Where's best to learn?

GinSoak · Aug 10, 2005

Hi - I've been looking at some of the posts and there's a lot about where you learnt to play poker, but where is best to play if you want to learn? Any tips on friendly sites and so on?

cheers - Gin:cheers:

robwhufc · Aug 10, 2005

GinSoak said:
Hi - I've been looking at some of the posts and there's a lot about where you learnt to play poker, but where is best to play if you want to learn? Any tips on friendly sites and so on?

cheers - Gin:cheers:

If you've never played before, I would highly recommend you join our buy-in game on Noble on Saturday!

Seriously, I would start out on freerolls for a few weeks - wont cost you anything, and you'll get some idea of how hands pan out, and what hands win pots. Most sites run freerolls (we have Sunday one on Noble, plus another on Paradise).

You'll also see the worst play on freerolls - people calling when they shouldn't, betting with wrong hands etc, but if you can start spotting these mistakes, it'll be time to move into pay games.

Good luck!

CCAdmin · Aug 10, 2005

If you're a complete beginner, I'd advise you check this page out - http://www.holdempoker.com/learn/

chicubs1616 · Aug 10, 2005

If you are talking about the play money games, you can't really go wrong at any of the major sites:

Party Poker
PokerStars
Ultimate Bet
Full Tilt Poker
Pacific Poker
Paradise Poker

GinSoak · Aug 10, 2005

Brilliant - thanks guys. I've only ever played for matchstick with mates, nothing serious and never really kept up with what was going on. The online thing seems daunting on one hand - I don't want to get conned - but it also seems like a good place to learn more without 'mates' taking the piss!

Freerolls sounds best - which other sites do them and is there much difference with where you play?

HoldemChamp · Aug 13, 2005

If you are looking a nice relative fun place to play. I would suggest Jetset.

It is one of the smaller sites out there. The players for the most part are friendly. And there are several freeroll a day there.

BC4Jesus · Aug 14, 2005

chicubs1616 said:
If you are talking about the play money games, you can't really go wrong at any of the major sites:

Party Poker
PokerStars
Ultimate Bet
Full Tilt Poker
Pacific Poker
Paradise Poker

I'm fairly new to poker and I learned a great deal at Gus Hanson's PokerChamps (www.pokerchamps.com). They have 24/7 freerolls that don't pay very much but are great to learn. Lots of people going all-in all the time there but I've learned what hands to play, when to fold, etc. because of those players. AND if you a patient, you'll find that most of those people will be gone in a fairly short amount of time and then you can play against some more professional poker players.

BOB C.

shaggy8888 · Aug 15, 2005

BC4Jesus said:
I'm fairly new to poker and I learned a great deal at Gus Hanson's PokerChamps (www.pokerchamps.com). They have 24/7 freerolls that don't pay very much but are great to learn. Lots of people going all-in all the time there but I've learned what hands to play, when to fold, etc. because of those players. AND if you a patient, you'll find that most of those people will be gone in a fairly short amount of time and then you can play against some more professional poker players.

BOB C.

Thanks, this sounds and looks really good. I have never even heard of it. They need to get some more advertising

BC4Jesus · Aug 15, 2005

shaggy8888 said:
Thanks, this sounds and looks really good. I have never even heard of it. They need to get some more advertising

You're welcome! They have great software too! By the way, when you are in a game there is an options area that if you click on the "up arrorhead" will expand. One of the options in this area is to show folded cards. If you click on this, whenever your hand is folded, instead of your cards disappearing they get small and remain face-up so that you can see what hand you would have made had you not folded. Nice feature!

BOB C.

stunno · Aug 17, 2005

Another vote for Jetset here!

If you want a couple of hours of madness try an Absolute Poker Freeroll and learn how not to play!!

lunagirl · Aug 17, 2005

I learned playing limit on Pacific. Then I bumped up to Pot Limit and No Limit. If you are looking for online, I like the play money games at Pacific and Absolute. I played in local pub tourneys and for play money online before actually making a deposit because I didn't want to waste money. Yeah, I'm cheap

The Sit N Go tourneys and Freerolls are good for getting used to tournament play online. One of our handy dandy moderators also gave me a website that was uberhelpful: http://www.learn-texas-holdem.com/index.htm

This site goes over rules, hands, etc. I hope it helps! Good luck and see you at the tables!

ramdon p358 · Jan 17, 2026

Something that has helped me a lot is watching tournaments broadcast on YouTube. I watch how the professionals play certain hands and try to play as similarly to them as possible.

Dzill_230 · Jan 18, 2026

Hi! Indeed, the best and first step is to play freerolls until you develop your skills and table awareness, then you can move on to more expensive tournaments. Keep an eye on your bankroll; playing at different limits varies. Sometimes you need to play straightforward and according to the cards, while other times you should incorporate math and other knowledge. Not everything you see on various resources applies to your limits, but you need to learn and practice constantly, without rushing. Good luck at the tables!

fundiver199 · Jan 18, 2026

ramdon p358 said:
Something that has helped me a lot is watching tournaments broadcast on YouTube. I watch how the professionals play certain hands and try to play as similarly to them as possible.

Dzill_230 said:
Hi! Indeed, the best and first step is to play freerolls until you develop your skills and table awareness, then you can move on to more expensive tournaments. Keep an eye on your bankroll; playing at different limits varies. Sometimes you need to play straightforward and according to the cards, while other times you should incorporate math and other knowledge. Not everything you see on various resources applies to your limits, but you need to learn and practice constantly, without rushing. Good luck at the tables!

I am sure, OP is very happy to get this information after just 21 years. Next time maybe check the date of the original post before answering

SpanRmonka · Jan 18, 2026

20 year old thread gets ressurected by New person saying simply hello!! I wonder if the OP actually learnt how to play poker yet??

Last seen almost 20 years ago!

Dzill_230 · Jan 18, 2026

fundiver199 said:
I am sure, OP is very happy to get this information after just 21 years. Next time maybe check the date of the original post before answering

Exactly, thank you!! This is indeed a sign of inattention, I didn't look at the date!!

👏👏👏👏🤝

farahonloveshad · Jan 18, 2026

The best thing to do is start on beginner tables or free Apps, where you learn without pressure and with friendly communities.

ThreeeBigB · Jan 19, 2026

Haha! Thank you for boosing this! Great read for me as a new player wondering where to learn the game

farahonloveshad · Jan 19, 2026

ThreeeBigB said:
Haha! Thank you for boosing this! Great read for me as a new player wondering where to learn the game

There are so many I don't know which one to recommend. At GGPoker, you play cash games. You have to play 100 hands at NL2 with 0.01 or 0.02 stakes. You can enter the table with a minimum of 0.20 cents. They give you one entry for every 2,000 entries to a $100,000 tournament that's played every Saturday. It's very good; you just have to get into the top 100 to earn enough to buy groceries and pay rent. 👌

pavel1111111 · Jan 20, 2026

Experience gained in live casino 👉

GrannySmit77 · Jan 20, 2026

Well, it's easier to learn online because you play a higher volume of hands much faster. In live poker players take their time and you don't play as much. Once you know how to play, I suggest you play some low stakes cash games. If you become profitable you can play bigger stakes and tournament buy ins. Expect a longer period of incurring financial losses because everyone else you're playing against knows how to play and you don't.

hajaehyun · Jan 20, 2026

You have to learn the rules and get experience by bumping into them yourself

Mazembe · Jan 20, 2026

I believe it depends at which stage you are of your learning journey
If you are a complete beginner, I recommend you go on YouTube and learn the basics things, hand value etc
After that you can now go enroll in a course that you feel comfortable with

thwenth1983 · Jan 21, 2026

In my opinion, the best way to learn online poker is mainly to start with ranges. The first thing you need to learn is which hand ranges to play from each position. For example, UTG has a specific group of hands to play, UTG+1 has another group, and the same applies to all positions: small blind, button, cutoff, MP1, MP2, and so on. Understanding and correctly playing ranges by position is the most important foundation.

If you learn to play the correct ranges and apply continuation bets on the right board textures, I believe that alone is already enough to start being profitable at the micro limits. Of course, taking a beginner course, watching YouTube videos, and studying additional material helps a lot. Watching final tables and observing how the best players in the world play is also very useful. All of this can be learned through YouTube and free courses, and you can also invest in a basic beginner poker course to speed up the learning process.

nelomec · Jan 21, 2026

GinSoak said:
Hi - I've been looking at some of the posts and there's a lot about where you learnt to play poker, but where is best to play if you want to learn? Any tips on friendly sites and so on?

cheers - Gin:cheers:

I recommend sites with few players: PartyPoker, 888Poker, ACR, WPT GLOBAL.

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