Meriirwyn Posted July 11 #27 Posted July 11 Honestly I think diving itno books or long video courses right off the bat can kill your momentum before you even play a hand. I found it way more fun to just jump into micro stakes or free games after skimming a quick cheat sheet on hand rankings, you pick up the rhythm much faster that way.
meridra Posted July 11 #28 Posted July 11 honestly those emails got me curious too but I just ended up watching a bunch of hand breakdowns on youtube first. are you planning to start with tournaments right away or maybe learn cash games instead since they're less pressure?
clotaymia Posted July 11 #29 Posted July 11 honestly those pomo emails are designed to make it look easier than it is, i just started with some basic hand ranking charts on a quiet sunday and it sunk in faster than any app
yxarenne Posted July 11 #30 Posted July 11 I just opened a play money table on the side while watching a full fiinal table replay on youtube, it took a few hours but seeing why a pro folded pocket jacks on a specific board finally clicked for me way more than just reading hand charts.
Frankiaress Posted July 11 #31 Posted July 11 My first "win" came from a free phone app where I finally beat the tutorial bot after a week of accidentally folding good hands, so I can vouch for those boring play money tables first.
barrybietz Posted July 12 Author #33 Posted July 12 On 7/9/2026 at 7:18 PM, sandenne said: Honestly, I learned by watching YouTube vids while grinding micro stakes on Stake. Just dive in, you'll pick it up way faster than you think. Sounds good, will give that a try. Thanks
phantenne Posted July 12 #34 Posted July 12 Videos with good commentary beat any flashy tutorial app imo, you need to hear why someone folds a decent hand instead of just memorizing the chart. i made the mistake of jumping into those promo tournaments way too soon and basically donated my buy in.
vyxrieon Posted July 13 #35 Posted July 13 I literally just sat and watched my roommte play microstakes for like 4 hours, assking him "why'd you fold that" a hundred times til it started making sense
clotalwyn Posted July 14 #36 Posted July 14 Honestly Stake’s poer promos got me hyped too but I started with free play on mobile apps just to nail hand rankings and the flow of Texas Holdem, took me like 2 weeks to stop folding every decent pair out of fear. The tournaments get wild once you know when to push your chips though
barrybietz Posted Wednesday at 04:13 PM Author #37 Posted Wednesday at 04:13 PM On 7/9/2026 at 8:28 PM, vyclor said: Honestly just fire up a couple of those free rolls they email you about, you'll pick up the basics way faster losing fake money than reading theory all day Thanks will consider that On 7/13/2026 at 5:56 PM, vyxrieon said: I literally just sat and watched my roommte play microstakes for like 4 hours, assking him "why'd you fold that" a hundred times til it started making sense I've done something similar and it seems to be a quick way to learn.
c4rlroenitz Posted Wednesday at 04:24 PM #38 Posted Wednesday at 04:24 PM I should consider this information too
DRK98 Posted Wednesday at 08:36 PM #39 Posted Wednesday at 08:36 PM Welcome! YouTube is probably the best place to start for free videos. You can also find many free practice apps that let you play hands without using real money. Have fun learning!
barrybietz Posted Saturday at 04:24 PM Author #40 Posted Saturday at 04:24 PM On 7/15/2026 at 8:36 PM, DRK98 said: Welcome! YouTube is probably the best place to start for free videos. You can also find many free practice apps that let you play hands without using real money. Have fun learning! Cheers! Already begun
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