A Guide To Poker Tells: Reading The Competition

• Author: Bruno Chauvet
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Sep 3,2010

Being able to read your opponent is crucial in poker. It is what differentiates a game of skill such as poker from other games of chance such as roulette. Everybody has poker tells at the table and the more you observe, the better you will be able to read what a player is thinking and what cards they hold. Poker tells include any source of information that you can gather from an opponent including physical movement, changing and patterns of talking as well as how they move the chips around the table.

Eyes The eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. The length of stare at hole cards is a key timing tell, each person is different but some people can help but stare longer at their hole cards when they have a big hand. Others quickly snap the cards back down as soon as they see a monster. Another glaringly obvious tell is the glancing to the left consider a steal if in position. Quickly glancing at their chips when the flop comes down usually means they hit a piece of the flop. If a player glances at their chips when they hit it hard, then they will often stare at the flop when they miss.

The Hole Cards Double checking the hole cards usually means a weak hand. People don’t often double check big pairs because they remember what it was the first time. Looking away and uninterested after seeing the hole cards is a dead give away for strength. Squeezing out the second hole card sometimes means the first card seen is an ace. Checking the hole cards on a flop that is all the same suited usually implies someone doesn’t have the flush.

Patterns of Betting The classic saying in poker is that weak means strong and strong means weak. Looking aggressive and forcefully shipping chips into the middle is usually weak. The opposite is also true, quietly putting chips into the pot is often strength. If an opponent looks at his hand and then bets instantly, it is seldom a bluff.

Chip Stacks Studying how the chips are put out, the amount of bet, whether it is large chips or small chips can give clues to betting tells. Loose aggressive players usually have unorganised stacks while tight conservative players keep neat stacks. Some players keep two stacks in cash games, these type of players will stack their winnings off to the side or in front so they can easily tell how much they are up on the game. If you can determine this, they will be less likely to call a bet which would put them in the red for the game, unless they have a very strong hand. If you ever notice a player winning a large pot, and perhaps may still be stacking their chips from it, they will not play the hand unless they have good cards.

Speaking at the table If an opponent is having a conversation during a poker hand and his talk is all of the place, as if his mind is on something else, it usually means he is not too confident in his hand. This correlates to a weak poker hand. Conversely, if a player is talking smoothly while in a hand, it means he is not overly concerned about the hand he is playing. This is because he feels comfortable and usually means a big hand.

Every player gives off tells, try to remain patient and always watch the table even when you aren’t in a hand.

Learn more about poker strategy. Stop by Bruno Chauvet’s site where you can find out all about poker deposit bonuses and poker strategies.

Don’t Let Rakeback Or MultiTabling Effect Your Growth As A Poker Player

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jul 10,2010

When poker players sit down at a poker table they have a lot of different goals in mind. Some people play the game purely for recreation. Their main goal is to have a good time. They may want to kick back a few beers and catch up with friends and poker is just something to be doing while this happens. These players don’t mind losing a few bucks each time they play. If this is you that’s fine as long as you are aware that this is why you play. Other players are strictly business. They play strictly for the money. In reality most poker players are some combination of these reasons with money being on most peoples mind to at least some degree.

If, like me, you play strictly for the money than there are a few things that you should always be focused on. Moving up to the next limit and continually getting better at poker. If you continue to improve your game, your bankroll should continue to grow. With your increased skill and a bloated bankroll you should have no problem steadily moving up from limit to limit until you reach the big games. For online players there are some traps. I often see promising low limit poker players get caught up with focusing on the wrong things and they never make it out of the micro limits. Remember that the big money is in the big games and that’s where you want to be.

Most online players play more than one table at a time. This is fine as long as you keep in under control. A lot of online poker players find that they can double their win rate by playing 2 table at once. Why not quadruple your win rate and play on 4 tables at a time? This is probably fine too but some players take it way too far. There are players who play 16 table at once at the micro limits and make decent money. The only problem is they never seem to get any better. This what I call “The MultiTable Trap”. Your bankroll will grow but you will not continue to learn and improve as a poker player. This means that when your bankroll is ready to move up to the next limit you probably will not be. Players who fall into this trap often spend years bouncing between the micros and small stakes getting pounded every time they try to move up to the tougher games. This is a tough place to be and in the long run you will probably find that you’ll make more money if you focus on becoming a better poker player.

If you’re serious about making money playing online poker you should be taking advantage of rakeback. This is a percentage of the rake paid back to your poker account as a rebate. You have to keep rakeback in perspective though. Once players start to receive those rakeback payments they often fall into what I refer to as “The Rakeback Trap”. This is when a player focuses on how he can make the most rakeback rather than how he can improve his poker. This often includes playing too many tables, playing too long, or playing short tables. Remember that your main goal should be to make it to the high stakes games. Imagine how much rakeback you can make up there.

If you play poker to make money, real money, than make sure that you keep your goal in mind and remember where that real money is being made. Its being made in the big games. Not by playing 16 tables of 1/2 limit hold’em with a 30% rakeback deal.

The author takes advantage of the highest NoiQ Poker Rakeback. Please visit Rakeback Solution to also sign up for NoiQ Rakeback.

How Does Rakeback In Online Poker Work?

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jun 2,2010

Sitting down at a real world casino in Las Vegas to play Texas Hold’em, you’ll often see more players re-depositing funds rather than cashing out. While differentials in skills explain some of the distribution issues, it’s also important to note the role of the rake. Rake is the percentage of a poker pot which is claimed by the house as a fee, and it can add up to significant amounts over time.

A fixed commission from each winning pot is usually assessed by the house, along with a slidingh scale of rake up to a capped level. The house take continues to grow as the game progresses around the table. Because of this factor there is a gap between break even play and break even return. Unilizing a combination of rakeback coupled with improved play can move a scratch player from a scratch to a +EV player.

Real world poker rooms offer traditional “comps” to their players. In a similar way on line poker sites offer rakeback as a loyalty bonus for their players. The system isn’t complicated. The site automatically tracks your contribution to the rack as you play, and these amounts can add up over time. When you sign up through a rakeback site, a portion of these fees are rebated regularly to your account or as a bonus. Usually you must sign up with a partner to be able to receive rakeback bonuses. Initially, while a player may not qualify for the highest deposit bonus,a variety of reload bonuses may be qualified for thereby reducing your rakerate as time goes on.

With automated tracking, you can generally check your rakeback on a daily or real-time basis, helping you to better understand your performance over time. Proper rake back structures can help you to become a profitable player in less time, shifting your earnings from poker into high gear.

How Rebates are Earned Through Rakeback Programs

You can play in the poker room of your choice at the table of your selection and earn rakeback with the right signup structure. Unlike traditional bonuses which may restrict your play, rakeback provides you with rebates on rake based upon your Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR) to the poker room. As a result, you can play any type of game from Hold ‘em to stud to Omaha, and even tournaments at some sites, with strong results.

Rakeback sets up a win-win for the player and the poker room. The poker rooms are providing rebates based on the revenue you generate for their tables the rebates in turn encourage site loyalty from the player. In its simplest form, rakeback represents a discount on the cost of playing online poker. Those players who count online tables as a source of income rakeback permits you to maximize overall returns.

Rakeback sites credit rebates on a regular schedule, weekly or monthly generally although rebates are offered on a even more regular basis by some sites. Special rakeback rates are available for high volume players, allowing them to move closer to being a +EV player bringing home real money from their poker activities.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Absolute Poker and Rakeback at Fat Bet Poker.

What Is Rakeback

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: May 8,2010

If you are playing poker online and not getting rakeback, or don’t know what rake back is, than this article can save you a lot of money. Rakeback can make a losing poker player into a break even player, a break even player into a modest winner, and a winner into a poker superstar. So rises the question…”What is Rakeback and is it right for me?”. Read on.

Rakeback is defined as the rebate that you get from the money that you pay the poker house. Every hand that you play is charged accordingly and a piece is taken by the poker house. The money that they get is what we call the rake. The poker house usually charges from $1 to $5 for each pot played. With the help of these charges, the casinos and online gaming rooms are able to pay their personnel. Most of the time, you may see that these rakes are small and very insignificant. However, look at it closely; the house is already gaining much money from your game. With this, you can get a rebate. You can now ask how.

The providers of rakeback will keep a record of your online game and the rake that you pay. The rakeback that you will get is calculated by dividing the total amount of rake by the number of players in that table. For example, if there are six players and the rake is $3, each player would get $0.50 of the credited to them. Normally, the payout is between 25% or 50% of the total rake that you earned. This is still pretty insignificant if you take a look at one hand with a rake of $3 and 6 players at that table. You can only get $0.25. However, if look closely you will notice that over a thousand hands that could give you $250. Imagine yourself playing 10,000 to 30,000 hands every month. Definitely, rakeback would add faster if you are going to play multiple tables at a time online. There are players that earn $5000 every month with rakeback only. This is of course different form the money that you are supposed to win from the game.

Rakeback is beneficial even for casual players who play only a few hundred hands a month. There is no minimum number of hands that you need to play, and you can start earning rakeback at even the lowest limits available. This is extra money that the house normally keeps, You can play at your normal online poker room with nothing changing. If you don’t care about a few hundred dollars here and there, why not wait and cash out all of your rakeback at the end of the year and have all of your Christmas shopping paid for. It is free to sign up for a rakeback account and there are no fees associated with rakeback.

It’s your money, so why let the poker room keep it. If you play online poker at all you should definitely look into getting a rakeback account set up.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Players Only Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Absolute Poker.

Rakeback – Its advantages in Online Poker

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Apr 23,2010

As you play online poker you will quickly observe that the house take of the pot, set at a fixed or scaled percentage quickly adds up over time. Even if you are a winning player, rakeback can deliver a rebate to you on all pot contributions from you that end up with the house. Because of the highly competitive online poker world, sites actively seek to attract players with rebates on the rake. As a player adding rakeback to your bankroll can make a considerable when it comes to earning more from each hand. Over a period of months, that rebate can be the difference between finishing in a profitable or a break even position.

It doesn’t matter whether you are playing at a low limit table, or flexing your poker muscle at a no limits table, that percentage of the pot that goes to the house rake can really add up. However, through rakeback offers you can be receiving a rebate up to 40% – rebates that are paid directly to your bankroll, which can help you build up steadily through effective play. Once aware of the many advantages of rakeback you will have trouble understanding why you waited this long to sign up for the program.

Rakeback is the Equivalent to an Unlimited Poker Bonus

For many players, their initial reaction is to opt for deposit with initial bonuses which pay rebates over a set amount. For example, a 100% deposit match up to $500 may release rebates in $10 increments until you have earned the total allowed amount on your deposit, or you have to re-deposit. These bonuses seem to work on a marketing level, but when you take a closer look the math doesn’t hold up. The numbers reveal that rakeback may return you more over the long run. In many cases you can collect rakeback even while working on a deposit and other bonuses if you have signed for rakeback through an affiliate.

Initially some deposit bonuses programs exclude rakeback. If you take one, you can’t accept the other. So, before taking the fling at initial bonus offer consider what the long term effect will be on your bottom line. It is true that a high quality deposit bonus will outpace rakeback in the early going, rakeback is there for the life of your play, continuing to earn an unlimited bonus on all of your play, without a consideration of your deposits, and can add up to thousands on the table. As a result you may want to go with Rakback rather than that larger sign up bonus.

Rakeback can be the Difference Between Profitable and Wasted Table Play

After you’ve developed your strategy and familiarity in a particular site, you’ll likely want to stick around for a while. With an initial deposit bonus, you’ll have to wait for reload bonuses, losing a fixed percentage you could have saved by opting for rakeback instead. As a result, the time between deposit bonuses may turn you from a profitable to a break-even player, potentially limiting your playing time. Especially for serious and semi-pro players, rakeback can make a world of difference in terms of your bottom line.

Tracking that Keeps Tabs on Your Overall Play

A side benefit from rakeback is in the statistics it delivers. The data collected by rakeback and delivered to the player allows you to dig deeply into the factors that have impact on your profitability at the tables, and can go a long way in sharpening your game as you progress toward becoming a +EV player.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives PKR Rakeback as well as Virgin Rakeback.