What game should you learn?

Now that's a tricky question. It depends on what your aptitudes are and what you are looking for. Let's look at every possibilities 1 by 1:

Full ring no limit or pot limit holdem

In order to win at this game, you will need to be patient, very patient and play tight. It is going to be very easy to play multiple table at a time, but most bonuses will take a while to clear since you don't see many flops. Full ring is much easier to learn than shorthanded, but less rewarding because most weak players are playing shorthanded since they get a lot more action.

Full ring no limit will have a much lower variance than shorthanded because you play tighter, but will still bring in less money than shorthanded in the long run because you play less hands and find less weak players.

Qualities required : PATIENCE, discipline.

Shorthanded no limit and pot limit holdem

This is the hardest and most rewarding path. You need to play much more hands, so postflop play will be even more important. You will also need to be much better at reading players and adapting your game. The less players there are at the table, the more important blind stealing is, so be prepared to focus on blind stealing as you learn to play shorthanded.

To reward your efforts, playing shorthanded will help you find weak players, play much more hand against them and have a much better time clearing bonuses! Game availability is also much better at shorthanded than at full ring.

Finally, if having fun playing is important to you, this is the game for it!

Qualities required: Very good ability to adapt to position, aggression, ability to notice opponent's behavior.

Full ring limit holdem

Limit is a much easier game than no limit, decisions are usually easier. Since you play full ring, you will have to be very patient and play tight. Limit holdem mostly consist of pushing your good hands and stealing blinds in late position. Sounds nice so far? Here's the catch: there is no way you can make as much money playing limit than no limit. A very good limit holdem player will usually make about 4-6 big blinds profit for every 100 hands, but a no limit player will make about 20.

Limit holdem can also be a very frustrating game because you just can't protect your hands. Since you can't chose the amount of your bet, you will not be able to push a weak draw out, so get ready for some serious bad beats! But now, the best part: because of it's structure, a fish does not lose his money nearly as quickly as in no limit holdem, so there is often a lot more of them at the limit tables!

Qualities required: Patience, discipline, be good and fast at making mathematical approximations.

Shorthanded limit

Now, that's a strange path... Understand this before you even consider shorthanded limit: this game is mostly about attacking and defending blinds. You just can't play tight in a shorthanded limit game, you will lose more money on the blinds than you will make by playing your good hands! You will be playing weak hands all the time and bluffing all the time. The best part about this game is that very few players knows how to play this well, so if you learn to be good, you will have an easy time finding tables that you can beat (if you compare to no limit holdem, even if you are good, there are good players just about evrywhere).

This game is pretty good at clearing bonuses since you will see many flops. If players tend to fold a lot preflop, the bonus might not clear as fast, but you will have an easy time killing the table! Adjusting to how players defend their blinds is what this game is all about! Like full ring limit holdem, a shorthanded limit player connot make a much money as a no limit player... but since there are many weak players at this game, it might be easier to move to a higher limit to compensate.

Qualities required: Be good at blind stealing and defending, aggression.

My recommendations

Most players should start with full ring no limit, this game allow you to get the necessary basic experience, learn to be patient and play tight. After making money long enough to be confident about your game (this is very important), you should consider either moving to shorthanded no limit and shorthanded limit. Not many players have the necessary aptitudes to be good at shorthanded limit, if you do not feel like attacking and defending blinds are your best weapons, play no limit instead.

The move to shorthanded is important for most players because it allows you to play much more hands against weak players, and playing hands against weak opponent's is how you will make money!