The Poker Lab Rat

One of the tough things for newbie players like myself is trying to get involved in online tournaments and learn while enjoying the experience.

We all know that freerolls attract loads of loose play and all-in merchants, while paying and playing in tournaments of $10+ still seems a little pricey to me.

And let’s face it winning tournments is nearly impossible - and even making the final table is only for the top 1-2% of players in any tourney. So what should a fledgling player be looking for?

First I’d say - play a few FREEROLLS - and make sure that you can get into the top 10% of players - no matter how loose they are just stay focused and get into that range.

Second, aim to make the FREEROLL cashline. At PRIMA that is 260 places from anywhere between 5000 to 10000 players. So you are in the top 2-5%. It’s tough but it is achieveable if you don’t play lose your head and play loose.

Third, get into small entry tournaments, with $1, $2 or $5 buy-ins. The target is simple here - get into the cash. Usually for paid tournaments the top 10% will be paid out.

That seems an easier target - but of course there will be far fewer “muppets” playing - so you’ll find that a challenge.

Then it’s just a case of tuning your play - getting used to the increasing blinds and chip totals and aiming to finish in the top 20, then the final table and eventually plan on winning the whole damn thing.

Good luck - and I hope to see you on the tables.

RELATED LINKS :

Prima Network Sites :
(Large tournaments all day, 1000+ players)
Bet365 Poker, 32 Red Poker, Spin Palace Poker

On-Game Network Sites :
(Medium Tournaments all day, 200-500 players)
Hollywood Poker, Canbet Poker, EuroBet Poker

Independant sites :
(Small-medium tournaments, 50-200 players)
Poker.com Poker, BetFred Poker

Big Entry Sites :
( Several $200-$500 buy-in tourneys, for serious players only)
Fulltilt Poker

Eds comment: Mike is one of our 12 testers and provides invaluable ‘newbie’ input into our poker site assessment & rankings. Thanks Mike for all your input to date - another round of PokerLabRat site assessments is about to start for the 4th Q - we’ll test 90 online poker sites next month and share our findings.