This might be nice, for those that don't like using their own money. Dreampoker are giving $10 free when you sign up to play at their site. Had a go on the 5/10 cent NL tables and I now have $28 I did this once with a free £10 and took it up to £260 before loosing the lot on one hand, so I will be a bit more careful this time.

It is a Prima network site and shouldn't have any problems. There is a review of the site here www.pokernews.com/dream-poker/

Do any of you play the tournaments where your maximum loss is limited by the fee to join ?

If so what is your view of them ?


Paul

I"ve played thousands. The rake is excessive, the main advathage is that you have a fixed loss - like buying options.

Up until recently, I found them easier to make money than cash tables. The blinds increasing makes the game more interesting and the single table tournaments usually last less than an hour, so you know how long you will be playing. The multi-table tournaments can go on for several hours.

I prefer the poker sites that move the blinds up slowly, as the fast blind structure is hard to play when you don't get good cards. VCpoker and Pokerstars have a good blind structure, the Prima sites are a bit too fast for my liking.

I presume you mean the tounament fee? There are some sites that don't charge too much and www.worldpx.com currently refund all entry fees.

I was struggling a bit today in a cash game and was just about to give up when I flopped quad 10's. I only held one 10 and the other 3 were on the flop. I think the odds of this happening are 9799/1. The odds on getting paid for that hand are also slim, as most players don't like betting in to a flop like that. I played it slow but thought I might as well go all-in on the river, to try and make it look like a bluff. It worked, as the other player in from the flop called me and I won the $137 pot. Must be my lucky day

Trader333 if you are just learning poker I think tournaments are the way to go. As BB said, if you can find some that raise the blinds at a slowish rate then you can potentially play 50-60 hands or more at a single table sng tourney all for the buy in fee. This is a great way to see lots and lots of hands without risking too much. It also has the advantage of getting you used to a tournament structure so if you do get good and eventually want to enter live tourneys you know what to expect.

The psychology of tourneys compared to cash games is like short term trading is to investing. Totally different. So once you have the fundamentals of the game down you may want to specialise in one or the other. Until then I reckon the tourneys are the best ground for learning.

Cheers,
PKFFW

This was nice today. I flopped the Ace high straight and the other player tried to force me to fold. The second king on the turn was a bit worrying, as there was a possible full house that beat my straight but he took a long time on the river and then bet $64. It just didn't feel like he had a hand that could beat the straight and I thought he was on the hearts flush draw and missed, so I called. Lucky I did

Not quite sure what he was doing calling my pre-flop raise with that hand and the bet on the river was a bit desperate, as he could only beat a bluff. Will have to try and play him again.

Beats 9-5 and it seems that not all the people at the lowest tables are "fish" - just the people betting small with what little they have (left) !!

Yes the world is full of idiots and well done on capitalising on this.

Also thanks to everyone who is replying to my questions. Although I havent yet played internet poker I have played a lot since a child in normal table games.


Paul

Hi Paul,

Poker is a bit like trading. 90% of players loose or break even but it is possible to make money by working harder at it than they do. I found tournaments were profitable right from the start but I have struggled with cash games. Hope I am now consistently profitable at them as well but still have a long time to go before I am certain.

I have found Poker Tracker is an excellent software package to monitor other players and to analyse my own play. Poker Academy is a good simulator and while not the same as real play, it does provide a good way of practising without having to use money.

Rakeback and bonus money can also make the difference between winning and loosing. There is a good guide to some of the rakeback sites here.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...65&an=0&page=0