@newbie_casino Hope you didn't get too confused by all the conflicting advice. The truth is, any of these sites will work if you put in the study time. Pick one with software you like and grind away.

Personally still crushing Bet365 tournaments. Their player pool hasn't gotten any tougher despite this thread probably sending a few sharks their way.

£2-3 tournaments are full of nits and bingo players - weird mix that's actually harder to beat than mid-stakes. The £10-15 range has the best balance of decent action and beatable opponents.

Trust me, I've lost more money in micro tournaments than I care to admit.

For SNGs: 75-100 buy-ins minimum
For MTTs: 150-200 buy-ins (depending on field size)
For high variance formats: 300+ buy-ins

With £500, stick to £2-3 tournaments until you prove you can beat them consistently.

888poker has decent training videos in their poker school section. PokerStars has more content but it's more advanced.

Honestly though, YouTube and Twitch streams will teach you more than any site's built-in materials.

Also, what buy-in level should I start at? Currently have £500 set aside for poker.

Still think 888poker is the sweet spot though. Good balance of field size and player quality.

Maybe they're the real winners?

@betting_pro Those satellites are juicy but the volume is too low for serious grinding. Better off just buying in direct if you can afford it.

@sarah_g Did you try their satellite system? Bet365 runs £3 satellites to their bigger tournaments and they're basically freerolls with the player quality.

Optimal Challenge Level = Current Skill × (1 + Learning Rate) - Risk Tolerance

Where Learning Rate = (Skill Improvement per Hour) / (Current Hourly Rate)

If your primary goal is bankroll growth, you want opponents approximately 15-20% weaker than your current level. Too weak and you don't improve, too strong and variance destroys your roll.

@poker_pete_uk At 12% ROI you're in the optimal zone. Don't move up until you're consistently beating your current level.

For now, I need to maximize my edge where I can find it. That's just smart bankroll management.

Sure, you'll win more often short-term but you're not improving your game. I'd rather lose money on Stars learning from better players than beat up on pensioners on Bet365.

It's like... do you want to be the smartest person in the room or do you want to get smarter? Can't have both.

Just won their £30 Sunday tournament last week for £890. The final table was embarrassing - people folding to min-bets with decent hands, calling all-ins with ace-high. It was like playing live poker at a holiday resort.

Bet365 poker is criminally underrated. Yes the software looks like it's from 2010 but the players are absolute fish. I've never seen so many people limping with pocket aces.

What about BetVictor poker? They launched a new tournament series recently. Anyone tried it?

Seriously underrated for tournaments. Their weekend series gets decent fields (300-600 runners) but the skill level is way lower than Stars or Party. Plus they have this loyalty system where you earn points just for playing, not just for raking.

The software isn't flashy but it's solid. No HUD support though if that matters to you.

@james_uk 888 withdrawals are usually 2-3 days to my Monzo account. Much faster than Stars which takes a week minimum.

William Hill poker is dead honestly. Lucky to get 50 runners in their evening tournaments.

ROI = (Total Tournament Winnings - Total Buy-ins) / Total Buy-ins × 100

But the real formula accounting for rake and opportunity cost is:
Adjusted ROI = [(Σ(Winnings - Buy-in - Rake) - Opportunity Cost) / Σ(Buy-in + Rake)] × 100

Where Opportunity Cost = (Hours Played × Hourly Rate Alternative) + (Bankroll × Risk-free Rate)

This is why chasing "soft" fields without proper volume analysis is often -EV. You might win more often but if the prize pools are smaller, your hourly rate suffers.

@poker_pete_uk What's your current sample size? Need at least 1000+ tournaments for meaningful ROI assessment.

Also, what about William Hill poker? They're always advertising tournaments but never tried them myself. Anyone know if they're on the softer side?

888poker has been my go-to lately - way softer fields in their weekend tournaments. The £55 Sunday Challenge regularly gets 800+ runners but at least half are recreational players. Made £1,200 last month just from their Sunday schedule.

Paddy Power poker is also decent if you can stomach their clunky software.