Switching from play money to real money

Switching from play money to real money
Aspects to consider when there's money on the line.

Many people initiate their Poker career by

1)   Play-money is useful when you are totally new to Poker

In case you heard about Poker in the media and think that it might be interesting and something worth trying, you should start your “career” with play-money. Often, a lot of players are overwhelmed with those new circumstances which lead to poor decision-making. Some guys might feel uncomfortable making the right decision under pressure and others are not 100 % sure what is expected of them when it´s their turn to act. Long story short, play-money is a nice way of testing whether or not you like to play the game and getting used to all the procedures.

2)   Play-money is helpful when you want to work with a new software

If you´re playing for the first time in your life or if you recently switched poker-rooms, playing with new software usually means that you have to adapt to it. For some guys this is much easier than for others, but if you have a history of problems when it comes to using new software, play-money might be the way of easing yourself into the new situation. Think about it, identifying the cards on the board is sometimes more difficult in one room than in another. Some guys get distracted by the design; other players would like to change some things at first before playing. Perhaps you have to get used to the arrangement of all the buttons or you don´t like how the seating process is being handled at first. Basically if you want to get used to new software without risking to make poor decisions because of potential distractions, play-money is a good way of acclimating to the new environment.

However, the main problem with play-money is that it doesn´t help you to sharpen your Poker skills. Let´s be honest here, the thing that makes playing Poker so interesting is that every player is forced to make decisions: Do you call that huge bet on the river? Is it worth pursuing my draw under these circumstances? Is my opponent trying to bluff me out of the pot? Well, those are some of the questions that every player has to answer when playing but unfortunately not when it comes to play-money. The dilemma with play-money is that nobody is risking his or her own money, making poor decisions less painful. Usually, when you have to call a huge all-in with your own money, money you have worked hard for; you are forced to make a decision: Is my hand good enough for me to risk my money? I might lose it; do I really want to call?

You don´t have this kind of decision-making when playing with play-money. Those guys want to see flop, turn and river every time they play and they don´t care whether or not they might lose their funds because reloading is no problem. Recently I checked the poker-room I like to play in and I found out that the %-rate of players seeing the flop on regular real-money NLHE medium-level tables ranges between 20-35 %. Then I checked the number for the play-money tables and unsurprisingly the same figure ranged between 90-100 %.

With so many guys calling, learning how to play Poker for real-money is more or less impossible. You might have a case if you argue that you still may be able to strengthen your SNG skills, however when you want to prepare yourself for real-money cash games, play-money is completely useless.

Due to the points I mentioned here, most of the player get bored very quickly and want to switch to real-money, but you have to be aware of some aspects I would like to line out for you.

1)   Keep your excitement under control!

When playing for real money, you probably get excited about it even if you only play on micro-limits. That´s totally OK and nothing special. In fact, you not being excited at all would be a lot more alarming. Just remember to stick to your game-plan, focus on the things you learned and play your game. Most people playing on micro-limits have absolutely no clue about what they´re doing, so chances are that you´re far superior in case you prepared yourself and read about Poker before. Once you played one or two times, you won´t be nervous anymore.

2)   Even if your bankroll is large enough, only play on micro-limits at first!

This advice is mainly directed at everybody who hasn´t played Poker for money before and is taking the first steps of doing so. As I described earlier, you can´t compare play-money with real-money! So when you´re making the switch to real-money, you´ll have to get used to the new circumstances first before risking more of your funds. There´s no need in threatening your bankroll by playing on uncharted territory. Once you´ve beaten your opposition constantly on those micro-limits, moving up should be of no concern to you.

3)   Don´t treat real-money like it´s play-money!

This point might seem so obvious that you might ask why I´m including it here. Well, for a lot of people this isn´t so apparent. Whether you received a bonus or deposited your own money, just because you cannot grab and feel it, doesn´t mean that you cannot lose it. A lot of players simply do not realize that the little number on their screen is just as valuable as the capacity of their purses. The figure on the screen isn´t just a number, it´s your money! It´s always astonishing how some players throw away their money, leaving me to question whether or not they would do the same thing with cash, too?

Playing Poker is not like buying a ticket to the movies, where you pay in order to get entertained for 2 hours. When you approach Poker in the same way instead of the clear goal of improving your game and building up a bankroll, you won´t have any success and shouldn´t play for real money.

4)   Play responsibly!

Because you´re playing for real-money, observe your behavior when it comes to playing Poker. Most people have no problem controlling themselves; however your goal should be only to play when you want to, not when something tells you that you have to! Excessive actions don´t bear any major consequences when you´re risking only play-money. But once you play for cash, you have to pay extra attention to your behavior.

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