First Deposit and how long did it last?

What I'm interested in is how many people out there have deposited real money and how long it lasted with it?

Also I'm curious on the duration of play for experts and beginners alike. Do you play all day?

Do you play till you win a big pot and then leave? or do you stay at one table the whole time.

When do you decide when to leave or stop playing poker?

My credit card is a bit over flowin so i've had to use freerolls to start me off. I built a nice bankroll out of some freeroll winnings on one site. If i could i would surely deposit though and probably will anyways in the future when i am able to again. I started off in tourneys but made most of my money in NL ring games. Maybe an hour to 1.5 hrs per day. I never stay at a table if it is too full and wont sit if it is over like 7 players. Also , if there is more than a couple players at your table with much larger bankrolls than you it might not be the best idea to sit with them either.

Know your limit aswell. Dont sit at a 2/4 game if you dont have 100 or more to play with. Find what works for you and stick with it. I made the mistakes i said above not to and lost alot of my roll.

I personally recommend atleast a $80 deposit and a good starting place is .50/$1 NL or PL , even 1/2 if you think you are good to start there. Theres always tourneys too as another option.

About when to leave ... i try make it a point to not go below what i sat with. I can usually tell when to leave though good or bad , usually when the table starts to get too full for me.

Well on my first deposit things didn't go too well mainly because the level of play is totally different, and I wasn't ready for the switch from play money to real. Don't get in over your head like Sabbath was saying. Start at low limits until you feel comfortable with everything and see how it is going for you there. You could actually get on a .5/.10 cents blinds NL game and increase your bankroll very easily if you play a tight aggresive game. I always take me 5 bucks on the table and usually in 30 minutes its doubled because there are a lot of fish that play at those limits. And never ever play when you are getting tired or have somewhere to go where it feels like you need to hurry and win some pots. This will put you into making bad calls and could cause you to go on tilt.

I have more luck building it with sit n gos.Its the price jumps that get me.I went through a few 20 dollar sits on a bad run and finished my bank off.Ill stick to lower and build build build lol,or try anyway.But a bad run on any table will drain anyones account..its just a matter of playing where youre comfortable and not worried about losing.
Ill try to stop playing when the cards get cold or Im going tilt.Me I never leave after a big pot but ,however, after one I do find my self chasing more because of my stack( maybe I should).Look up fonzis way to build a bankroll its probably better than what I can tell you.Good Luck

I play lower limit and NL ring games. Also turbo S/G, those are fun and quick money if you are patient. But I totally agree with the statements regarding not playing with bigger bankrolls. I've watched tons of people come to a .05/.10 NL table with $300 when everyone else has 20 or less. Often they will force you all in on every hand to get to see a flop. when you see those players show up RUNNNNNN!!!!!!!

I deposited $50 on a wednesday and was down to $10 by friday. I put in another $50 and have since been consistantly winning. I'm not back to even yet, but am just shy, and am confident that I will soon be in the black. My game has improved an incredible amount in a short period of time. Playing for actual money versus play money is not only more exciting, but it improves your game in that people dont play stupid (unless they are poor players).

I've only deposited money twice, and ended up going broke both times, mainly because sometimes I played really badly (especially after a bad beat or two) and because of poor bankroll management.

When you want to leave a table/quit playing for the day is up to you. When you think you've gotten all the money you can get from a certain table, then go. I usually play sng's, so I can't really leave until I lose, or it's over.

My advice to you is find out what poker game suits you best (Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, etc.) and what style (ring games, sit and go's, heads up, multi table tourneys) and stick to that for the most part.

Listen to what people tell you on this site...above post...Fonz's building a bankroll method etc.

As I mentioned in other posts...I lost $15,000 in less than a year....I started off playing very high stakes and was playing online like I played live...its different. I won on SNG's...did not play cash games, which I probably should have.....Lost most of it in expensive MTT's and re-buy MTT's.. I did well on the $30 - $50 SNG's...but lost a lot on the $100 SNG's. It cost me a lot, but I also learned a lot about internet poker. I just wish that I would have learned my lessons at the lower priced tables. Every aspect of the game is different...just because you do well at the $20 SNG doesnt mean you will do well at the $30 SNG (or visa versa ) and so on ...you have to pick up a different style of play for each game...as well as different styles for cash games and MTT's and at different levels...It's all a learning expierence.

Internet poker is unpredictable...never take anything for granted!

I won just about every satellite MTT (and each more than once, some many times), from WSOP, WPT, Cruise ship tournaments, $500,000 tourneys, $350,000 tourneys etc. etc. but never won a final tournament, came close a number of times, but never won.

Everyone on this site has gained a lot of knowledge playing internet poker...listen to what they are trying to tell you. When you start doing well...slow down, you will find that you are not infalable and the tide will turn and that is when you are already acustomed to the higher priced games and continue to stay there thru a bad streak instead of dropping down to the lower priced games.

Use their money...not your own...inother words, build at a lower level and only move up and play on winning money and if you start to lose it then drop back down and re-build before moving up again. Use bankrolls that people suggest on this site as a criteria for moving up and dropping back down.

Use your head...you don't have to make it an expensive expierence.

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Some learn by reading…..Some learn by observation…….while others have too pee on the electric fence for themselves

Thanks for all these hints guys. I'm still quite new to internet poker. What I'm also having problems with is. How long does it usually take to build up a nice big bank roll. I know I read fonz'z post and I think he mentioned like a couple hundred in a few months. How are you guys that are making money off internet poker playing it. once a day for an hour or so a day? or do you sit here all day trying to make profits off any tables you find to have the fishes?