If you could start over online armed with the knowledge you now have..

[Poker Orifice]

If you could start over (with online poker) armed with the knowledge you have today, what would you do differently? (basically a how to guide for someone else just starting out so that perhaps they could avoid some pitfalls or to perhaps speed up the learning curve, etc. - - whether it be sites to play on, depositing methods, learning game theory/strategy, what games you'd play, what short & longterm goals you'd consider, etc. etc.).
Pretty wide open thread but was thinking, >>> If I was just starting out, if I was able to read over an overview of things to consider I'm sure it'd be HUGELY helpful.

For the most part I'm pretty satisfied with the avenues I chose along the way in my own poker journey but for sure I would've done a bunch of things differently. I'll list some of the stuff I'm glad I did, some of the things I wished I'd done, and other tidbits as well. First I'll leave it open for others to add some of their own experience.

Post away........

[Ramster]

I think i would look to being active in poker forums
There is always someone willing to give advice on how you should do things whether it be good or bad
I would recommend joining the forums private games they are usually good value for money and quite a good way to build a roll and you tend to see a better standard of play than you do in open tourneys

[LeftyGunner]

I would most certainly exercise better bankroll management by comparison to my current standards. When I first started out with online poker I didn't know about poker forums and played in games that were far too high above my roll to stay profitable in the long run. I was used to playing home game with friends and immediately started thinking I could compete with some of the great players in the world, and was quickly brought back down to size in a short period of time.

Some examples:

Sat with $2500 on $25/$50 NL 6 Handed on FTP - Lost it all within 10 hands
Entered 2 FTOPS tournaments (won one satellite, paid for the other) and didn't place in the top 1,000 in either of them
If I had a bankroll of around $500, I'd play $50-$75 tournaments looking at the main prizes and not caring I was losing a good percentage of my winnings in ring games on a single tournament

This was all within my first two months of entering the world of online poker, and not being one to run from my mistakes I can say with confidence that learning the hard way has made me a better player in the long run.

[Peteyweestro]

Even though i am still new at this compared to most of y'all i would say that i wish i had approached the game with more patience and critical thinking rather then treating it like any ol casino game of pure luck, in other words i wouldn't go chasing flushes and straights because they might hit,nah mean

[eberetta1]

Don't know much that could be done differently. It would be like how can you make a mechanice a better mechanic. You can either read books and attend class, or perform on the job training.

I think my problem in life is I like the stress free way of doing things, so I seldom move up to a higher level for fear of the added stress involved. I remember the old adage, to whom much is given, much is demanded. So I find a level I enjoy and seldom move left orr right from there.

My NUMBER ONE thing I would make sure of is join a site that offers rakeback. If one can get back 27 to 33 percent of their rake back, in three years I would have been up $600. But since I am already a member of many sites, it is hard to go back and get rakeback.

If I had it all to do over again, I would look for a good matching deposit site and be ready to play there for 3 months to earn the bonus. That could be a 2nd $600.

Then I would try the above 2 things listed above on 4 sites to make about $5,000.

I think one of the things that is smart, which is almost like receiving rakeback is entering as many money added tourneys as possible. This is added EV which helps in the long run.

[hojediade]

Well thyat's a tuff one for sure.
Knowing what i know about OL poker world, i would have probably done the same, meaning take a try at "fake" money game for 1 or 2 months, then play some public FRs to start my BRs and switch to forum games for better play and better prizes.
I guess my cursus wasn't that bad.
But i know i should have begun to read poker books a long time ago. That's the point i would chage for sure.

[tking888]

i would erase all the cash money tables i sat down at. losses exceeded wins.

[Poker Orifice]

Okay.... leaving it open for some more comments & then will post a bunch of my own.

[kingmotan]

I would do everything the same way I did because I don't know chit now.

[zzzzisme]

i definitely would have joined forums and read everything i could before even joining a poker site.