I pretty much went full-time online poker for 6 months last year, it seemed easier than trading. Played 10,000s of hands. But, like with trading, sone bad days can really hit hard. Example, in a one hour period I lost 3 hands at the river with $900 plus pots. Beats like that make you wonder if the gods are out to get you.
Best thing was I learned an incredible amount about probabilities and my own subtle greed/fear. Much more insight about trading now.
There are good discussions on poker and trading at:
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showth...ighlight=poker
and
http://www.trader-world.com/forums/i...hp?showtopic=4

Interesting sites

I've been playing online poker and B&M casino poker for a few years now. Great game but can't say I've been able to quit my day job yet! :lol:

Here's some great sites I've found in my travels. I'm not affiliated with any of them.

Great learning site with book reviews, forums, site reviews etc......

www.flopturnriver.com

Some sign up to poker sites through these sites for bonus type sites......

www.pokersourceonline.com & www.vegaspokerpro.com

A great programme to learn poker is here.....

www.poker-academy.com

That is an excellent game to really learn poker. The AI on it is done by a couple of the same guys who helped programme the Chess computer Deep Blue. The latest version also has an online play for free bit. Unlike other "play for free" sites people here are actually trying to learn the game and take it seriously so the standard of play is much better.

A couple of books well worth reading are Harrington on Holdem Vols 1 & 2. Geared toward tourneys but Vol 1 in particular translates over to cash games very eaily.

Cheers,
PKFFW

Hi PKFFW,
That last site looks good but having been "had" once recently, where one thinks one is signing up to a poker site but the money never gets there ( it goes to the software poker calculator people ), have you had personal knowledge that this one is OK with say Bodog ?
I now have a bit of experience and am making money on a very low level site (2-4 cent tables ), but every time I try to move up to a higher level I tend to lose still. Pre-flop I think I am OK but could do better after the flop. Would this package be right for me please ?
I look forward to your reply.

Hi Pat,

I've personally used the vegaspokerpro.com site twice and promptly receieved my free books and dvd. My money and deposit bonus made it into the poker sites with no problems as well. I've not personally used the pokersourceonline.com site, however I've only heard positive things from many others who have used them and they also offer the poker academy pro software as a sign up bonus.

I got the poker-academy pro software before they were offering the free version so I can't say whether their offer is legit. However the software is highly thought of in the poker community so I can't see them jeopardising their good reputation by running a scam. The software would definitely help your post flop play. It comes with a "suggestion" thingy that gives you advice on how to play both before and after the flop. I used that until I got the hang of it and then turned it off. Successful post-flop play is 10% knowing your cards, odds, probabilities etc and 90% knowing the other players and remembering how they play certain situations. The AI bots in poker academy play very well and so learning to "read" them is very akin to reading real players. Once you can read those bots you would be well on the way to being an above average player.

Cheers,
PKFFW

Many thanks PKFFW for answering my queries comprehensively.

I had a look at the poker academy software and decided to buy it, rather than sign up to yet another poker site and have to play lots to get it for free. My initial impressions of the software are good and this is the first software that I have found that can use AI to play no-limit to a reasonable standard. The AI doesn't quite seem to match some of the human quirks but it is as good as I hoped. There probably isn't a way to program some of the crazy play on the internet and there isn't a way to simulate the feeling when an idiot takes your money by hitting his long shot but it is useful to replay hands and try to see where improvements can be made.

My pleasure Pat

Thought this was an interesting read. It will be a while before I can take $20,000,000 to the table

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Beal#Poker_playing

Party poker have a free version of poker academy here http://www.partypoker.com/how_to_pla...r_trainer.html

Probably a limited edition but might be worth a look.