Poker newbie...

[snowball]

I've been interested in texas hold'em up for a while, but I can't seem to find any info on the rules of the game, or a free online place to play. I've vistited pokerstars.net, but I can't tell if it's for free or if you have to make a money deposit. Could someone help me out???

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[doctor_al]

Seems like most of these on-line places have a "play money" i.e. free side. Sign up and do not provide and financial info, you should be ok.

Also, the Hoyle Casino pc game has rules in the manual and simulated game that would get you started.

A good read (after you get going a bit) would be Lee Jones' "Winning Low Limit Hold'em". Introduces some important concepts. Like folding. ;)

[bigalbr]

Snowball,
You have to go through some significant effort to make a money deposit to a poker site for the first time. US credit card companies and PayPal won't make the transactions. To play for free you'll have to sign up for an account just like a money player, but like doctor_al said you won't set up a Neteller, Firepay, or other method of putting money into the site.

[dfense072]

Just about all of the online poker sites allow you to download their software and play with "funny money." When/if you're ready to play for cash, the minimum deposit is usually $25-50.

Pokerstars is a good site, but their graphics leave a lot to be desired...in my opinion, PartyPoker and Full Tilt Poker's software are much more appealing.

[AndyAkeko]

The biggest problem with free games, of course, is that there's nothing at risk. It's not uncommon in a 10-player single-table tournament to have three or four people go all in on the first hand, and at least one of them will have absolute garbage (another will have an Ace and a low card). Now granted, this person will usually piss away his chips as he constantly raises no matter what his cards are and you will bust him eventually, but it's frustrating when he raises with nothing then completes his inside straight with a runner-runner.

The next best thing? I recommend doylesroom.com (http://www.doylesroom.com) where they have tons of 10-cent and 25-cent single table tournaments, as well as multi-tables for as little as one cent. Even though I quit the site because I hate how their multis are set up (the chip leaders always seem to end up at the same table ... and I don't mean the final table), it's a good place to get your feet wet with some real poker without risking the car payments.

Play for free, of course, until you get the hang of what you're doing ... but know that you won't improve your game until you start playing against people who are actually risking their own money.

[sanonofresurfer]

Also, at party poker you have to play a certain number of "waged" hands before you can cash out. Meaning, that if you're not in either of the blinds, the hand you are playing does not count towards the money that you can cash out. If you play for real money, read the fine print before buying in.

[dfense072]

www.fulltiltpoker.com (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com) is my site of choice right now, I've transferred all my online poker money over to them.

They have both play money games and tournaments; the kicker is that most of the top pros play on this site (Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, "Jesus" Ferguson, etc.), and once in a great while will even play on the free tables.

If you're interested in playing for real money, use code JIM777 and hookabruthaup! I'll even give you a piece of the referral $ I get, and you qualify for a 100% deposit bonus.

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[ March 16, 2005, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: dfense072 ]