Carl Davey

iTrader: (3)

During a long cold New Years night offshore one of the guys on shift taught us all how to play Texas Hold'em. We had a couple of fun games over the course of the fortnight and then put a few quid on a tournament between eight of us before we left the platform. Pleasingly i won but even before that i had deicded i would like to get some practice in.

Ideally i'd like to play with mates in a relaxed and safe environment. Trouble is my mates are some distance away and i doubt any would know where to start.

So i've turned to the PC. Downloaded a couple of apps from download.com but they either have terrible restrictions on them or just plain crash... As i resent spending money does anyone know where i can download a decent poker application where i can play against the computer in a simulated environment? Or failing that which program represents good VFM as well as being as close the online experience as possible. I know it's not real poker but i'm not anything like a real player.

Or if i'm barking up the wrong tree altogether where do you recommend to go online and play for real that won't cost me more than £2 an evening? Have blown the cobwebs off my old Will Hill account but am struggling to find Texas Hold'em either in practice mode or online?

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

you can get texas hold em for xbox and ps2 etc etc, and its not very expensive but since you arent gambling any of your money you may find that you bet even when your hand is poo, relying on the river card

Da Booga

There's a whole poker section on William Hill.

I'm on there at the moment, you can play for fun (free) or play for small amounts (15p per bet) right up to £100+ games!

I've always found it a lot better to play against real people rather than AI too.

HTH,

Gareth

2000TLondon

Pretty much every poker website has a play for fun section

It's not going to be the same as playing for money though as you will struggle to find other players who play as seriously as when hard cash is down. But to get an idea it's wortyh playing, just remember other players are more reckless in the play for fun section and you won't win as much when playing for cash!!!

LG John

www.pokerstars.com

Download the software and set up a username. Then hit the play for fun tables and the freeroles. Just remember that beating the play for fun doesn't mean you can beat real money as the play it totally different!

midget1500

saxo boy - do u ever play poker online but against a computer?

just been playing for the first time this afternoon, in an hour i'm up 103 quid!! its 3 card poker. though 50 of that was from 2 hands on blackjack at 25 a hand.

mart360

vc poker .com

you can play for real or with others for free,

small app and works very well

Mart

LG John

No, I only play holdem against real people for (usually) their real money 3-card poker is a gambling casino game. No matter how well you play it you can't overcome the odds and you will lose in the long run. 'Normal' poker is different in that the skill is in the game allowing you to establish the odds of each betting situation against your opponents. This way you can win

3-card can be fun for play money but if I wanted just a 'play' at poker I'd deposit $50 on a site that gives a 100% deposit bonus (thus you'll have $100 to play with). I'd then hit the 1c/2c micro-limit games and try and play well. If you do you're money you've only lost about £28.50 but at least you are playing for real money. You'd be suprised how many people play the micro limits you take it more seriously than play for fun which is, in the main, mental!

midget1500

needless to say about 5 mins after that post i lost it all, then some!

LG John

midget1500

it was fun i guess! but i swear, it all of a sudden just started kicking my ***, i think it's rigged!

LG John

Its just maths sadly - only way to beat casino games it to quit whilst ahead. Invest your $50 like I said. You'll get a lot more playing time and should have more fun

Carl Davey

iTrader: (3)

UPDATE:

Been a bit slow picking up on it but eventually found time to log into Poker Stars the last couple of nights (cheers SB). Totally see what you mean about differing styles of play when it's for fun. When we played at work (even the fun practice games) we took it dead seriously and i definitely picked up on more recklessness (sp?) in the play for fun rooms.

Anyway, have done pretty poor to date to be honest. At one point i was well up but find boredom kicking in all too often - a combination of multiple bad hands and people taking ages to bet. I then throw away silly money on crap like J5. Anyway, currently awaiting my next 1000 free units.

Tiggs

depends what you are after.....but you will learn very litte about poker playing the cheap/free tables online.

quite funny to see people come in the casino and sit down at the 50p/£1 cash games thinking it will be like their $5 sit and go's. See muppets get through £500 without thinking.

Especially funny is when AA will bet £20 or so because thats "a lot of money" despite the pot being £50+.....then wonders why he gets called by 5 players

boxst

Hello

I was playing Texas Hold'em a few nights ago. After 5 or 6 hands I was about $1500 up and then I managed to be $20000 down in total after 2 hours.

This was at a proper casino that my company hired for the evening in America, and thankfully wasn't real money. One of the main reasons I lost is that after a while I got bored and wouldn't fold on anything.

Steve

BlkKnight

WWW.POKERROOM.COM

they on the "free" tables, they give you 1000 credits.

If you are on MSN with your m8's you can jump on an empty table - others will join you.

Given you are on MSN - you can avoid bidding against each other!

Reality

Went "all in" in a friendly tournament cash game with a full house.

Smug b@stard with 4 tens was very happy

Only gamble what you can afford to lose .

Tiggs

"One of the main reasons I lost is that after a while I got bored and wouldn't fold on anything."

which is like saying the reason i lost at football was because i couldnt be bothered to kick the ball - poker is paitence, if you dont have the 2nd you arent playing the 1st.