[sours]

Well I had my first online experience last night and I hope it was'nt just the poker Gods being generous to a noob that allowed me to exceed my expectations!!

Firstly I had some problems when downloading the site-complicated story but short version goes like this.My passport and banking info is in South Africa,I live and work in Botswana.From this location the first download was for a $ (intnl. players) however,when I had to enter my ID it would not allow me to register on the site-complicated money laundering laws in S.A. regarding neighbouring countries So then I DL Rand version.Happy days I can register and start looking for a suitable table.Only table available was a pl R1/R2 and I buy in for max of R200. Divide by about 5 to get $ value.

I watched the play first for about 20 minutes and I felt that I was going to be out of my depth(not by the play but the speed) it just seemed so fast!!(6 seat table and 4 people were playing)

For the first 40 min or so I felt rushed,not enough time to make proper decisions-probably erred on the safe side and folded a few hands I should'nt have and did not press when I had the avantage.I was lucky to get a couple of well hidden but v good hands which I did take advantage of to the extent that a particular player said some very nice things about me lol.

In the first 2 hours 2 of the players made repeated buy-ins while my balance
grew from R200 to R580.It got to the stage where there were 3 of us playing and I had a pretty good read of their play.Next thing 3 people join and 2 of them seemed v aggressive lots of pre and post flop raises.I must admit I struggled a bit to get a good read on them,well it was 5:30am and my first online experience and my stack had fluctuated since their arrival from R580 to R480 and anywhere

[norshvind]

Glad you were able to work out your issues... one quick note, you may want to settle in a little before moving to the six-handed tables, though it seems you did alright. My first sit n' go (stay), that's another name for what is a single-table tournament, was a 6 player max turbo at Bugsey's Club. I was minced meat pretty fast because these games require more aggression than I was ready to bring to bear at that point of my development.

It sounds like you did alright though! Don't hesitate to ask questions about specific hands or concepts. I probably won't be able to help much, but I'm sure someone else will.

[ThomasR]

Sounds like a pleasant start, and typically, a very long session! It happens to us all, can get settled in pretty nicely and play hands for hours.

You did well, sensible play and you were rewarded for it. Perhaps you had a little luck on your side, but winning isn't all luck is it Well done.