If you’re a true beginner poker player who’s looking for a good poker room, you’ll want to think both big and small. Let’s start with the big.

By big we mean the size of the poker room. The more players at a poker room during peak hours the better chance there will be a bunch of other fish just like you trying to go from student to masters of the game too quickly. Another good thing to do is try out one of the more heavily-advertised rooms. Poker rooms like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Bodog get more traffic because the less-knowledgeable poker player knows they exist due to their large number of advertisements on TV, in magazines and online.

Now that we’ve covered the big, let’s talk about the small. When we’re referring to small we’re talking about limits and buy-ins. If you’re trying out online poker for the first time do not play over your head. This is one of the more common mistakes that poker rookies make, and the end result is their bankroll gets chewed up quick.

Look for rooms that offer cheap limits like 5 cent/10 cent or less, if you can find it. Don’t step up to $1/$2 table and think you’re going to start hauling in the big bucks. First of all, those limits aren’t where you win the big bucks. And, second you won’t make money as a rookie at those tables; you’ll simply lose it all faster.

If you’re more into tournament play, then look for rooms that offer cheap tournaments where you can improve your skills without having your entire bankroll decimated in one fell swoop. Most rooms also offer introductory freerolls for new players. If you can money in one of those, you can offset some of the cost of your first deposit.