Do you think this is true? The best way to learn is to get in practical and then lose some cash before you know whats going on and then slowly becoming a pro at it.
Its like engaging a "tutor" to teach you the ropes.

I think thats quite true, beginner's luck does not always come for everyone.

While it is true you can learn from your losses, I think the best way to learn poker is to play real live games for fun with your buddies. I dont think its good for players to learn from first playing online and not getting that beginners luck and losing right away. Get a good understanding of the game by playing with people around you, this in my opinion is the best way to learn.

Yeah I think the best way to learn now is trying the free tables at online poker.
Paid online poker wasn't close to available when I started and I think I would have learned from my mistakes a lot quicker if it was.

There is really nothing like playing the real game and having something to risk though, you will make calls you wouldn't normally with free poker because you don't have anything to risk.

I think its true.

When I played my first poker (just after a lesson at a vegas casino) I lost a heap of money, but hey thats all part of it.

Now I do pretty well most times. But the occassional loss is needed to keep you level headed

Only way to learn is by playing real games, and getting your butt kicked a few times. You should try to learn something new each time. Even if you think you are a great player.

Only way to learn is by playing real games, and getting your butt kicked a few times. You should try to learn something new each time. Even if you think you are a great player.
You and I think on the same wave length ;)
Nothing is better training than the real thing. Even if its 10 cents its still more than a free roll

I think your right Emerge but not sure what you mean by try something new each time even if your a great player?

I think your right Emerge but not sure what you mean by try something new each time even if your a great player?

Trying to *learn something new each time.

I agree, theres a huge difference in your mindset between free play and real play. I see newbs going all in no matter what on free plays because they have nothing to lose. They bluff on every hand. It gets annoying sometimes because I wish they would play more realistically.

I agree, theres a huge difference in your mindset between free play and real play. I see newbs going all in no matter what on free plays because they have nothing to lose. They bluff on every hand. It gets annoying sometimes because I wish they would play more realistically.

Yep, that's the worst thing when you just want to have a game without playing with real money.

I still like to play play money games and I think the only time you can get a good game is in the highest levels of play money, then its normally other people that know what they are doing.

I played a freeroll yesterday for the first time in a long time, I like playing freerolls every now and again just for a bit of fun.

I normally sit out the first few hands though because half the table likes to go all-in preflop.

Ended up 50th out of 2000. Last hand I played was two players all in, I had a full house and it seemed worth it so I called, one of the other players had a full house but it was higher than mine.

I think the best way to learn is in an unpressured situation, and by using some sort of betting device, but not money, maybe chips with no value. It introduces a player to the concept of betting and the rules of the game.

I play free games at local bars all the time and now that I have learned the basics and then some I feel that every hand I loose I learn from it. Just another thing to store in the old head for the next time something similar comes up I can play it better.

Good way of thinking smdstudios :)

I was lucky in the fact that when I was learning, so were the people I were playing with. Me and my friends all started out playing together at about the same time so we were all about the same skill level. After a few years of experiance and hours of practice on online free poker sites...I think I am a little bit better now. I can play with people I don't know and do fine.

I think if you walk into a casino as a beginner, like my dad and uncles, you will probably lose in the beginning unless you get really lucky. But if you learn the right way, which is one step at a time, you will probably lose little to nothing and have a good time.

But then again these days everyone knows how to play poker...so it may be hard to find people who are beginners in your area.

How much money is normal to lose before you start to make any back

I was down a couple of hundred before I started really getting my act together. I'd win a few hands, lose a few hands, end up going home a little down each night for a while. It was all really due to loose play and inexperience, not reading the board hard enough and overestimating my hands worth.

However, as people here have said, you learn best the hard way, and that means losing a bit first. I wouldn't advise going my route, I could have done with that money at the time, though it soon taught me to tighten up and play a much more sensible game. Now I'm walking away $30 - 50 up over the course of an hours play online, and getting onto the finalists table at local tournaments, so I guess I learnt my lesson.

I'm no expert, but you do need to play with real money to get experience - sure, learn the basics for free, but until you put your own money on the line it can be all too easy to play sloppy poker and pick up bad habits that will cost you.

Skoal that really depends on how much money you usually play for. My first games were all home games worth about five to ten bucks. I only lost about twenty to thirty before getting my act together.

If you go in playing in big casinos from the get-go though, you could lose a few hundred to begin with.

I think that is true although you can learn the basics by playing for free it is a whole different playing style.
Since no money is at stake people go all in when they would never think about it, and bluff with nothing very often.

That is why I lose a bit before I started winning, rzpvile. Although there are lots of free games, free tables online and so forth, it's a very different game. Sure you can learn the value of your hands, but the play is so loose that you're unlikely to get much in the way of strategy from these games.

Some are better than others, some tables people actually think about what they are playing, but I've seen all in on a pair of 3's in one of the opening hands. Might be a good tactic to steal blinds, but it's not exactly a great hand when there are 7 others around the table ;)

Ha, that's definately not good if there are a lot of people. When there are a lot of people it's less likely to win with a weak hand. True, in a free room, it's a lot different than a real money room, so I guess there is no avoiding losing money in the beginning.