Where to start for money

[goopxx]

Hold'em is a tricky game, and it's really difficult to gauge whether you're playing well, or not, simply because it has that "any crap hand can win" luck factor.

On the subject of bonuses, there are differences between say, Pacific Poker Bones, which tend to encourage you to play at higher limits (bonuses are usually worked out on the amount you stake) and the Inter/Will Hill/Empire/Party which are paid on either the number of hours you play, or the number of hands completed. Clearly, as a novice, you need the latter.

There's also a subtle, currency related difference in bonuses. If you play at William Hill's GBё site, you get ё5 an hour, but at the us$ site it's $5 an hour. This is a significant difference with the ё approaching $1.90

It's might be worth noting that the wager logic sites often email you re additional bonus on certain days of the month, like say, an extra $10 for pocket queens. They also give bad beat bones and royal flush hand-outs. It's unlikely that you'll ever get a royal, (I did once, but Murphy's law had me at another site that didn't pay the damn bonus.) Anyway, the best thing to do, is be patient, and wait until they're paying these special, date specific bonuses, and only play whilst you're getting your ё5 per hour, and only play at the $1/$2 tables. This technique should ensure that you don't loose too much at hold'em, and you might win a bit, even if you're a novice. BTW, I don't follow my own advice. But it would be the most logical thing to do.

--------------------
"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something." -Jackie Mason
"Big bet" means the larger bet in a fixed limit game... in a $10/$20 game, the big bet is $20.

How much you can make of course depends on the "quality" of the competition, and how you win pots -- win several pots beating one opponent in a tight game, win one pot in a loose game against many opponents. In lower limit Los Angeles games you might only be dealt 20 hands an hour, with everybody playing ever hand. If you are playing right, you won't play very many (meaning you wouldn't win very many too) but when you win you win huge pots. In higher limit online games, it's not uncommon to face one opponent, where what you both basically do is split up the blinds. These different roads might even lead to the same profit an hour.

Personally I never think about money wagered as long as I stay within my bankroll. Then you just decide which game is most profitable to you, or has other reasons to play (most player's brains and stomachs would be better off making $40.05 an hour in a passive game than $40.06 an hour in a wild game).

[buck22]

It's definately worth being a poker slut and moving round the sites collecting the bonuses. As for knowing limits, while I agree one must find the most profitsble games there are few of us whose games don't need drastic improvements, and this can only be achieved through the experience of playing better players than ourselves. If you're happy grinding profit from a 10/25c table and have the discipline to stay there thats great. But I believe the great thing about poker is you can always improve your game and i know if i hadnt pushed the boat out a bit, I wouldnt be able to get half the profit out of the lower games that i do now. I dont condone playing money you cant afford but if you can afford it, theres a whole lot more money to be earned.

[AK Bushman]

I have been playing poker online now for about 8 years and have played at at least 10 different sites. You could run around and chase bonus's but most sites require a minimum buy in to set up an account say $50. These bonus's they offer require hours of play to redeem the bonus and you might spend more than your minimum you put in to try and redeem.
One of the things I have found is you must feel comfortable while playing, after all unless you stick to ring games you could be at a table for hours.
There are some sites I just hate to play due to the layout. Anything from the sound of the chips to the look of the table itself. Ever spent a few days at a real casino and get tired of hearing the same sounds of the slot machines and find it annoying?
My suggestion would be to try all the sites on a Play Money level first. No don't think your going to learn much here as play...... Well play at free money level just sucks. But see if you feel comfortable at the site after a few hours.
Once you found a site you like and feel comfortable with invest your money here.
I have a few sites that still have a few bucks in but just hate the site so much I refuse to play and will never return.
My .02 worth.

[pokerrocker]

You have the lead in betting and your continued aggression will usually take down the pot against most garden variety opponents.