Any poker fans?

[Bram]

Just wondering.

It's obviously been all the rage for a couple of years now, but topics on it pop up surprisingly rarely over here. A search for poker yields an age-old thread by Anusien, some comparisons between poker and mtg, and several references to a "red hot poker" and places people should shove one.

I've been playing hold 'em for about a year now, mostly online, on average maybe 5 online SNGs a week (usually either 5+0.5 or 10+1, 6 or 10 player no limit tables) and the occasional freeze-out at my local casino. Before that it was mostly some "bingo poker" games for laughs in between testing. I was wondering if anyone here plays the game casually (or even professionally?) as well, where you play, what forums/books you read, and what your ITM and ROI percentages are etc.

[Dante]

I started playing before the poker boom (i.e. before chris moneymaker won in 03) in Fall of 2000.  I played a ton of online at Paradise and Party.  Eventually I was playing at the local casino about 6 nights/days per week (I had just broken up with long-term girlfriend and work was slow, needed an outlet).  I was averaging $60/hr at live $10/20 limit (that's an insane take) for about 12 months.  Now I just play "casually"

http://www.twoplustwo.com/

that site was probably the most instrumental resource in my improving from a donator to someone the regulars feared.

[MadManiac21]

Play as much as I can no limit $1-2 and occasionally $2-5. I set up a poker email list for my college and 1-2 of the surrounding schools and set up games/tournies about once every two weeks.

I've played a couple times at Foxwoods $1-2 NL (illegally, not yet 21) and managed pretty well.
I also have to agree with Dante about 2+2 publishing. I've read both of Harrington's books, and some others. Very easy way to become a better player.

[nataz]

I never bring it up because there seems to be a fairly large stigma against it on TMD, but I played from the moneymaker boom on until the end of college (2006 ish). I used to play mostly SNG's on party poker and abs poker 10+1 - 20+1/2 ranges), but apparently PP is no longer doing US ip's and abs just recently had that whole scandle with people being able to see hole cards - ugh. Not sure i'll be going back to online poker after that.   

[Imsomniac101]

Yeah, I find myself shifting more and more towards poker. Vintage has gotten incredibly boring after Wizards cut Gifts at it's knees. The only thing keeping me in Vintage at the moment is the proxy and alteration art. No really!!!

I've had much more experience in live play rather than online. But that's because I'm unable to transfer any money online at the moment. I'm looking to get into online play next year but all the terminology is scaring me. Can anyone recommend a good place to learn about all the terms that online players seem to use so much.

[Kowal]

Can anyone recommend a good place to learn about all the terms that online players seem to use so much.

I'd recommend NOT learning their terminology, and just winning silently instead.  You can't get a solid read off those idiots no matter what they say, and you gain nothing by replying to them.

[ashiXIII]

Can anyone recommend a good place to learn about all the terms that online players seem to use so much.

I'd recommend NOT learning their terminology, and just winning silently instead.  You can't get a solid read off those idiots no matter what they say, and you gain nothing by replying to them.

Your post doesn't make sense. He didn't say he wants to get reads or argue with people, he just wants to understand what they're saying.

Anyway, you get to know a lot of the terms after you play for a while. They're comparable to a lot of the Magic terms we have that no one who doesn't play Magic would understand.

[Bram]

Plus, you can always post in this trhead if you have any questions ^^

This is not from personal experience, but I've heard lots of people read twoplustwo.com and pocketfives.com boards, which are apparently good (but I don't like internet boards that exclusively deal with card games myself ;-)

[Vegeta2711]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_poker_terms

And if it's not on there, odds are it's completely gibberish. To be honest I have no idea why anyone seriously doing online poker bothers having chat windows open at all. At best you ignore them and at worse they might distract you from multi tabling.

[Bram]

I always say "hi all - have fun!" when a sng starts. I realize I'm one of the few, but I like being nice. Also, I occasionally say "sorry" when I win via a bad beat. Again, neither necessary nor common, but people seem to appreciate it - I've gotten a lot of "np, that's poker" replies. That's about all I ever use the chat window for. But then again, I agree that if you're multi-tabling, even this becomes annoying. And I'm obviosuly not a pro, so whatever

[MarkPharaoh]

I usually play on PS and Bodog and use to do 3/6 NL and 5/10 FL...I ended up making enough to pay for my new car so I was happy.  Unfortunately, it got in the way too much with academics so I cashed out and I only play casually at a 1/2 table once in a while.  I use to read a lot from cardplayer.com (and was the ambassador for my school, which I recommend you look into if you're in college), pokerpages.com, and the forums over at twoplustwo.com.  As for books, I got the most out of Harrington's series and I did read a lot of Sklansky's books.  I usually only use the chat feature online so say hi when I come in and apologize if I put a bad beat on somebody...I always prefer happy opponents to angry ones...people having a good time aren't likely to get as upset if they keep losing pots to you whereas the ones getting angry might start gunning for you, and although some people go on tilt, a lot of others seem to play better when they're focused on taking you out.