Internet Poker: Where to start?

[allym]

Hi all! Help Needed!
I have just got 1 of these credit cards solely for the purposes of online play but I have no idea where to start! Namely what site would anyone recommend (for a beginner or otherwise)? I have been playing on pretty much every site for play money since I was 15/16 (now 18) and my favourites are PokerStars and PartyPoker. PokerPlex, Paradise Poker, FullTiltPoker and UltimateBet, I find to be quite dull and unexciting. I have heard that PokerStars is tough as a new money player! Once this issue has been solved any idea on game selection!
Any suggestions/tips/pointers welcome!

Thanks for reading!

allym

[matt674]

Play on the site you feel most comfortable with - both software wise and also opponent wise.

Stick to the games you feel you are most profitable with within your bankroll: Ring/cash, STT or MTT and Hold'em, Omaha or Stud

[winkie]

I would also open a Neteller account. This way you can deposit cash from you credit card to Neteller, and then use your Neteller account to deposit funds into the indvidual poker sites. (...by the way, I have no association to Neteller....!)

In terms of which sites to play on, I would agree with Matt - stick to the ones you are most comfortable with. You need to get a feel of the site and an idea of what suits your game best.

Personally, I started on Ladbrokes playing small stakes cash, STT and MTT. This was about a year and a half ago, and I now regularly play on Littlewoods (Crypto network) and Full Tilt. I play NL hold'em STT and a combination of NL hold'em / PL Omaha hi-lo cash. 

[Ginger]

Something that you need to remember more than anything, is that Play money games are NOTHING like playing for real money. It's a totally different game. Take it very slowly until you find your feet or you may find that "credit card" is maxed out pretty quick.

Personally I think it's a terrible idea to fund poker that way, but each to their own I guess. Better to start small and build up your bankroll nice and slowly.

Good Luck!

Jane

[allym]

Thanks lads and lasses! Much appreciated!
What's wrong with using a credit? Not being argumentative and difficult, just curious. Have I made a mistake before I've even started?
As for funding the habit I'm using winnings through playing live! The differences between play money and real money are huge I can appreciate but I'm not jumping in at the deep end, I intend to work my way up (a student after all)!

Cheers

Keep 'em coming!

[matt674]

most sites now will accept debit cards and therefore you are only gambling with money you have and therefore do not incur any charges. Its all too easy to keep redepositing on the credit card only to find 6 months later that all the credit has been used and you have no way of paying it back.

(not that i'm saying that is what will happen in your case)

[thetank]

Play at loadsa them to begin with. Playing on a short roll, you can take advantage of their various deposit bonuses. Remember to read up on the minimum play requirments first. Some are not as generous as they first appear.

Stay if you like them, cash out and run if you don't.
I recommend steering clear of cash games to begin with.

When signing up for new sites, you can support blondepoker by doing so through their links.

Just click here to see the list.

[thetank]

most sites now will accept debit cards and therefore you are only gambling with money you have and therefore do not incur any charges. Its all too easy to keep redepositing on the credit card only to find 6 months later that all the credit has been used and you have no way of paying it back.

(not that i'm saying that is what will happen in your case)

  Ideally credit cards are just for emergencies and internet porn.

[Mr F]

I started out playing on William Hills at the £1 stt's.  I play for fun so they suit my money situation.  I then got on Stars as soon as they started accepting UK debit cards.  The more I played on stars on the cheap Stt's the more I went off Hills.  IMHO the standard of play on Stars is much bettr even at these low levels.  Hils can be extremely frustrating most of the time. 

If anything i would say the cheap Hills games are more like play money tables purely because of the cost, and even though it's cheap it's annoying to constantly go out to crap players.  And if I'm calling them crap that means there REALLY bad.

[Ginger]

most sites now will accept debit cards and therefore you are only gambling with money you have and therefore do not incur any charges. Its all too easy to keep redepositing on the credit card only to find 6 months later that all the credit has been used and you have no way of paying it back.

(not that i'm saying that is what will happen in your case)

  Ideally credit cards are just for emergencies and internet porn.

That's what I was trying to say, but I don't use mine for porn, just that "emergency shopping"

[ericstoner]

Is'nt shopping the female equal of porn ?

[matt674]

Is'nt shopping the female equal of porn ?

apart from shopping being approx 100 times dearer - yes

[Gilbern74]

  Ideally credit cards are just for emergencies and internet porn.

or more importantly  -   Emergency Porn - you know, you've had a few too many, stumble through the front door, tread on the cat (hang on, I don't have a cat...?), shout upstairs to the missus "You're Luuuuuurvly", flop down in front of the PC and get it out (your credit card!)....


....you're mother comes downstairs to tell you that you haven't lived there for 4 years and you should go home......


Fortunately never happened to me.

 

[Sark79]

I thought Poker- Champs had closed?  Didn't Gus Hansen and Erick123 co-own it. I saw an interview a while back that said it wasn't competing well with the other giants such as pokerstars and party.

[Gilbern74]

Neteller for a money depositry is a good idea if you want to use multiple sites, but for starting out straight from PlayMoney then probably best to just stick to one site for a few weeks and get their bonus.

My personal favourite (software-wise) is PokerRoom as I like the layout - having a full side-bar for card plays and a seperate window for chat, and also another seperate bar underneath for stats (ring games only). Also I find there to be less 'all-in monkeys' on there for some reason.