I finished college in the summer, and have spent the last few months playing live cash games at my local casino. I've done well playing the low stakes games, but have found the grind too hard to maintain. Having learned about the advantages of internet poker from 2+2, I've decided to focus more on internet than live, but have some basic questions before getting started.


Which site(s) should i play at? (mainly .25/.50 to $1/$2)


Should I play on multiple sites?


Is 25-30% rakeback the best I can do? Should I look for better deals?


Are there any good books to help me learn the fundamentals of internet poker, poker theory, and poker in general? (my understanding of concepts like fold equity are very poor)


Other than PTracker, are there other software I should buy/use?





thank you 2+2

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. Got another question.

Any books out there that would help with the transition from live to internet?

My biggest fear right now is that I go from a winning live player to the biggest donk at .25/.50 nl online.

I'm not familiar with any specific book that will help this, but Professional No Limit Hold 'em has gotten some real nice reviews. I have read bits and pieces of it and thought it was very insightful. Try that one out. Also, reading and posting hands on the forums here will really help your game.

If you're non-American, explore the non-American sites; they tend to be softer.

No real need for multiple sites as a small stakes beginner; you will find lots of table selection at any one site.

Read about people's opinions on the softness of various sites, and weigh that against rakeback deals you can find.

Definitely get SSHE or NL Theory/Practice, depending on what you play.

I would go to FTP and get 27% RB. Tons of table selection and lot of fish available as long as you choose your tables wisely.

Hopefully someone who knows more about this than I do can advise you what stakes you should be playing online, based on what game you've been beating live.

$1/$2 online, for example, is a completely different beast from $1/$2 live.

Good Luck.

$1/$2 live I would compare to 25/50NL online.

If you care about game/table selection (and you should), then go to a big site. PokerStars recently had their first day with 150,000 players simultaneously playing. You can find any type/level/game/tournament, day or night, including ring/STT/MTT/6-max/heads-up.

If you want to start cheaper, you might consider a smaller site like Carbon Poker. It probably tops out at something like 10,000 players at any one time, but there are a lot of very cheap games, and freerolls much easier than PokerStars.

It can be discouraging to play a PokerStars freeroll, for 4, 6, even 8 hours or more and not cash. On Carbon Poker, you can make a buck or two in a two-hour freeroll MTT, or by winning three staight STT, and they are VERY soft.

Also, if MTTs are your thing, on Carbon Poker you can find one for real money
starting as low as 25 cents.

These are the only two sites I have much experience with. I am an American player.

really...?

I always thought 1/2 live would be more comparable to micro-stakes online?

I'm pretty sure he means NL50 (.25/.50)

i used to think the play-money players were as good or better than the $1/$2 FLHE
players at AC's Caesar's...

The best I've seen is 33% at Cake poker (which apparently happens to be VERY soft). You can't use PokerTracker on cake poker though.