Hold'em Resources

[Sufficient]

I was wondering if any of you guys know of good hold'em resources (blogs, websites, books, etc). I'd like to be able to learn a little about the technical/strategy side of hold'em.

Also, have any of you guys tried this: http://collegepokerchampionship.com

Eric Hason, some guy who went to Northwestern (same school as me) won $10,000 in the first CPC tourny. Lemme know if you guys think this is legit and worthwhile to try.

[Subjugation]

Theory of Poker by Sklansky is pretty decent, and thorough. Lots of math and theory stuff. Helmuth's first book is "ok" (Play Poker Like The Pros), but you have to keep in mind who the author is and his propensity for being dramatic. The beginner section is worthwhile for newb players.

The book that helped me the most is Winning low limit holdem by Lee Jones. Actually some pretty good stuff in there about playing low-to-mid limit online LHE ring games. I turned my game around after reading the first couple chapters alone.

I heard good things about Harrington's book, but I never had a chance to read it for myself.

As far as online stuff goes, I think the 2+2 forums are worthwhile, ever since the RGP site went to shit. The RGP site used to be pretty cool a few years ago, when it was mostly informational posts from respected players. Then after Money won the WSOP and some of the books and magazines started advertising and hyping the RGP site, spammers, scammers, and beggers took the place over.

Keep in mind, I haven't played seriously at all since January 2005. I started putting all my interest into school, so I pretty much quit the game entirely. So some of this stuff may be almost 1 year old info.

Good luck, though. Hope you hit your flush draws.

[Sufficient]

Is there any online places you recommend that I could practice ... no money involved?

[PH]

PartyPoker.net apparently has a decent learner program. Haven't tried it, but I've talked to a few that have and they liked it.

[Bioture]

The only problem with the online stuff is that its missing the human factor, which is fine if you're after some quick bucks but I find that most of the fun of playing holdem is in trying to read your opponents, have your opponents read you wrongly, and etc.

[Nockm]

http://fnordia.org/

he he

[NaiLed]

yep nockm. arro recommened me this book: here and it's damn useful. i never finished it but i don't play poker much anymore. definately worth getting

[Nockm]

Hah cool. I don't play poker (or at least I won't let myself get addicted to it), but that book looks like it could pay for itself.

[tahkis]

Helmuth's first book is "ok" (Play Poker Like The Pros), but you have to keep in mind who the author is and his propensity for being dramatic. The beginner section is worthwhile for newb players.

One guy who was in WSOP this year wrote in finnish game magazine forum that he wouldn't recommend that book because the grouping of players is insane. But I've never read it so I dunno about it.

I've been playing about 5-6 months pretty active. I have read bunch of books which helped my game pretty much (winning low limit holdem by Lee Jones; few Sklansky books; Super system2 by Doyle Brunson etc.).

[Subjugation]

Is there any online places you recommend that I could practice ... no money involved?

I love PokerStars' software. It's just the best out there. Looks the nicest, virtually zero spam delivered to your email from them, and they have all the standard games availiable to play with play money (Ie: Free Practice with LHE, NLHE, PL/NL Omaha, Stud). Another great thing is they have freeroll tournaments availiable almost every day, which is a huge tool to help you develop an understanding of basic multi-table tournaments. However, there's usually thousands of players who sign up for them, and even if you win/place in one, all that does is buy you into another multi-table tournament...with an date to be announced later...with only a $100 1st place prize. But it's still free money and practice.

I played PartyPoker for a while, but I started getting a ton of spam after I got an account, and the software is mediocre aesthetically. However, the upside to Party is they have a large advertising campaign, so you get a lot of undiciplined and newbie players who like to chase, or don't understand the fundamentals. This is a great thing, because they are players you make the quickest money from. PokerStars is much more competitive (although that may have changed because of their more aggressive marketing during this year's WSOP).

Those are the only two sites I've played on, but there are lots more out there. Pacific, Doyle's, FullTilt, Paradise...etc. The list goes on. But most people on the message boards agree that P-stars software is the nuts.

[Facetious]

does p-stars let you play 6-person table limit games? i played on my friends computer on ultimatebet, won 100 bucks on low limit games in like an hour. got on pacificpoker because i got those free bonuses, but i cant win limit games with ten people at the table, you have to wait for better hands, and you play less often regardless. i kept getting bored and calling with q6 or something.

[tahkis]

I love PokerStars' software. It's just the best out there. Looks the nicest, virtually zero spam delivered to your email from them, and they have all the standard games availiable to play with play money (Ie: Free Practice with LHE, NLHE, PL/NL Omaha, Stud). Another great thing is they have freeroll tournaments availiable almost every day, which is a huge tool to help you develop an understanding of basic multi-table tournaments.

I still haven't found out site that doesn't have play money tables. And also almost every site has freeroll tournaments.

But yes, pokerstars is (or at least I think) the biggest pokersite with good tournaments, lots of players (included many good ones), good software etc.

[Subjugation]

does p-stars let you play 6-person table limit games?

yep.

[NaiLed]

this thread made me want to play an online poker game. so i did for about 50 minutes until i realsied why i don't anymore. i lost about 5 big hands where the other guys had the odds stacked WAY agaisnt them, and they somehow still won. i don't mind losing as such, but when i lose like that, i do.

[Subjugation]

Lol, thanks for the memories. Yea, I know the logic is that it a normal function of variance, but it still fucking sucks when it happens.