Transitioning to Mainly Online FR Micro Stakes - Please Help
07-31-2016
, 01:08 PM
**I wasn't sure whether this post should go in "Internet Poker," "Beginner Questions," or here, but I feel as if the Micro Stakes FR community would be best fit to address my questions. Mods please move thread if you must, but I would prefer to leave it here if possible***
Background
I am a 36 year-old business teacher with a wife and 2 children (6 and almost 2) who has primarily played live poker semi-seriously since 2003. My online experience has been on Party Poker between '03 and '07, Stars from '07 and '10, and Bovada between '14 and today with moderate success (I had great success on Party, lost approx. 12 buyins @ 5NL on Stars, and have won approx. 7 buyins on Bovada), but the hours played live have dwarfed those played online. Over the past 13 years, I've averaged over $25/hour playing mostly 2/5NL and $5 on the button hold'em, so what began as a couple thousand bucks in '03 grew to a nice chunk of change. Ever since I began playing semi-seriously, I have segregated poker funds from my everyday expenses while also using winnings to finance vacations, gifts, etc. However, since I am currently pursuing a Master's Degree, rather than taking on additional debt, I have decided to pay for school with the money I previously used for poker. With that said, I basically have approximately $500 that I can use for playing poker until December, when I will begin to use my pay increase to replenish the live bankroll.
As such, I would like to continue playing poker online, but more seriously than I have with Bovada. Basically, with Bovada, I deposited $50 and played 5NL and 10NL in my limited spare time, and have run the roll up to approx $100 over the past 2 years (nothing stellar, I know). I have decided to cash those funds out and transfer my play to either Carbon or ACR where I can have a screen name, utilize a HUD, and analyze both my play and opponents over a long period of time. Seeing as I'm completely lost as to how to do this, I am asking the community to help me with the following questions:
1. Since I prefer FR No Limit, which site has the larger pool of players? We can save the bot discussion for a future post.
2. I plan to purchase a new laptop specifically for poker (feel free to critique me on this), so which OS and specs would you suggest?
3. Which HUD is preferred? I know nothing beyond the names Hold'em Manager and PokerTracker, but I understand the meaning behind the different colored lines on graphs. I suspect my red line will not be very good since I've relied heavily on bet/fold over time - yes I will work on that).
4. Regarding rakeback and bonuses, which affiliate offers the best deal? Is it possible to receive a deposit bonus AND rakeback?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated. I do apologize for the long post, but I would rather have my ducks in a row before I begin this venture. I would like to take my time so that I can make the best possible decision, so please feel free to add some feedback in your responses. I do have some interest in beginning a PG&C thread once this takes off, but of course that may not happen for another month or two.
As an aside, I realize many answers to these questions might be found in a sticky or FAQ section somewhere, but I'm admittedly a little aloof when it comes to finding things. Hopefully you'll give me a break since I'm working full time AND taking Master's courses
Background
I am a 36 year-old business teacher with a wife and 2 children (6 and almost 2) who has primarily played live poker semi-seriously since 2003. My online experience has been on Party Poker between '03 and '07, Stars from '07 and '10, and Bovada between '14 and today with moderate success (I had great success on Party, lost approx. 12 buyins @ 5NL on Stars, and have won approx. 7 buyins on Bovada), but the hours played live have dwarfed those played online. Over the past 13 years, I've averaged over $25/hour playing mostly 2/5NL and $5 on the button hold'em, so what began as a couple thousand bucks in '03 grew to a nice chunk of change. Ever since I began playing semi-seriously, I have segregated poker funds from my everyday expenses while also using winnings to finance vacations, gifts, etc. However, since I am currently pursuing a Master's Degree, rather than taking on additional debt, I have decided to pay for school with the money I previously used for poker. With that said, I basically have approximately $500 that I can use for playing poker until December, when I will begin to use my pay increase to replenish the live bankroll.
As such, I would like to continue playing poker online, but more seriously than I have with Bovada. Basically, with Bovada, I deposited $50 and played 5NL and 10NL in my limited spare time, and have run the roll up to approx $100 over the past 2 years (nothing stellar, I know). I have decided to cash those funds out and transfer my play to either Carbon or ACR where I can have a screen name, utilize a HUD, and analyze both my play and opponents over a long period of time. Seeing as I'm completely lost as to how to do this, I am asking the community to help me with the following questions:
1. Since I prefer FR No Limit, which site has the larger pool of players? We can save the bot discussion for a future post.
2. I plan to purchase a new laptop specifically for poker (feel free to critique me on this), so which OS and specs would you suggest?
3. Which HUD is preferred? I know nothing beyond the names Hold'em Manager and PokerTracker, but I understand the meaning behind the different colored lines on graphs. I suspect my red line will not be very good since I've relied heavily on bet/fold over time - yes I will work on that).
4. Regarding rakeback and bonuses, which affiliate offers the best deal? Is it possible to receive a deposit bonus AND rakeback?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated. I do apologize for the long post, but I would rather have my ducks in a row before I begin this venture. I would like to take my time so that I can make the best possible decision, so please feel free to add some feedback in your responses. I do have some interest in beginning a PG&C thread once this takes off, but of course that may not happen for another month or two.
As an aside, I realize many answers to these questions might be found in a sticky or FAQ section somewhere, but I'm admittedly a little aloof when it comes to finding things. Hopefully you'll give me a break since I'm working full time AND taking Master's courses
