A friend of mine recently got into poker and spent hours watching footage of it on YouTube, Pokertube and the other video websites online and also plenty of hours were spent watching it on TV. He played a few freeroll tournaments and learned the game online with the play money tables. Having discussed strategy with him he seems to have a decent understanding of the game for a new player and has certainly done the right thing not jumping straight in and risking a bunch of money before he can play the game. He emailed me a few days ago and said he now had a certain amount of money, around $250, as a starting bankroll and asked where I thought he should deposit this money.

What a question! I thought about it for a while and decided it would be an excellent article to discuss what to do with your first starting bankroll.

The first thing I would do is research the various poker rooms and find the rooms you like the look and feel of. You are going to spend time watching the table if it does not feel right for you this could effect your game. Then check what opening bonus offers you can enjoy and make a decision which room is best for you. If you are a new player wanting to sample different games then picking a room purely for good cash game or tournament traffic may not be relevant to you.

My friend was also aware of some of the cheating scandals and asked about how safe his money was online held by the sites. I told him that poker sites are so big that cheating is a rare occurrence. Any scandals are quickly uncovered by the Internet and the majority of poker sites such as bwinpoker.com have never even had a serious allegation made regarding cheating. I would recommend sticking with a large poker room and stay away from the rooms which have had allegations or admissions of cheating in the past. I explained that every bad beat causes ill feeling and that sometimes you feel it happens so much the site must be doing something improper but I referred him to our conversations on odds and variance and reminded him that most of the time there is always a chance a card can hit that beats even a strong hand.

He asked whether or not to play live. I suggested that because $250 is not a massive bankroll learning to build this into something more substantial is the first thing he should do using solid playing skills and careful selection of games. These skills of choosing games and learning to beat a level will ensure he always remains in action and can always replenish his bankroll if he hits a bad run of cards, which we all do from time to time.

Because you can rarely find a decent tournament for less than $30 in most live casinos then it is more prudent to play the Internet tournaments to gain experience and learn how to wait for hands. Some of the spots he will encounter during his tournaments will be repeated live and generally play is less aggressive in person. Learning online poker I believe is fundamental to poker success in the modern game and you can always withdraw some of your online roll and play in a live tournament if you wish, but ensure you are bankrolled to do so.

Hopefully it will work out for my friend. If you are in a similar position remember to play hard, study hard and remember poker is not something you get a certificate for to say it is learned forever. It is something you build on and learn literally every hand you play.

By Malcolm Clarke