Archive for the ‘poker blog’ Category

Poker Bankroll – Tips How to Build Your Bankroll

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

How to build a poker bankroll

One of the most costly errors many online poker players commit is they play above their means: In poker, your means is your bankroll, without money you are incapable of playing poker whether it’s in a card-room or at an online poker site. In this article I will detail some do’s and don’ts for building an online poker bankroll to make sure you build your bankroll and move up to the higher limit poker games.

#1 Seek out a good poker deposit bonus

I have yet to see an online poker room that doesn’t offer its players a first-time sign-up bonus; But buyer beware, while every deposit bonus offer may appear the same, they can vary greatly: It’s all in the poker site’s fine print!

Online poker sites release your deposit bonus money as you clear certain predetermined hurdles –typically by earning a certain number of frequent player points for every dollar of bonus money you are to receive—and depending on the poker site these hurdles can be easy to clear, or very difficult. Make sure you check the sites terms of agreement to see how they calculate the amount of FPP’s you need in order to have your bonus money released.

Additionally, some online poker sites will hold the deposit bonus money until you clear the entire amount, while other online poker sites will release it incrementally –a much better proposition; especially if you are trying to build a bankroll. There is nothing better than having to deal with a break-even session and clearing $20 worth of bonus money!

#2 Always play with a good poker rakeback deal

A rakeback deal is similar to a deposit bonus, but unlike a sign-up bonus that is a one-time offer, poker rakeback is for life, you will receive it as long as you play at the site. This is why a rakeback deal is better in the long-run than a poker deposit bonus. Obviously the best way to go is to use both, which many sites offer: I have listed below some of the top online poker sites that offer rakeback deals and easy to clear deposit bonuses.

Full Tilt Poker offers 27% rakeback and a 100% deposit bonus up to $600

Absolute Poker offers 30% rakeback and a 150% deposit bonus up to $500

Ultimate Bet offers 30% rakeback and a 111% deposit bonus up to $1,100

Cake Poker offers 33% rakeback and a 110% deposit bonus up to $600

All of these rooms have terrific software and good player traffic, in addition to their great rakeback offers and superb sign-up bonuses.

For more information on poker rakeback deals, and how rakeback works check out rakeback FAQ

Avoid high variance poker games and poker strategies

This simple advice could have prevented many poker players from being felted: When you are playing on a limited bankroll you should avoid high variance games and strategies.

What I mean by high variance is where you have a very small edge, but the situation can cause huge swings in your wins and losses. Typically, short-handed games have a higher variance than full ring poker games – short-handed games offer a better return on investment for a solid player, but the risk to reward is higher, and it’s more common for short-handed players to have big down-swings.

Also, as you’re trying to build your poker bankroll you want to avoid pushing marginal situations.  Generally tight/aggressive play is the way to go; leave those fancy plays for a later day when you are properly bankrolled, and playing in a game that demands you use all the plays in your arsenal in order to succeed. Save the thin value bets, daring bluffs, and other high variance poker plays for the situations where they are needed. In lower limit games utilizing an ABC, vanilla, strategy is often the best way to go, and small edges are worth only pennies.

For example: if you are playing $10 NLHE a thin value bet on the river may show a $.02 profit in the long-run: In a $100 NLHE game it’s $.20: And in a $1,000 NLHE game (where you eventually want to be) it’s worth $2. But, you can’t get to the point where it’s worth $2 if you go broke trying to earn an extra $.02! Of course, if you are properly bankrolled for $10 NLHE than value bet away, but if you are trying to build an online poker bankroll from scratch it’s best to just wait for a better spot.

With a lot of practice, study, and following the steps I outlined above you will be fast on your way to building a suitable poker bankroll and can start cashing-out that hard earned money you have been winning!

Author: Alex Galin

Website: http://www.rakebackinn.com – Sign Up Today – for the Best Online Poker Rakeback Deals!

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How to Take Online Poker Notes Like a Pro

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

The importance of note taking in online poker

A poker player’s advantage in taking notes is all about ‘want-to’: Every online poker player has the ability to take notes on their opponents, but very few actually do it. Most poker players simply do not have the work ethic to keep detailed notes on their opponent’s tendencies and habits. Fortunately for you –and unfortunately for the slackers—note taking can be the difference between a winning player and a losing player. Note-taking is another online poker advantage, like rakeback or deposit bonuses, that players overlook as inconsequential.

The key to taking good online poker notes is to find the right balance between important details and brevity: In many ways taking notes at an online poker table is akin to a secretary using short-hand to take down a message from his or her boss. Your notes have to be detailed enough to supply you with the information you need, but at the same time they need to be concise enough that you can consult them in a game situation.

Tracking Software

Players who utilize tracking software such as PokerTracker or Holdem Manager will typically use their opponent’s VPIP (Voluntarily put money in the pot) and PFR/TAF (Pre-flop raise/ Total Aggression Factor) to pinpoint their opponent’s style of play.

Additionally, tracking software can give you virtually any statistic you want on your opponents; the three I listed above are just the most commonly tracked by online poker players.

Specific Hands/Actions

In addition to your software statistics you will also be taking notes on specific hands you have seen from the player; or specific actions you have seen.

OR/RR 33 = open-raised and re-raised pocket threes pre-flop

Fl w/ KQ on A56 flop = Floated with KQ on A56 board

C-Bets 2/3 = Continuation bets 2/3 of the pot

CD w/ Ax = Called down to the river with Ace high

Habits

In addition to these notes you will also track any habit you see from the player. These habits are not 100%, but they are tendencies you have noticed in the person’s play. For instance, you may notice a player who pretty much always bets if checked to; or likes to re-raise draws, and just smooth-calls with big hands.

Drawing Conclusions

After you have collected all of the evidence you can then start drawing some conclusions from it: A way of explaining how the person plays that is simple for you to understand, and easy to utilize in a game scenario.

Here is an example of notes I have on a specific player

#hands 262 VPIP 52% PFR 8% TAF .98

Will play 22+/46s+/9T+ for a standard raise: Only raises strong hands: Calls a lot post-flop – hard to bluff

R: AA, QQ, JJ, AKx2, AJs

CR: 45s, 88, A2s, 46s, 9T, 99, 22, 7Ts

FC w/ ATs + C to Riv w/MPTK [Flat called raise pre-flop and called to river with middle pair top kicker]

As you can see, my first notes come from PokerTracker detailing the player’s style: Immediately following that I have a brief description of how I believe the person plays: Below that I have specific hand(s) and details I have seen (which I use to formulate my opinions).

Online poker players have perfected the art of poker short-hand, which allows them to take good, detailed, notes that are brief and to the point. Each online poker player will use their own terms and short-hand to track other players, so it’s imperative you create a method that is both easy for you to record, and easy to understand.

Author: Alex Galin

Website: http://www.rakebackinn.com – Sign Up Today – for the Best Online Poker Rakeback Deals!

Popularity: 46% [?]

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Why Every Online Poker Player Needs to Learn Hold’em HUNL

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Why Heads-Up No Limit Hold’ Em Poker is the way to go

Online poker players are always looking for an edge, whether it’s taking advantage of a deposit bonus, cashing in on a rakeback deal, utilizing software like Holdem Manager, or finding a strategic edge at the tables. This final detail is where heads-up play comes in: Learning the intricacies of heads-up play is one of the best ways to increase your profits at a No Limit Hold’ Em poker table, and these advantages will be the focus of this article.

More Hands = More Money

If you are a winning online poker player you understand that success is measured in hands played: The more hands you play, the more money you will win. This makes your goal in poker quite simple: Play as many hands as you can, in as short a time period as you can! For example, if you average $100 profit for every 500 hands you play your win-rate would be $.20 a hand. So, if you were somehow able to play 1,000 hands in the same amount of time, you would win twice as much: $200. You’d be playing more hands in the same amount of time; and more hands = more money!

Switching to heads-up play allows you to see two, three, or even four or more times as many hands as you can in a full ring or 6-max game, so your win-rate will skyrocket!

Better Reads

During a typical game of Texas Hold’ Em –Full ring or short-handed– it takes a while to understand how the different people at the table are playing and what their tendencies are. The reason for this is that the poker players you find in a typical online poker games, with six to ten players, only get involved in a hand sporadically, and even fewer of their hands warrant going all the way to showdown. Therefore, it takes time for you to develop good reads on the players in the game.

Well, heads-up play solves that problem immediately. Not only will your opponent be playing virtually every hand –hands with more showdown value as well– but you only have one opponent you have to keep an eye on! You don’t have to worry about watching multiple opponents; your attention can be focused on a single player. This is why heads-up play gives you more information in a shorter amount of time in which you can base your decisions on.

Fish-Finder

Heads-up play also helps you identify a dangerous player very quickly: If you sit down at a heads-up online poker table and a player is simply running over you, it could be a hot streak, or the player could be better than you (yes, it is possible). If a player is crushing you, and you are unable to get a read on him, you are probably up against a very solid player. On the other hand, if a player is luckboxing into hand after hand you know it’s only a hot streak.

In this way, heads-up poker helps you quickly identify the good players and the bad players: And in poker the key to success is not always how good you are; it’s how good –or bad as the case may be—your opponent is! And when you find a fish in heads-up online poker you have hit the jackpot! This player is belongs solely to you until one of you decides to leave the table; you won’t be splitting up the fish’s chip-stack with any other players.

Practice Makes Perfect

Above I described how you see more hands and can make better reads on your opponents playing heads-up poker, but you will also be involved in numerous hands yourself; which gives you the opportunity to develop your own skills as a poker player.

In poker, practice truly does make perfect, and in heads-up play you will be able to practice in just about every conceivable area of the game: Flop textures, bluffing scenarios, adjusting to different players, reading hands, working on your table image, thinking on different levels: In heads-up play you will be making decision after decision allowing you to improve in many areas.

Tournament Relevance

An overlooked area where heads-up play will help your online poker game is in tournaments. Very few poker players, outside of Sit & Go grinders, have much heads-up experience –and even their experience in heads-up situations pales in comparison to heads-up cash game players—which will give you a tremendous advantage if you find yourself at the final table of an online poker tournament.

True, these situations will not be all that common, but the beauty of a tournament is how top-heavy the prize structure is: For instance, the difference between finishing 1st in the PokerStars Sunday Million and finishing 4th is a difference of about 3-to-1: Earning $75,000 or $220,000! Having the skills to close out a big tournament –WSOP, WPT, or EPT–could mean the difference between making a nice score and being set for life.

So there you have it; five reasons why you should be playing heads-up No Limit Hold’ Em. Making the switch to heads-up play can be as beneficial as a sweet sign-up bonus or rakeback deal.

Author: Alex Galin

Website: http://www.rakebackinn.com – Sign Up Today – for the Best Online Poker Rakeback Deals!

Popularity: 46% [?]

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