Should you play poker online?

I usually go to the pokermanila site to browse around and hear about the latest poker gossip and events. It's a cool site and most of the people who post there are certified regulars in the poker scene. So the advice you read have varied degrees of helpfulness but would usually be based on logical grounding. So you do get nuggets of good information here and there.

Lately, I 've been seeing a lot of questions from newbies or not so newbies inquiring about whether they should be playing online or not. This just shows us that poker is slowly expanding its reach here in our country. I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth in a post especially since about 50% of my reader base also ask me the same question from time to time. I for one have gone through the same process of asking this question 2 years back. So I think I do have something to contribute.

The answer is an unequivocal YES.

It doesn't matter if you have money to spare or not. That's the beauty of online play. The options are so varied that you can choose to play 10 cent tables if you're just after the experience and just want to enjoy competitive play.

Of course, there's play money. But let's face it, there's not much fun in playing a game where there are zero stakes. Also, the dynamics of free play is totally different. People go all in on a whim and sometimes logic takes a back seat. So trying to develop your poker skills in free play is kind of useless. Its a good way to learn the basic rules but that's basically it. You'd be better off playing a poker video game as your AI opponents there are at least playing logically.

Freerolls which offer tickets or small cashes are slightly better. These are usually filled with 2 kinds of people. Newbies like you who are also learning the game and low stakes grinders who have lost their bankroll and can't afford to deposit anymore. In short, either unexperienced players or dumb players. So the skill you gain from playing with these people is also marginal.

By the way, I do have to make an exception. When I say freerolls, I am talking about those normal $50 freerolls or $100 freerolls that are offered by most sites on a daily basis. The qualifying freerolls for events like the Filipino Poker Tour are totally different. These are usually filled with good players who want to qualify for free.

The only way to improve is to play against someone who's better than you and to play with someone who has something to lose. So if you're a beginner. I would advise real money play even at the start. A small deposit of even just $20 to $50 will already get you tons of games at the lowest levels and the corresponding experience. Mix these with some freeroll tourneys and proper bankroll management and you're set for at least a few months of enjoyable poker.

After you lose your initial deposit, and yes, you will most probably lose it. Take time to reflect and see if you're willing to invest some more money to improve your poker skills.

The relevant question that you can ask at this stage is : Will I make money playing online poker?

If you want my honest opinion, the answer is again YES. Provided that you have developed or are willing to develop 2 things. The first one is discipline. The second is basic statistics knowledge.

Why do I have the confidence to say this ? Because the low stakes tables are filled with people who do not have both. Poker is just simple math. It's knowing what the chances are of certain hands being drawn. As soon as you get a basic grasp of this and apply this to your poker playing, then you will eventually make money. Simple as that. It is just a matter of time.

Yes, luck is in the equation somewhere. But everybody gets the same amount of luck. There is no such thing as someone being luckier than somebody else in the long run. Maybe tomorrow your friend gets lucky and outdraws KKs with a runner runner flush. But it all evens out in the end. You will get your own lucky day. What separates winners from losers is not luck. It is basically just discipline and knowledge.

When I first started out playing poker late 2006. I deposited $50 at Pokerroom and started playing $5 SNGs. I know this is a dumb thing to do as this leaves me with a bankroll of only 10 buy ins. But it was more out of necessity than choice. Pokerroom at that time had no SNG lower than $5 and I had no other account. I then proceeded to lose this money in about 2 months worth of playing. But during this time, I can say that I learned a lot and was also reading a lot of the articles regarding SNG play and understanding odds and outs.

My next deposit was $150. $50 at Pokerroom and $100 at Full Tilt. This was the last time my credit card was charged by Click2Pay. I have not had to make a deposit in any poker site from my own money since. All the money I earn from playing poker and my current bankroll came from this initial $200.

And if you have been following my blog, you will immediately see that I am not a grinder who plays a lot of games or even plays high stakes. I am a good example of a casual player who just enjoys the game. Even now, I still play $5 SNGs. But I have consistently made money from poker.

And I am basically just like you. A working joe who had no knowledge of poker until I first saw the game in TV in one of those WPT specials. Nothing special about me. My IQ is average and my math skills are average. But I earn extra money each month just playing casual ABC poker.

Of course, making money and making obscene amounts of money are 2 different bananas. The first one I can confidently say is yours for the taking. Making obscene amounts of money is something that I am still working on. The wonderful thing about this game is that you never stop learning things from each game you play. So you are sure to improve as you go along. And it's not like basketball where your knees give out after you reach a certain age. In poker, the sky is the limit. Again with the caveat that you are following proper bankroll management. Because variance will rear its ugly head and you just have to be prepared for it. Do not play at stakes you cannot afford and you will make money eventually.

So there, my advice to newbies everywhere. Take it with a grain of salt and analyze for yourself if what I said makes sense or not. Then go out there and beat the game.