NEW - NEVER PLAYED

Betfair have freerolls and low stakes running most of the day (there's a freeroll starting at 17.05) , dive straight in to one of these. If you don't know the rules, it's a 5 card game, you make the best 5 cards using the 2 cards you are dealt and the 5 community cards dealt to all the players. I'd stick to these until I were comfortable with the set up.

As Ovalman suggested ... stick to your freerolls and very low stakes games for now. A good poker player works on the basis that whatever disposable cash he has for poker (his bank roll) would be enough for him to play 100 games.

As a beginner, you probably need to treble that!

There are 2 other Texas Holdem freeroll tournaments I can see in the lobby, starting at 18.05 and 19.05, there's also a few low stakes added tournaments that won't cost you much, it can be a hard grind but you can build a serious roll from free cash. Sit and Go's start at just 3 cents (2p) although I know of at least 2 other sites that give free cash away as Sit and Go's.

Do you play any local poker? Bangor seems to be the only dealer dealt game although I've heard there's a game on the Ormeau Road, there's also a few self dealt pub games.

As for the Red's, you can't be much worse than we are atm

All sites offer freeroll's, as Betfair Poker themselves says, freerolls eventually leads to deposits. They are free money for no risk, the only problem is that prizes are usually low with a large number of entrants. If you're disciplined enough, you can build a bankroll from absolutely nothing and turn it into decent money if you work hard enough. I've never deposited on Boyle but played their Irish open 2 years ago and still have £40 on the site

You can play in Browser or download their software from the Poker homepage, I've never played in the browser so don't know the difference between the 2.

Unfortunately you use the same wallet as your main betting account. That's OK for me as I don't gamble but it can be a big gripe if you do both.

Sit and go's are great if you like a quick'ish game. They usually last around an hour (assuming you win) and pay out top 3. Multi's can last quite a few hours depending on the game you play. Turbo's can cut times down for games but you see less hands and it becomes more of a lottery. In saying that there is a skill in them and there are a few that win constantly at them. Super Turbo's are even more of a game of bingo but again some people win at them constantly. Cash can be very volatile, it's where money really changes hands. Try everything out, see what works for you although I'd stick with the freerolls until you're comfortable with the software.