Real Money Poker
There is a thick line between real money and play money when it comes to online poker. Yes, there are a few advantages to using play money (learning a game you are unfamiliar with, getting used to a new site's software, or sharpening your hand selection and odds skills), but the reality is that there is no competition in play money. Even when you win a seat to a real-money prize freeroll that costs you nothing to get in, you just don't play as tight because you have nothing invested.
Only when you invest in poker, can you truly improve your skills, and ultimately win more money. But, before you deposit, be conscientious and keep in mind that once you have played around with the funny money and found a site that you like, you shouldn't go straight to the cashier. It's always a good idea to explore the site and get to know their real money policies. First, you'll want to make note of bonus requirements, which are sometimes dependant on deposit minimums and include withdrawal stipulations. Second, you'll want to choose the right deposit option for you. If you do a little research, you might find one that offers an additional deposit bonus or requires little to no transaction fees.
Once you've deposited, you've got a bank roll. Now what? Should you go straight to a high limit table or try out a low limit table first? Do you start off at a ring game or a tournament? Micro limit tables with blinds for pennies might be a good place for new-to-real-money players to acclimate themselves to real money poker, but these tables eventually get just as tired as play money tables with so little at stake. Micro limit real money poker players are just about as loose and reckless as they are with play money.
Once you have graduated from the micro tables, and you are looking for a game with some action, if you want to play a ring game, you'll want to find a table in which the big blind is 1/200 of your bankroll. So, your bankroll should be 200 times the big blind, and 300 times the big blind if you are new to poker. Having this cushion in your real money account will be enough to keep you afloat, should your luck go down for a spell. Additionally, if you are looking for a tournament to participate in, the buy-in should not exceed 15% of your bankroll.
One real money bankroll building strategy you can try out, which may come in handy when your poker account is running low, is to sit around at an online poker room and watch a few tables for a while. Eventually, you will spot a sucker. A sucker is a player who repeatedly calls with a hand of nothing. Suckers are also habitual raisers who will, little by little, give you their money and slowly transform your chips into more chips. If your sucker gets up from the table, follow him. These types of players are easy to spot and are abundant, especially at higher traffic poker rooms.
Playing with real money or not is ultimately a personal choice. Some poker players, for whatever reason, do not choose to take the risk of investing their hard earned money into real money games or tournaments. Perhaps they are not confident in their game, or they just don't have the guts (the one thing you've got to have to play poker anyway). I've seen real money online poker players lose, but I've also seen them win… big. You can't win if you don't play!
