Now that you have the rules and basics of No-Limit Hold ‘Em down, you need to start racking up some experience. Ideally, the best way to learn is to take a pile of cash to your nearest casino and sit down and play a real, serious game with real, serious players. Since most of us can’t afford to throw down real money to buffer our skills, and since I wouldn’t recommend you risk your hard- earned money while learning the game, the best place to learn is
Online poker sites offer play-money, full-table games with real people. This is a great way to get the mechanics of the game down while experimenting with playing styles, betting patterns, etc. Yahoo! Games—the company I work for—has i great, free site at games.yahoo.com. Not to loot my own horn, but it’s a great way to learn against a pool of competitors. You might just find me on there as well. Outside of online practice, I’ve done the majority of my learn- at friendly home games. Try setting up a weekly or bimonthly per game with a few friends. Every game have your friends bring people that you don’t know so you can learn how to play
different people and different playing styles. Make the bid give everyone the same amount of chips. At the end of t the player with the most chips takes all the cash (or you
designate the top three positions to win money). Twenty a week isn’t a big loss and it’s a good investment in your education—after all, playing with real, live people in front is the best way to hone your skills