For Poker Beginners: The Course Continues With Part 3
Start up your poker business – Part 3: initial investments and useful poker software
In Part 2 of the series you have already learned the importance of bankroll and variance. This time I will explain what kind of initial investments you need to make to create an optimal environment for yourself to get the most out of poker. You will get to know software and websites like pokertableratings.com, Hold’em Manager, Deucescracked.com and Tableninja.
Poker is very often called a zero-sum game. This means the amount you win equals the amount your opponent loses. In theory, if two players with exactly the same knowledge play against each other for an infinitely long period of time, in the end they will end up with their beginning stacks. However this statement is false. Poker is not a zero-sum game because of the rake factor (read more about the best poker rakeback offers). To generate profit we not only have to beat the other players, we also have to beat the rake. On micro levels there are enough bad players to complete both these requirements. On higher levels the differences between players obviously shrink, therefore the importance of every factor that increases our edge over our opponents is bigger.
It is time to discuss these important investment issues, how you as a poker beginner can increase your edge over your opponents:
Bankroll
Probably it is your biggest initial investment. We will use this investment directly to earn money. You have to decide how much money you want to invest and based on our discussion in Part 2 you have to choose the right blind level for yourself. In the case you have never played poker, I strongly suggest playing some time on $0.02/$0.04 levels to get some experience. In case of having experience, choose the right starting level for yourself. Never forget to pay extreme attention to your bankroll considerations!
How does bankroll increase your edge?
- it greatly helps in tilt control and also helps you avoid going bankrupt
Training site membership (deucescracked.com)
Professional players record their own screen while playing specific games, and comment on their actions. Such information is invaluable. On a beginning level, this is the perfect way to acquire new knowledge, and eliminate the major flaws in your game. It is highly recommended. My favorite site is deucescracked.com, which tops most of the reviews found on various listings. 
How does it increase your edge?
- higher skill, more edge
- helps eliminate flaws in the game
- highlights issues and areas to focus on
Hold’em Manager
As the website describes itself they are “The ultimate poker analytics suite”. If you buy the software you can replay hands with current historical stats, it also has Heads Up Display (HUD), unlimited database size and multiple stats displaying profitable situational stats. The software is not only made for Hold’em but has an Omaha part as well.
Once you start using this program, you will never stop doing it. There are two versions available: a fully functional version and a small stakes version. The functionality of the two is exactly the same; the sole difference is that you cannot import hands that were played on a limit higher than NL50. In case you plan on playing on smaller stakes for a longer period of time, you can buy this later version. It reduces your initial investment.
How does it increase your edge?
- it is the best poker application available on the market: it helps you analyze your opponents and your own play as well
- you can review key hands which is essential for your own development and while playing the HUD it helps decision making (for example: if xyz bets your AQs and the heads up display shows he has 3% of preflop raise and 1% of 3bet, you will be able to make an easy fold)
Pokertableratings.com
On this site you can buy hand histories for various sites. This can help you and all poker beginners a lot as you will already have a lot of information on the people you are going to play against. Poker Stars included this site on their prohibited list, so it is not recommended to use it, even though it is kind of impossible to detect it.
How would it increase your edge?
- it helps filtering out the winning players whom you would like to avoid playing against
- it also increases the database of your hands as you can import the pokertableratings.com hands into the Hold’em Manager software
Tableninja
It also belongs to Hold’em Manager. I quote from their website how they describe their product: “TableNinja is a suite of tools that allows multitablers to play more tables with less effort so that they can increase their hourly win rate. By removing minor distractions, you are now able to concentrate on playing poker. Whether you play four tables or twenty four, TableNinja will automate the repetitive and easily forgotten actions of online poker so that you can focus on the tough decisions and take your game to the next level.”
Available both for Full Tilt and Poker Stars, this tool greatly helps massive multitabling.
How does it increase your edge?
- configurable hotkeys shorten the time spent with taking an action
- reduces the distractions and decreased concentration caused by opening and closing tables
- auto-time bank can prevent an occasional fold in a hand you could have won
- overall this software is not necessary, but for playing over 10 tables, I’d highly recommend it
Computer
Most of you can skip this part, but for those who have a crappy old computer with a 17 inch CRT screen, please read on. In order to play poker, you don’t need a power plant. All you need is a decent office computer, which can be assembled from $200-$300 easily. What is essential though, is a big flat screen. Playing with tables tiled can increase your profitability (unless you learn to play stacked tables). Having a stable internet connection is also a MUST. Being disconnected in every session in the middle of hands alone can turn a player making profit into a losing player. And we haven’t talk about the effect it has on most people: tilt.
How does it increase your edge?
- having such a computer not only enables us to play on more tables and take quick actions, but greatly reduces one of the reasons for going on tilt
- the same can be said for having a stable internet connection, it is priceless
- having a 23″, 24″ or 27″ screen enables you to play 12+ tables tiled, which will be enough for quite some time for beginning players. (No, do not start playing poker on 10+ tables. Start with 1 or 2. In a later article there will be a discussion about multitabling)
These are the noteworthy financial investments you can make to increase your profitability. To sum it up with exact $ amounts, here is an example:
- $600 bankroll to play on NL10
- $54.99 for Hold’em Manager small stakes edition
- $59 for Table Ninja
- $30 monthly for deucescracked.com membership
- $267 for Dell UltraSharp U2311H (enough to 12table with tiled tables)
That’s about 1000$ of initial investment, and on small stakes you will be ahead of the average player. Given enough time spent on practice and studying materials, within 2 months you will be able to beat the micro stakes levels. Just follow the bankroll guide featured in the previous article of this series.
Feel free to adjust these numbers as you see fit.
In the next article I am going to discuss which poker site I recommend playing on and why that is the preferred site for starting your poker business in micro limits.
If you would like to try your skills right now, click here to get the top rakeback offers. All poker beginners and advanced players who like to earn free money in poker did it!
Related articles:
Start up your poker business – Part 1: The basics for online poker
Start up your poker business – Part 2: variance and bankroll management
Start up your poker business – Part 4: online poker site comparison
Start up your poker business – Part 5: your goals in poker, the right time to change levels and motivation
Earn extra money with poker
Here is an example tutorial from DeucesCracked. To see more Poker Videos like this, click here.
