In the past (before the Moneymaker boom) when a new player wanted to learn about poker there were a handful of forums worth visiting and a limited number of books that deserved a read. Today the landscape is completely different with a virtually infinite number of poker forums to visit and a nearly endless list of different pieces of poker software you can use to train and improve your game.
Most online poker sites offer some kind of beginner tables that will seat you with players that classify themselves as beginners and this is a great way to level the playing field if you’re just starting out. Some sites will also have specific tournaments that are geared towards new players which can be a fantastic opportunity to get some good experience in the game without having to compete against the top money winners.
Many of the major online poker rooms have advanced stats tools that allow players to see their win rate, how many flops they’ve seen and how often they’ve gone to showdown. These are very valuable tools to have at your disposal and you should always be tracking your results.
There are a few states in the United States that offer legal poker rooms and this number will likely grow as more players become aware of the benefits and the potential tax revenue from such a venture. Getting money on to and off of a poker site is very easy nowadays as well with most sites offering a huge variety of different deposit methods including credit cards, debit cards, pre-paid cards, third party eWallets, bank transfers or even good old fashioned wire transfer options.