Hi Again, I hope you have all been practicing hard at the Play tables at ? I'd guess you've had fun, but the stimulation isn't quite there? There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, you don't have any of your hard earned dough on the line. Secondly, your opponents don't have any of their hard earned dough on the line. So they just don't play the same. Have you played a hand yet where you have the Aces, raised at every opportunity, and still there are five opponents on the river? And low and behold, one of them hit a gutshot, middle pin, inside straight draw. Ouch... No. They would not have been there if you were playing with real doe.

So if you have got the hang of the pop up buttons, how the game flows, and generally feel comfortable, it is now time to move onto the cash tables. No, not 100/200 limit, or even the 10/20 limit. The sharks will be slobbering at the thought. They haven't been educated by Finding Nemo yet, and 'fish, are not friends. They are food".

Let's start small : $0.10/$0.20 or $0.50/$1. Fixed Limit Hold'Em is the next step. This will drastically reduce the lunatic opponents scenario. All of a sudden, only 2 or 3 opponents are calling your raises. Your opponents don't want to give their money away, and they want to take your money off you! Let's sit down with a $50. If this doesn't last you at least 20 hours playing time, don't move up. Ideally, you shouldn't move up until you are breaking even. This is probably a good rule to abide by at all levels.

Ok. I know what you are thinking : I haven't given you any clues on what sort of cards to play, what situations, or 'position', to play them, and how to play them. If only it was that easy! The answers are, it depends, it depends, and you guessed it, it depends. (I should have been a politician.) Over the weeks, I'll try and cover as many 'it depends' as possible.

Do!

Dont!

Ok, this all sounds very predictable. But you will be surprised how little your opponents notice, and believe it or not, how little many of them care.