This is my first post on these forums after reading on them for a couple of weeks. I just started playing poker about a month ago on Facebook and Yahoo Games. I didnt know anything, in fact I was going all-in with hands like A/2/3/4 because I thought that was a straight :-). After awhile I learned and I started doing well, so I thought I'd give real money poker a shot.

After reading a lot of these threads, you could probably call me a donater/fish. I placed first in a large MTT $1 tournament for a $108 prize on FullTilt and was up $240 at my peak on the account (deposited $50) I was playing in stakes a bit above what I should have been and lost it all pretty quickly, over a span of a couple of weeks, playing probably 6-8 hours a night. I didnt have Pokertracker or any other third party program, nor did I know about the existence of any rakeback. I still dont quite understand rakeback.

So I have several questions for anyone willing to answer them. Please be gentle, I am truly a newbie and at the mercy of you vets out there! Your time and answers will be appreciated.

1) I never used PokerTracker or any other third party program to aid in my game. I understand from reading these forums that many people use it as a crutch. Are there successful players online that do NOT use Pokertracker or anything like that? Do these people exist? Or is it a must-have for a player to be profitable online?

2) Why does Rakeback even exist? What incentive do Rakeback affiliate websites have to give all of this money away? When I first heard about Rakeback, I thought it was a scam and quickly shied away from it for this reason. If I already have a FullTilt account, can I get rakeback on it? If I cant get it on a pre-existing account, am I allowed to just create a new account?

3) Another rakeback question for anyone that knows: Rakeback sites say that I must have $25 in my account after 60 days otherwise my affiliation with them will be cancelled. After the 60 day period is over, what if my account balance dips below $25? Does my affiliation with the rakeback site end?

4) There are a lot of poker sites out there. If for some reason I have to move off of FullTilt because of getting gyped on Rakeback, is there a similar online poker site with a very similar look and feel as FullTilt? PokerStars drives me absolutely crazy and I cant get past the feel of it to even play in my right mind.


Thanks very much for your responses... im looking to be a serious poker player and will be spending a lot of times on these forums.

-Piatchi

lol

The vast majority of serious online players use a tracker but it's hardly mandatory.

Originally it didn't. You're asking about the origins of online poker. An affiliate's job is to bring players to a poker site. Usually through some form of advertising and promotion. For which the affiliate is either paid a flat fee or is paid a commission on all revenue generated any players who sign up.

But who decides what an "affiliate" is? How hard is it to open a business and call yourself an affiliate? So eventually players started becoming affiliates so they could give themselves and all their friends back that money that would have been going to an affiliate. Eventually "real" affiliates caught on and needed to compete. And eventually rakeback became less and less "underground" and more an accepted part of the industry.


Why does McDonalds give out coupons for fifty cents off a Big Mac?

Maybe, if you didn't sign up through an affiliate. This is where I link the FAQ:

Beginners Forum Frequently Asked Questions

No.

AFAIK No. (But you should check with the affiliate since they all may have different TOS).

Sites tend to have very different looks. If you're an American you don't have a ton of choice. If you're not you have considerably more and you should be able to find something you like.

Maybe try one of non-default Themes or one of the various mods. Check the Software Forum for more.

Very nice responses, thank you. First reply to my first thread was from a big time regular, too. Much appreciated.

spend alot more time reading books and posts here than playing. if you cant do that you are probably just a gambler looking for action. if you really want to get good you must work at it.