interesting you said that you didn't know that full house required pair on-board... i have probably lost more money on paired boards than any other generic situation. and i just can't seem to comprehend all the dynamics of it. like when we're all-in, i don't realize that hitting trips isn't an out (not that it's that big a deal).

regarding rakeback and bonuses, do i get them from the same source? or how i do it?.. is rakeback better than signup bonuses? which i'm still eligible for on some major sites... thanks in advance. i really appreciate it.

BTW, i love these journey posts because they're real instead of theoretical know-it-alls and they really show the learning process... i switched from limit to no-limit and the more i learnt, the more i realized how little i knew (if that makes sense)

RB doesn't come from the cardroom - it comes from your affiliate. Affiliates are businesses that bring players to a poker site. In exchange for this they get a lifetime cut of the rake the player generates. Some affiliates (rakeback affiliates) will offer you some of this rake back. They usually get 35%+ of the rake you generate and offer most of it back for signing up with a site through them. Some other affiliates will have you sign up through them and will give you a small bankroll or a gift (poker tracker or a chips set), but will keep the full 35%+ they are getting from the site on your play. In general these are very bad deals. The discounted present value of your future stream of rakeback payments potentially huge and poker tracker cost $50.

Bonuses come from the sites and are independent of rakeback with one exception: Many sites will deduct bonus paid in determining your total rake. Example - you generate 1100 in rake and they pay you a 100 bonus. Your affiliate will get .35*(1100-100)=350 of which you will get 300 (with a 30% deal).

Rakeback is worth a lot of money if you play a lot. So much so that there are rakeback pros. These are people that are little better than breakeven players with the rake , but who make several thousand or more per month in rakeback.

Lucky

nh.

i generally knew most of this.... so can you get both? it seems like you can't.... although rakeback seems more valuable, as it's seemingly forever.

so the question is..... How do you become an affiliate? ;-)... win win situation!

you can get both bonus and rakeback - they are independent. The site gives you bonuses and your affiliate gives you rakeback.

BTW - I signed up at UB and got the 650 matching bonus on my first deposit. I will get 650 in rakeback from my UB affiliate before I clear the bonus from the site. That is to say rake back comes quicker than bonuses clear.

Lucky

I was interested in your views regarding bankroll when changing from level to level. First, I noticed an unusual nomenclature whereby you describe a 1/2 cents NLHE game as NL5. Does this mean a game in which the maximum bankroll permitted is $5.00 ? I've changed the numbers a bit, but this would be an existing table at PokerStars, which also happens to have a minimum bankroll of $1.00.

You were also vague regarding whether your bankroll is based on the minimum or maximum bankroll required for NLHE. Which is it?

I liked the idea that you'd move up in limits when you had 30 buyins for NL, and drop levels when you had 10 buyins. Am I to assume you mean, for example, to move upwards from 1/2 cents NL (max. buyin at $5.00) when you had 30 x $5.00 = $150 bankrolled? Or do you view the buyin for 2/5 cents NL ($10), the next level? Hence, you could move up only when you had 30 x $10 = $300.

I'd been thinking I'd move up when my bankroll had grown to 1,000 BBs for the next higher level. So, in the case of moving from 1/2 cents NL to 2/5 cents NL I'd have to have 1,000 x 2 cents to sit down originally at the 1/2 cents NL game ($20), and I'd consider a move up to 2/5 cents NL only after I had bankroll up to 1,000 x 5 cents ($50).

Perhaps you could illustrate your thoughts with an example. Please?

Dave

If you've never played real money on some of these, it may be possible to delete all the software on your computer, then sign up through an affiliate with a different e-mail address, account name, etc..

I can't promise it will work, but it's worth a shot.

For a new site you might try hollywoodpoker. They banned US players a while ago so I don't know how the volume is these days. They were a Pokerroom skin with better customer service.

The Poker Mom

General notation is to use "nl" and the $ maximum buy in. This is usually 100x the big blind, but not always. For example stars .02/.05 and .05/.10 both have a max buy in of $10.

Thanks Poker mom, I will take a look.

BM

Email full tilt and ultimate bet support, I think you'll find that they'll let you create a new account once. Well at least full tilt will.

real late to the party... but nice post

I've had a Full Tilt account for years. I emailed their support around October last year, and they allowed me to move my account to an affiliate, and I now get 27% rakeback. Don't know if they're still allowing it, but certainly worth a try.

Also, fantastic post OP.

Oh right, just realised how old this post was. Well, I hadn't seen it before - thanks for the bump!

Post is A+

Excellent guide.

I'm convinced that I'm the biggest fish in history. In any case, thanks for the post.

^ Any chance you'll tell us your poker username?

What are your favorite sites for rakeback?

What tools do you use to to check your oponits play and what do you look for?

I appreciate the kind words from everyone, thanks guys.

My favourite site for rakeback is raketherake.com. I've gotten rakeback through them at several poker rooms over a couple of years without a single problem, and they have very friendly customer service.


I think the best thing to do is to always make a note when you come across a very loose player who plays too many starting hands and goes too far with them. They are an enormous source of chips Always be on the lookout for these players, and make use of the buddy list, as most sites provide them.

Another tip, and I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the OP, is to periodically go into your Poker Tracker database, and filter for fish. When I played on Party (with their excellent buddy list feature), I did a lot of datamining, and once a week I would filter my database for players with:

- over ~50 hands played
- VP$IP over 50%

I would then enter this entire list of players into my buddy list, and instantly I would have another 50-100 fish to chase down on the tables. At the beginning of every session, I would run through my buddy list, get on the waiting list for every good table, and then take the 3 or 4 best seats (ie. directly on the left of the fish for isolation) and play. This little routine tacked at LEAST 2bb/100 onto my winrate, and probably a lot more. Take a look at your current site's software for anything you can take advantage of to improve your earnings.

Thanks for the prompt response. I asked the question in a confusing manner. What I meant was, which poker sites are your favorites for rakeback?

I change sites every once in a while based on where I think I can make the most, but currently at Titan I'm getting 35% rakeback, plus bonus (essentially bottomless), plus VIP perks which works out to just over 50% rakeback I think. Combine that with soft players and decent table selection at my level, and it's perfect for me; however, you can do much better than 50%, depending on your game, stakes, etc.

I'm not up on my site research, but take a look through
http://www.bonuswhores.com
http://www.pokerlistings.com
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=rakeback

Also, consider getting a prop player deal (just Google 'prop poker player'). You usually have to play HU and short-handed, but you can find deals that pay up to 130% rakeback.

www.pokerdominator.com does all this for you. It's free and I highly recommend it.

this is one of the best post I have read. I wish I would have read it a few years ago when I was still ignorant and even though I was ok poker player I wasn't a winner. I didn't become a true winner until I humbled myself to alot of things that were said in this post. Self evaluation, I didn't know proper bankroll management, and most of all the pride of grinding the micro-limits. Excellent post thank you very much.