Online Poker Advice

How to calculate rake contribution

Whenever you sign up for a rakeback deal, there are a few factors that you need to assess in order to determine the true value of the deal. While there are countless articles out there about how to assess sign-up bonuses, the same cannot be said about rakeback deals. Not all rakeback deals are the same. The same deal will yield very nice revenue for one type of player, and not be nearly as profitable for another guy.

A rakeback deal’s value should always be sought in the way the poker room in question calculates rakeback. Sure, whether or not the sign-up bonus is subtracted from rakeback also matters, but in the long run, the method used to calculate rakeback is much more important. Here are the different types of methods used by poker rooms to determine a player’s Monthly Gross Revenue or MGR (rakeback is directly dependent on MGR, so rakeback will be calculated in the same way as MGR – depending on which deal you chose).

The dealt rake method takes the total value of the rake taken off a given pot and distributes it equally among all those players who have been dealt into the hand. This way, you’ll be amassing MGR and you’ll be earning rakeback even on hands that you do not generate rake on. This method offers a quaint advantage to tight-passive players who do not like putting money into the pot, while it seriously undermines the efforts of a loose-aggressive, action junkie who ends up generating rakeback revenue for his/her opponents.

The contributed rake method is a little more accurate in determining exactly who contributes money to the pot. The rake is still divided equally, this time however only those who have actively played the hand (put money into the pot) will be eligible for MGR allotment. This rake calculation method eliminates the advantages the dealt method provided for “rocks”. Loose aggressive players will still end up generating MGR for others though.

The weighted contributed rake method is the only one which is truly “fair”. It only allots rake contribution to those who put money into the pot, and it considers how much money each of these guys actually drop. If they put more money into the pot they’ll get more MGR, if they do not put money into the pot, they get zilch. This way, loose aggressive players will only generate MGR for themselves, the same way everyone will be fully responsible for their own MGR.

Of course, the rakeback percentage offered is also important in the assessment of a deal, but make sure you check the rake calculation method and hold it more important because you may get a nice percentage on a deal which you just cannot get rolling.

Ultra-high rakeback percentages usually come with poker prop deals, but these carry far more obligations for a player than any regular rakeback deal.

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker, the first major poker tournament, is the highest profile poker tournament in the world. With a buy-in fee of $10,000, the World Series of Poker attracts the finest players in the game.

From Small Beginnings…

The World Series of Poker was started by Benny Binion in 1970 as a small, invitation-only tournament. The first world champion was Johnny Moss, who was awarded a silver cup for his achievement. The subsequent year, a cash prize was instated, and again Johnny Moss was the victor. Throughout the 1970s, the World Series of Poker continued to grow in size, with many additions and changes to the games being played.

…To the Largest Poker Tournament on the Planet

In 2004, World Poker champion Greg Raymer took home $5 million as his prize. The number of participants has continued to double year after year; it is expected that many players will compete in 2014. The main event in the World Series of Poker tournament is a $10,000 buy-in game of Texas Hold `Em, at no limit. The total prize money for the 2014 tournament is expected to be more than $10 million. In addition to the monetary prize, winners are awarded a gold bracelet, and their picture is placed on the Gallery of Champions in the Horseshoe Casino.

For years, the championship was played at Binion’s Horseshoe, but in 2004, Binion was bought out by Harrah’s Entertainment. The 2005 championships will be divided between Harrah’s Rio Casino, just off the Vegas Strip, and with the final two days at the Horseshoe.

Crossover into Online Poker With The Online Poker Guide

If you’re big into sports betting you might feel like that’s the only thing that’s really worth doing in the overall gambling world. There are really so many different people that are interested in so many different aspects of gambling, but if you’re happy with soccer betting and love to find football betting tips, than we guess that’s not really a big deal. Still, there does come a point where you really might want to look outside of just football betting.

What about poker? What about slots? Blackjack more your speed? There are a lot of different casino games that you could be playing and still win good money. If you’re only into sports betting because of the community or the chance to win big, then we have some news that you really might want to hear.

A good online poker guide can really help you explore your options because it’s going to give you insight into the casino world at large. For example, if you are going to hunt for bonus codes you really need to know what the best ones are. This will save you hours and hours of research online. It’s very easy to think that you’re going to go online and search for something fast, only to find that you’re actually spending a lot of time that could be spent doing something much more interesting. Even though we really do like being able to talk to everyone about all things casino related, we find that there’s going to be a point where you want to stop talking and start playing.

Right? Right! Of course, we’re still not saying that sports betting is bad — you can always keep doing that while you explore the casino world. The online poker guide should give you the best places to play your game of choice, as well as the top promotions happening in the casino world.

Don’t feel like you have to go with the first casino that jumps out at you. Taking the time to read through what other players think about a casino can often save you a lot of grief. Even though we’ve had really positive experiences in the casino world, many people haven’t. It can really make you feel like the whole casino industry online is rigged and unfair but that’s not the case at all. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil the entire bunch when there really is so much to gain from playing gambling games online. Check it out today for yourself!

Yet Another Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy Article

In some ways, Caribbean stud poker is an easier game to strategize than other common variants like five-card stud and five-card draw.

The facts:

a) that all the cards are dealt at once (unlike five-card stud)
b) that there is no opportunity to “drop” cards (unlike five-card draw poker) make the game fundamentally simpler.

Bluffing is also out of the question, as players complete not against each other but instead against the dealer, whose actions are entirely dependent on the cards he or she is dealt. Essentially players are betting solely on whether they think that their cards are higher than the dealer’s.

The house advantage in Caribbean stud poker is actually the same as in American-style roulette: 5.26%. The difference between the two is that while roulette is a game of pure luck, Caribbean stud poker can involve an element of strategy.

The big decision in Caribbean stud poker is this one: play, or fold. If a player folds, he or she loses the ante but avoids the possibility of losing even more. If a player decides to play, he or she must raise the bet. There are then three possible outcomes:

The dealer folds; the player wins the ante bet.
The dealer plays and the player has the higher hand; the player wins both the ante bet and the raise bet.
The dealer plays and has the higher hand; the player loses both the ante bet and the raise bet.

Keep in mind that the dealer will always fold if he or she does not hold a King, an Ace, or any higher poker combination (one pair, etc.).

As with many casino games, the dealer’s strategy is usually the best. A player with no high card should always fold.

In fact, even if a player does have a King or an Ace and decides to play, he or she will be unlikely to win the raise bet, because the dealer will only play with a high card as well. In such cases, the player should also fold.

Players should only play if they are holding both a King and an Ace, or any higher poker combination. If a player is holding any poker combination – i.e. one pair or higher – he or she should always play the hand. In a five-card game without dropping, the chances of being dealt any poker combination are slim at best. Even with a pair of deuces, there is less than a 50% chance that the dealer will also have a pair.

Meanwhile, if a player is holding both a King and an Ace (and has no higher poker combination), the player should fold unless one of the following conditions is met:

Two of the player’s other three cards are Q and J, or
One of the player’s other three cards is a Q, J, or 10, and the player is holding a card of the same value as the dealer’s face up card.

In the second condition, the reason that the player must be holding a card of the same value as the dealer’s face up card is that this lowers the chances of the dealer having a pair.

Is Playing Poker Gambling?

One thing I’ve heard almost as much as “xxxx-in river” in poker is this wild statement that playing poker isn’t gambling.

Feel free to tell yourself what you must, but anyone who says that playing Poker isn’t gambling doesn’t have a firm command of the English language.

Many think that education and training somehow makes the game risk-free. If you believe that, I’ve got a piece of land to sell you. Yes, playing Poker is gambling no matter how good you are and how many fish are at the table.

Gambling is the act of risking anything of value. The risk level doesn’t matter. You could be 99.9% assured of winning and you’d still be gambling. A better statement would be that playing Poker is much less of a gamble than playing the Lotto or Keno.

Remember, you can train as much as you like and you can be the best Poker player in the world, but you’re always putting your chips out there with some degree of risk.

So, educate yourself in the art of Poker and train like there’s no tomorrow. Just don’t forget that your money always has a measure of risk attached to it.

Improving your Online Poker Game

If you want to become a great online poker player than you have to learn to walk before you can, meaning it’s essential that you not only learn the fundamentals – but act on them.

The following are a few things you should look at, decide if you fall victim to – and if so change (and improve your game).

Multitabling

There are many good multitablers out there, however there are many bad ones too. If you are good at it then it can be quite profitable but it really isn’t for everyone.

If you have decided to multitable you really should start tracking your play in a poker tracking software or even just a spreadsheet so that you can find out if you are doing better or worse than when you play at one table.

Don’t beat yourself up about it if you can’t multitable and profit, just find out what makes you money.

If you can multitable well than I highly suggest you invest in a good video card and dual screen monitors – it will make your game that much easier and better.

Attention Splitting

If you play poker at the casino your attention is focused only on the the game. However when you play online it can be easy to get distracted by the likes of phones, pagers, TV, instant messaging, other people and a whole load more.

The best thing to do if you are serious about playing poker is to allocate a time slot in which you can play poker uninterrupted. Turn your phone off, unplug the TV and remove all possible distractions – you may be amazed by how much better your game gets.

Auto-Action Buttons

You really should try to use the instant action buttons as little as possible. These buttons are really only made for lazy people or those that are too distracted with other things to pay attention.

Players who use these buttons convey weakness and poor poker skills, demonstrating a lack of interest in their hand. For example a player who insta-checks shows that their hand is not already made.

The only time you really should use these buttons is if you want to send a false message, for example if you want to insta-check to display weakness and entice others to place bets.

Playing Tired

It’s usually a big mistake to play tired. Often the other players at the table will be wide awake and concentrating hard where as if you are falling asleep at the computer than you are at a sever disadvantage.

If you must play tired however than you should do things to keep you awake and alert. Brew some coffee and play some music for example.

Going on Tilt

Going on tilt can be one of the quickest, easiest ways to lose your entire bankroll. One click and you can put your whole bankroll at risk.

The key is to be able to recognize tilt and to have a plan for when you go on it. Some good ideas include taking your frustration out on the the play money tables or in a freeroll. Another idea is to take a break.

Put them into practice.

Some of these might seem simple and obvious but way too many people fail to actually put them into practice. If you put these fundamental tips into practice you will become a better poker player.

Assumptions Not to Make in Poker

It’s easy to make assumptions playing poker and many players have many different pre-determined assumptions when they sit down at a table that only harm their game. Good players are able to recognize these assumptions and overcome them. Here is a list of the most common ones.

The Assumption that every other player is an idiot.

It’s not uncommon for great poker players to sit down at a poker table already assuming that they are the best player at the table, this can be a good thing too as it provides them with the confidence to make reads, plays, calls and folds that weaker players would not.

However there is a huge difference between believing that you are the best player at the table and believing that all of the other players are bad players.

No matter what stake level you play at there are always going to be some good players, it just so happens that there are more of them at the higher stakes tables. If you automatically assume that everyone else at the table is a bad player and hold no respect for them, then it can lead to you making terrible plays.

The Assumption that other players are rational players.

It is a big mistake to assume that everyone plays like you. Many of the poker players in online poker rooms wouldn’t have the faintest clue what pot-odds or fold equity are and will constantly make terrible plays – raising when they should check, playing when they should fold.

Especially at the lower limit tables there are going to be plenty of irrational poker players that play on instince and really have no idea what they’re doing. The trick is to pick out these players (which shouldn’t be too hard) and use that knowledge to your advantage. Let them call rediculous amounts when they have poor hands and their stack will become yours in no time.

The Assumption that you have a table image.

When playing poker at a live situation players will observe the other players with a microscope, looking into their eyes, looking at their plays – going over their game with a fine toothpick. However in online poker people are far more distracted and not observant of others playing style. Some players are multi-tabling and some are doing other things at the same time.

The point is that generally people aren’t going to be watching you that closely. Don’t assume that just because you have played extremally tightly and folded 15 hands in a row that you can make a play at a pot with nothing in your hand and get away with it because of your image. Most people wont have even realized how tightly you’ve played so this is a horrible assumption to make.

The Assumption that nobody else is paying attention to what you do.

On the other hand from the previous assumption don’t assume that nobody is paying any attention to your game. Sure there will be many players out there that will ignore how you are and have played but that doesn’t mean there still wont be some keen poker players examining your game – and usually these are the players that you need to watch out for the most.

The Assumption that you can avoid variance.

No matter how good at poker you are, you will never be able to avoid variance. Even the best poker players in the world go through bad patches. The key to this is simple – play withing your bankroll and stick to it.

Playing outside of your bankroll is one of the quickest ways to send your roll bankrupt.

To summarize, just always remember that when you are joining a poker table you should avoid assumptions at all cost – they can really harm your game.

The Upsides of Buying the Max at a Ring Game

It’s all about winning in poker — and anything that we can do to help you win is something that we have absolutely no problem assisting you with. Approaching poker form multiple angles is really just the name of the game. One question that comes up a lot is: should I really buy in at the max for a ring game, or try to go in for the minimum? The truth is that trying to go short stack could be a damaging move. You’re going to have fewer chips than everyone, so guess where all of the heat is going to be? It’s going to be focused on bringing you down because you have the least amount of chips. Going for the maximum amount of chips is a good thing — it can also not cost you too terribly much if you play low enough stakes.

If you’re doing microlimits (50c/1$), you’ll need $100 in order to have the max on the table. This isn’t too bad, and should be manageable on your bankroll. There are some strong reasons to go with pushing for the maximum.

You can definitely make a lot more money having a big stack than a short stack. It allows you to push around players around, go in for pots that the short stack can’t reach, and otherwise pursue a stronger image. Image is everything when it comes to poker. If you can push other players into believing that you’re the top dog, they’ll back out of pots only because they know that you’ll be after them. Of course, this doesn’t give you the right to play stupidly. You have to make sure that you’re not chasing marginal hands and bad pots. You still need to understand pot odds, implied odds, and reverse implied odds.

Sometimes it’s nice to also be able to have your pick of great pots. When you don’t have a lot of money on the game, you have to be so cautious with the type of pots that you chase. This is much different when it comes to having the best stack possible.

Make sure that you’re still turning to the basic tenets of good poker strategy. Playing your poker position to the fullest will let you really get things done in a big way. Why not look into things as soon as possible, as in “right now”? Remember — you can’t get better at poker if you don’t practice!

Texas Holdem Types

In the beginning of Texas Holdem game each poker player is dealt two face-down cards. After that five community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table and then all Texas Holdem players form the best hand using their two hole cards and the five community cards. In the beginning of the game, the two players at the immediate left of the dealer must place their bets. This bets are called the Small blind and the Big blind. Then each player at the poker table receives his two pocket cards. The player at the immediate left of the Big blind is first to act and he has three options – to call, raise the bet or fold. There are four rounds of betting in Texas Holdem poker and after that the player, holding the highest five-card hand wins the pot.

1) Limit Texas Holdem – in this type of Texas Holdem poker the bets are fixed. In limit games there are small bets and big bets – the small bets are used in the first two betting rounds and the big bets are used in the last two betting rounds. If you want to play this variant of Texas Holdem poker you have to know that the big bets are double the sum of the small bets.

2) Pot Limit Texas Holdem – the rules of Pot Limit Texas Holdem are similar as Limit Texas holdem rules. One of the exception is that the maximum bet is equal to the current size of the pot. Every Texas Holdem player at the table may bet or raise any amount of money, up to the amount in the pot. In this variation of Texas Holdem poker there also are minimum and maximum bets, but here all bets and raises must be equal or greater than the previous bet or raise. When you play Pot Limit Texas Holdem you have to remember that the maximum allowable raise is the current size of the pot.

3) No Limit Texas Holdem – in this game there are no maximum bet limits. Every player at the Texas Holdem table can bet as much as he wants. In No Limit game the minimum bet is equal to the amount of the big-blind. You have to know that in No Limit Texas Holdem poker there is no maximum bet, which means that every player may bet or raise any amount of money. The players can even bet all the chips they have in front of them and this is also called “All in”. This makes the game of No Limit Texas Holdem very exciting and it can be very profitable for all expert poker players.

The Shifting Winds of Your Poker Bankroll

Are you thinking about getting deeper into poker? You might feel that your bankroll just isn’t enough to really take poker seriously. This is where we would have to weigh in and say that you don’t have to have a super massive bankroll to make it big in the world of poker. However you do have to make sure that you have guts. You’re going to be going against some pretty fierce competition. Dwelling on your bankroll at the expense of everything else just doesn’t make sense at all. What you have to realize is that your bankroll could always be bigger. After all, who isn’t going to want more money? However, it’s what you do with your bankroll that matters. It’s time to make sure that you have a very tight poker game that doesn’t include a lot of leaks. If you have a lot of leaks in the world of poker, you’re going to be in for a lot of disappointment.

Anything that affects your winrate is something that affects your money. Winning is money. It doesn’t really get any simpler than that. Sure there is an element of luck in there. But a lot of newbies tend to blame everything on the luck of the cards, rather than misreads or other issues that come up in the poker world. If you’re not careful, you’ll find that you just aren’t going to be able to make the type of plays that you really want to make without a lot of hassle. This isn’t something that we’re just saying to be funny. We don’t want to see fellow poker players lose big on the table. You have to stop playing from the gut and start looking at your real odds to win. Using a software tool like PokerStove is a great way to see percentage odds, but you also want to invest in a hand history tool that can let you go back and look at all of the hands that you played. Is this intense? Certainly. Is it for everyone? Not hardly.

Look at what type of poker you’re playing. Are the stakes perfect for you, or do you need to move down a level? You might have expected us to say move up a level. This is a big mistake that we see over and over again. There is no extra badge that you get just because you’re playing high stakes. It’s a great way to lose a lot more money than if you had just stayed with the stakes that served you best. In fact, a lot of professional poker players make the bulk of their money from low stakes play. There’s nothing wrong with it — a win is a win, and it’s all spendable cash anyway. So why worry about what level you’re at compared to someone else. Just because someone is playing 50/100 doesn’t mean that you need to follow suit. It’s better to make sure that you’re ready for that type of action before you just jump in. If you have a small bankroll, you’ll find that microlimits really are there to help you grow your bankroll slowly over time.

This is the best move that you could make, given that you don’t have much to work with. On the other hand, even if you’re currently rocking a nice fat bankroll, you don’t want to go overboard. Players will attack the deepest stack on the board, and if they know that they can get in your head…well, it certainly won’t be pretty. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to remain vigilant when you’re at the poker table. The time to just hope for the best is over. Today’s savvy poker player is smarter, reads more, practices more and studies more data than ever before. It’s not enough to just collect data on all of this poker stuff — you’re going to have to put in the time to study it well. Adapt your game over time. The fish who starts out is not the pro who finishes. Anybody can be that fish — it takes a lot of skill to turn into a great poker player that deserves all of the respect and attention that they can stand. 🙂

You can be that poker player. It’s in you, no matter what you might think at this time. Just focus on the fundamentals and go from there. You’ll be fine. Just go over to your favorite online casino and play online texas holdem poker now! Good luck!