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Post by Phaedrus on Aug 31, 2020 15:04:15 GMT -5
This is out of nowhere, but I figured in couldn't hurt.
I just finished reading Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff book. It is about her journey from rank amateur in poker to having won a tournament in the World Series of Poker. It took her a little over a years to get there.
The back story is that she took this journey 1) to get material to write this book and 2) to learn about decision making. She determined that people who win playing poker have a capacity to bypass their own biases when it comes to decision making, that their ability to read their opponents clearly and their ability to acknowledge and bypass their emotional biases and make straight and rational decisions.
According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time.
All that is a long way to say that I am interested in learning poker, where I had zero interest before, and I want to try it out without putting money into it initially, I have to learn to play poker. So I am asking anyone here: what are some good sites on the web that will fit my needs now, before I progress to ones where I have to put skin in the game?
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Post by mervinswerved on Aug 31, 2020 15:08:40 GMT -5
If you're looking for purely "play money" you can't go wrong with PokerStars. Great software, lots of play money games. Can't play for actual money in the US unless you're in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Really no reason to play anywhere else.
For low-stakes real money, you have to go to sites of . . . questionable legality. Basically, EU based online casinos which operate in the United States. America's Cardroom (ACR) and Ignition are two of the biggest. Nice thing is, they both take BTC for deposits, so you don't have to do a credit card.
Given that live poker is a no-no until there's a vaccine (although Vegas and some other localities are allowing it- which is insane), it's a great time to log 50k hands online.
Also, I have Konnikova's book on my shelf waiting. If you're ever in need of actual poker book recommendations, I've got you covered, of course.
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 31, 2020 15:11:00 GMT -5
According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time. I don't think it actually means that. As I understand it, position at the table and the chip stack totals give certain hands more leverage than others. People sometimes fold when they are reasonably sure they have a better hand, but due to the circumstances they can't afford to be wrong. I know a guy who told me he used to make money playing online poker. His go-to strategy was to connect up to servers in Europe at times when he was pretty sure there would be players on-line who had been losing for a while and were starting to get desperate about making their money back for the evening. He would try to take advantage of their bad choices. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 31, 2020 15:13:49 GMT -5
Not about poker but I found that if you're interested in a particular field, just go to some youtube channels of "experts" in that field and ask them. Simply subscribe, say some glowing things about them in the comments, and then ask them questions via private email or openly in the Comments section. I found a lot of useful info this way. I know when to stop asking when I keep getting the same answers from people, e.g., the same sites, the same software titles, the same MeetUp groups. And also, you have to actually take their advice and go to the recommended sites or buy that recommended software title.
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Post by n00b on Aug 31, 2020 15:15:05 GMT -5
This is out of nowhere, but I figured in couldn't hurt. I just finished reading Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff book. It is about her journey from rank amateur in poker to having won a tournament in the World Series of Poker. It took her a little over a years to get there. The back story is that she took this journey 1) to get material to write this book and 2) to learn about decision making. She determined that people who win playing poker have a capacity to bypass their own biases when it comes to decision making, that their ability to read their opponents clearly and their ability to acknowledge and bypass their emotional biases and make straight and rational decisions. According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time. All that is a long way to say that I am interested in learning poker, where I had zero interest before, and I want to try it out without putting money into it initially, I have to learn to play poker. So I am asking anyone here: what are some good sites on the web that will fit my needs now, before I progress to ones where I have to put skin in the game? Assuming you’re still in Ohio, you won’t be allowed to play real money online poker. Pennsylvania would be the closest legal location. Also, as a poker player, you’re mis-interpreting the 12% number. If there are 10 players in the hand, and somebody with 7-2 folds preflop but would’ve ultimately won the hand, there was no bluff. They correctly folded when they were losing. That doesn’t make anybody a ‘bluffer’. |
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Post by cindra on Aug 31, 2020 15:16:04 GMT -5
Zynga app is good. Pokerstars has some free chip stuff but you can buy a (relatively) high amount of fake money for like 3 bucks.
Whenever I think about learning anything gambling related, I find it useful to have something small on the line. Keeps me from playing aggressive and makes me think things through more.
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Post by guest2 on Aug 31, 2020 15:20:15 GMT -5
This is out of nowhere, but I figured in couldn't hurt. I just finished reading Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff book. It is about her journey from rank amateur in poker to having won a tournament in the World Series of Poker. It took her a little over a years to get there. The back story is that she took this journey 1) to get material to write this book and 2) to learn about decision making. She determined that people who win playing poker have a capacity to bypass their own biases when it comes to decision making, that their ability to read their opponents clearly and their ability to acknowledge and bypass their emotional biases and make straight and rational decisions. According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time. All that is a long way to say that I am interested in learning poker, where I had zero interest before, and I want to try it out without putting money into it initially, I have to learn to play poker. So I am asking anyone here: what are some good sites on the web that will fit my needs now, before I progress to ones where I have to put skin in the game? Depending on the game and how its interpreted, "the best hand won" doesn't mean anyone played the hand incorrectly or there was a bluff. Consider a Hold Em game where one player has Ace Ace (the best hand) and one player has 2-7, the worst. The AA bets his whole stack and the 2-7 (correctly) folds. Then the flop comes 2-2-2. The best hand lost because it folded. Also the fold was the correct play |
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Post by guest2 on Aug 31, 2020 15:20:47 GMT -5
This is out of nowhere, but I figured in couldn't hurt. I just finished reading Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff book. It is about her journey from rank amateur in poker to having won a tournament in the World Series of Poker. It took her a little over a years to get there. The back story is that she took this journey 1) to get material to write this book and 2) to learn about decision making. She determined that people who win playing poker have a capacity to bypass their own biases when it comes to decision making, that their ability to read their opponents clearly and their ability to acknowledge and bypass their emotional biases and make straight and rational decisions. According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time. All that is a long way to say that I am interested in learning poker, where I had zero interest before, and I want to try it out without putting money into it initially, I have to learn to play poker. So I am asking anyone here: what are some good sites on the web that will fit my needs now, before I progress to ones where I have to put skin in the game? Assuming you’re still in Ohio, you won’t be allowed to play real money online poker. Pennsylvania would be the closest legal location. Also, as a poker player, you’re mis-interpreting the 12% number. If there are 10 players in the hand, and somebody with 7-2 folds preflop but would’ve ultimately won the hand, there was no bluff. They correctly folded when they were losing. That doesn’t make anybody a ‘bluffer’. Beat me to it |
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Post by mervinswerved on Aug 31, 2020 15:21:25 GMT -5
According to Konnikova, they totaled games that was played at WSOP and only 12% of the best hands won, which says that bluffers won 78% of the time. I don't think it actually means that. As I understand it, position at the table and the chip stack totals give certain hands more leverage than others. People sometimes fold when they are reasonably sure they have a better hand, but due to the circumstances they can't afford to be wrong. I know a guy who told me he used to make money playing online poker. His go-to strategy was to connect up to servers in Europe at times when he was pretty sure there would be players on-line who had been losing for a while and were starting to get desperate about making their money back for the evening. He would try to take advantage of their bad choices. I'll have to check out the actual book to see what that stat references, but it sounds fishy to me. It could be including preflop action, because I can't imagine that big of a difference on hands that actually saw a flop, let alone turn and river. We have a local guy who used to play in our home game who now has $1.4 million in live tournament winnings. The room I used to play in featured a 5/10 game with Justin Bonomo ($50 million in winnings) and . . . Michael Phelps. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 31, 2020 15:27:07 GMT -5
Sometimes, you can just email famous names for advice. You'd be surprised. I've often done this and have had regular email correspondence with relatively famous people. The first time was in the late 1990s. I finished a great book so I looked up the author and emailed her. (Email was new back then so people didn't treat it as something mundane like they do now.) She wrote back. And we exchanged a dozen emails back and forth. It was pretty amazing.
Not anymore though. I got sick of them.
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 31, 2020 15:28:02 GMT -5
I don't know any famous poker players, but I'd email them. Start with your poker book's author.
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Post by cindra on Aug 31, 2020 15:28:55 GMT -5
Sometimes, you can just email famous names for advice. You'd be surprised. I've often done this and have had regular email correspondence with relatively famous people. The first time was in the late 1990s. I finished a great book so I looked up the author and emailed her. (Email was new back then so people didn't treat it as something mundane like they do now.) She wrote back. And we exchanged a dozen emails back and forth. It was pretty amazing. It's a good way to get academic papers for free. Professors don't get royalties and journals are more of a publicity/citation vehicle, so they're often happy to share. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 31, 2020 15:30:19 GMT -5
I even contacted famous volleyball coaches. They're the easiest. They're just sitting there in their office, dying for attention.
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 31, 2020 15:31:26 GMT -5
Sometimes, you can just email famous names for advice. You'd be surprised. I've often done this and have had regular email correspondence with relatively famous people. The first time was in the late 1990s. I finished a great book so I looked up the author and emailed her. (Email was new back then so people didn't treat it as something mundane like they do now.) She wrote back. And we exchanged a dozen emails back and forth. It was pretty amazing. It's a good way to get academic papers for free. Professors don't get royalties and journals are more of a publicity/citation vehicle, so they're often happy to share. I actually never got anything tangible from famous people, except advice. Advice is always abundant and free. |
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Post by mervinswerved on Aug 31, 2020 15:32:04 GMT -5
I also recommend checking out the 2+2 forums. They're a wellspring of knowledge as well as a great insight into poker culture (and some really phenomenal degen stories).
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