagree with the answers.

No, I don't believe that is correct.

You used a computer to post. That should put you above the subsistence farmer level. Isn't it a safe guess that your time is worth more than $1/hour? Making a real deposit may save you a lot of time. I built a substantial bankroll from a free $5 I received for a royal flush at a play money table, but that was just to say that I did it. It would have saved me a lot of time to deposit $50 or $200.

There are affiliates who can get you some no deposit free money into your account at certain sites. I won't post affiliate's names here since prolly violated 2+2 policy or something. google free money no deposit poker or something like that and sort through the results. I urge you not to use the first site that comes up, since they regularly spam 2+2, so I don't like the idea of anyone giving them business. You will be able to get at least $50 to play on some sites.

That's not correct. It's possible to use just a regular checking or savings account, or even a wire transfer.

Haji,

You don't need a credit card all you need is a bank account. If you don't have a bank account, do you have a friend that plays online already? You can give him/her cash and they can transfer you the money... that is what I did. It is well worth it to put $10-50 bucks in if you can make $$$$$. I knoe exactly what you mean about not having any cash to spare! BUT if you are good it is worth it! Maybe if you have a good friend they will let you borrow the money from them and you can pay them back with your winnings... bankroll you so to speak. Tell them it is an investment

I can’t agree with this. This is a newbie player who should not be borrowing money to play. Yes if he can get a backer that if he wins shares profits then fine. But you cannot promise to pay back from your winnings. That may never happen.

There is a big mis-conception at times that you put in a bit of effort and you will be a winner. The majority of players lose money – if they did not we would have no winners.

And pzhon, I know what you are saying but this is a beginners forum and I do think a little less aggression in replies should be shown as a result.