Fresh start recommendations;

Background; Around 3 yrs ago I played on pacific poker (super fishy back then, and i was one of them) and had no clue what i was doing.  I was on a super duper heater (30k) and cashed out a large chunk of cash (25k) then bustoed the account and haven't played since (job/gf/life took up most my time).  Well i have a decent paying job and want to get started again, properly.  I'll probably start with a bankroll between $7.5-10k.  Not the end of the world if i busto that though... haha... lost ALOT more in my mutual funds!!!

Questions; many of them, see below

1. what is the best site (most fish) to play 1-2nl?  i'm considering FTP/Stars/Party and Cake (cake seems too small though, good rakebake though).  i'll probably be 4 tabling FR and 6m.

2. hold'em manager or pokertracker 3?  i'll be using Vista64 as my main OS if that makes a difference

3. any book recommendations?  only one i've read is "theory of poker" and that was years ago.

4. must have softwares?  pt3 or holdem manager is obvious... also pokerstove.  anything else?

5. do you think it's actually more profitable to learn plo vs nl now?  i'll probably play around with .5-1plo to get a feeling... any good plo books?  i have never played and not sure of any strategies.  i just know best case scenarios are usually only 65-35 pre.

Thanks! -sg

I realize that 200nl is probably playing like 600nl was years back... tons of aggression and postflop moves.  I might just start off with 100nl to get a feel of it again... and maybe play around with 50plo to start off.

I've been reading a ton of 2+2 stuff lately... man some of that stuff boggles the mind... probably not even really applicable from 200nl and below though.

As for BR management... I'll probably start off something like this

Cash, 35-50 buyins, stay at that level, take a 2 bi shot when above 50.

MTT, play on .5-1% of BR for buyin.  so max buyin for me would be $100 to start if i deposit 10k.

SnG, don't play them... are they extremely popular?  Very mechanic from what i've been reading.

I'll definately keep this updated once i feel comfortable and start playing some decent amount of hands.  I'll probably be playing around 2-3hrs /day as I have a regular job.  Maybe the occasional MTT now and again.

I forgot to mention I do play live quite a bit, just not online in a long time.  I find live have the most horrible plays, lol... also rake is a killer. -sg

not sure about the book question, none are really that great but cardrunners is a pretty good site to get u up to speed, although by the time u watch the vids, ppl are already doing what they recommend and you should be doing something slightly different if you want to beat the regs.  1/2nl is tougher than what you remember, i've been playing for 4 years now and it's not quite the cakewalk it once was, although there always is an abundance of fish and i've not taken a hit in win-rate and i'm sure you will be fine if you were a winning player then.  i mainly play 2/4 and 3/6 now but i play 1/2 from time to time still and it's definitely beatable even if ur a little rusty. 

plo vs. nlhe, that's your call, game selection is not really an issue until you get to much higher stakes because there are a ton of good games at 1/2nl.  if you don't mind the swings, there are some terrible plo players out there but i personally tend to stick to nlhe because there are smaller swings.

gl to ya

sleepyguy (2009-04-09)

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Yeah you got a good point.  Problem is if I usually play anything below 100nl i usually get bored and just play overly loose and overall splash all around the table.  I got your point though... mind you if i lose the initial bankroll it's not the end of the world.  I may give up this "pipedream" or just take another few months to build up another initial roll... haha, just consider it expensive education

I'll definately keep this updated once i feel comfortable and start playing some decent amount of hands.  I'll probably be playing around 2-3hrs /day as I have a regular job.  Maybe the occasional MTT now and again.

I forgot to mention I do play live quite a bit, just not online in a long time.  I find live have the most horrible plays, lol... also rake is a killer. -sg

you are amazing (2009-04-09)

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GL to you OP.

My only suggestion is starting from the ground up. It is very likely that if you have 10k to load on a site as a starting bankroll, but need to ask for suggestions/advice... period.... then you're playing way over your head.

Just the many combined aspects of your first post suggest to me that you are starting too high with the same expectations as before. If you plan on just waiting around for hands and getting value from them, it doesn't quite work like that anymore. As low as $25 NL i see players triple-barrel three streets, i see them float flop with air to bluff turn/river, many more EP and MP moves. Players are smarter than 3 years ago, and have more moves 100%.

It would be wise to start much much lower than you plan and build from the ground up, the experience you gain that you didn't know you even lacked is priceless.

Also, learning PLO at .5/1 is going to be a very expensive education, me thinks. It's common to lose/win a full buy-in in the first 5-10 minutes of play. 1-3 buy-ins and you have yourself a membership with a top training site to learn PLO the inexpensive way.


GL gl gl, please keep us posted.

yeah, live play is beautiful, especially at the 1/2nl level because of the randoms that have no clue what they're doing.  about the sng's, i wouldn't bother unless you are trying to build up a roll.  that's how i built my initial roll was by crushing the smallish buyin sngs but to play at a level that won't bore you it's pretty much a robot-fest.