Poker bankroll management, building and strategy – online poker guide

Poker guide for beginners

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

I have written an easy to follow guide for online poker beginners which I will share with you in my upcoming posts.

This guide will describe step by step how you get started playing online poker including the general Texas Hold Em poker rules. It will not make you a winning player though since this takes a lot of practice and commitment.

Before you get started please investigate whether people from your country are allowed to play online poker (f. ex there are special laws for American players) and register for an internet banking account.

Texas Hold’em No Limit is by far the most popular online poker game with the widest selection of tables and limits so I recommend you start your learning process here. It is possible to acquire detailed information on Texas Hold’em concepts and poker rules online, but having said that you will still benefit a great deal by reading books on poker. My three favorite books on poker are:

• “Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big with Expert Play” by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth

This book will become your online poker bible for a long time. It explains both beginner and advanced concepts in a straightforward manner. Read it, and then read it again…and again.

Buy “Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big with Expert Play” here

• “Harrington on Hold’em I, II and III” by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie

A must read I you want to improve your tournament skills (and poker skills in general). The books explain every tournament concept you will need to know about with great examples.

Buy “Harrington on Hold’em I, II and III” here

• “Winning Low Limit HOLDEM” by Lee Jones.

A great book for all you Limit Poker fans

Buy “Winning Low Limit HOLDEM” here

My next posts will give a more in depth description of the Texas Hold’em basics and rules

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Want to play poker? Read the in-depth Betsson Poker Review

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Development of my poker bankroll management skills

Friday, May 30th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Management | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Bankroll Management series.

As you may know we are a Danish team trying to start up different projects and develop our skills in this game called Poker. Actually we moved to Malta this January to give our projects 100% focus in the hope of bringing some value to the gambling industry.

My experiences with gambling goes years back. Back then I played on different sports without success – I kept loosing my money. Then I started to develop these different betting systems with a friend from the university, while also playing some poker. One system lead to the next and in the end we experienced that management of our bankroll was key for becoming a winning player in the long run.

One day I heard of the Ferguson Challenge – which I found very inspiring. It gives the game of poker an extra competition element where you primary compete against yourself – though it is still very interesting to follow others ups and downs and to share your own.

The genesis of pokerbankrollblog.com is primary based in development of the poker skills with a focus on bankroll management. In addition it will be the place where we share our experiences with the projects currently under development.

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Want to play poker? Read the in-depth Bet365 Poker Review.

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Management

Poker Networks

Friday, May 30th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Network | No Comments

Poker networks introduction

This article is a part of the Poker Network series.

This article will give you an overview over the different Poker Networks out there. Many poker rooms share players and tables with other poker rooms because they are on the same poker network. This helps to ensure an adequate number of players and action for all the poker rooms on the same network. These poker rooms are often referred to as “skins”. As a player, you may want to have multiple accounts on the same poker network, through different skins, to take advantage of bonuses and promotions offered by each individual poker room.

Another major difference between the poker networks is whether it is possible to receive rakeback. As you can read in our rakeback articles, the amount you pay in rake is a significant amount if you play more than just a few hours a week.

When choosing a poker network, our suggestion is that you shop around to find the offer that suits you the best. Some decisive factors are:

• Whether it is possible to receive Rakeback. If you play regularly this could give you an considerable monthly bankroll boost.
• Good Sign Up Promotion and good loyalty programs available. Some bonus offers are easy to play through and can give a quick boost to you poker bankroll.
• Good traffic when you normally have your sessions.
• If you are from the States or like to play against US citizens, you should pick a network that is still open for these players.
• You should feel comfortable at the table. The can sound lame for some people, but on some networks you just feel more at home. This can have an affect on your game.
• Whether you want other offers than poker, for example sports betting or blackjack. Not all poker rooms are connected to these offers.
• Finally the country under which the site operates and has its license can be decisive for your choice. This is especially true for citizens in some EU countries. Income is taxed if the poker site does not have a license in EU. The rules are not clear, so check other forums for information about the rules in your country.
  

Poker networks overview

An overview of the poker networks currently available can be viewed here. There are other minor sites, but they have very low traffic and thus have not been included in this table. The Poker Networks are ranked after the average amount of players connected.

This article is the first of a series of articles with the aim of giving a better overview of the different places where it is possible to play poker.

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Want to play poker? Read the in-depth Expekt Poker Review.

Written by Michael

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Network, Poker Room

Poker rakeback guide

Friday, May 30th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rakeback | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rakeback series.

Q: What is Rakeback

A: When you play poker for real money the poker rooms take a fee which is normally between 3-5% of each pot you have contributed to. This fee is called “the rake” and while the fee may seem small, the rake can amount from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month for a player who plays a lot. All else equal this means that you will have to have an even higher edge over your competitors to become a profitable poker player. With a rakeback deal your required edge for becoming or staying profitable gets smaller.

Q: How do I get a Rakeback deal?

A: Web sites promoting gambling companies, poker sites including, receive a provision for sending traffic to the gaming site. The provision is a percentage of the rake generated. If you acquire a rakeback deal you will be able to receive a part of this provision every month. You will need to make sure that you are signed up correctly; Inter Poker rakeback sign up procedure.

Q: Seems like a lot of work to do, why bother?

A: The sign up step only takes 5 minutes. You can start playing instantly, but there is a verification period of 48 hours. This is the time it takes for the rakeback site to make sure that your account is set up correctly at the poker site. It is unfortunate that it is not quicker, but this step is intended for your safety. If something has gone wrong, the rakeback site will contact the poker room and manually adjust your account.

Q: How much can I earn each month on rakeback?

A: This depends mainly on three factors:

• The number of hours you play.
• The number of tables you play.
• The limit you play.
• Whether you play No Limit or Limit Texas Holdem and whether you play ring games (10 seats) or short handed (5-6 seats).

This table gives a conservative estimate on how much rakeback you will earn per hour per table at different levels.

If you play limit poker the amount earned per hour is slightly lower.

Q: How can I be sure that I get my money?

A: This is a very relevant question. There are a lot of rakeback sites out there; some are well run but others are not. One indication is whether a site offers rakeback deals that are over the standard offers. The amount of rakeback given back is fixed by the poker network. So something is wrong if a site offers more that this amount. Also if the site offers rakeback at Party Poker, Poker Stars, IPoker Network or Ongame Network this is a indication that the site is not following the rules. If a site is caught giving rakeback from the networks mentioned, all your earned rake will be lost. You can get a complete overview of the poker networks with rakeback.

Q: Where can I get rakeback?

A: Not all Poker networks offer rakeback.

Q: Can I still get rakeback if I have an old account at the site?

A: In most cases no. But if your old poker room is connected to a network you will most likely be able to find a skin that offers rakeback.

Q: I would rather have bonus offers than rakeback.

A: At some poker sites you can have both rakeback and the sites usual promotion. The is for example the case at Inter Poker, where you each month are eligible for a $200 bonus.

Q: Can I get rakeback directly at the poker site?

A: No, this it not possible. You have to contact a poker rakeback site that offers these deals.

Q: Which sites do you recommend?

A: Difficult question. It all depends where you feel comfortable playing. There are many theories out there about some networks being juicier than others. I am still searching for a more “scientific” documentation about what network have the loosest tables.

I have always enjoyed playing on either Party Poker or Boss Media. Cannot explain why, might because this was these networks are where I have had my biggest success. Party poker does not have any rakeback though, so you might want to try out one of the Boss Media sites.

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Want to play poker? Read the in-depth Betfair Poker Review.

Written By Michael

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rakeback

Mark’s personal Bankroll building project.

Thursday, May 29th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects | 2 Comments

This article belongs to the Poker Bankroll Building series

When I first started playing poker about 4 years ago I was really motivated in my pursuit of building a poker bankroll. I actually succeeded in building a decent bankroll and then decided to spend it all on a great trip to Thailand with 3 of my best friends. You can see some pictures from the trip here:
poker bankroll trip

Since then I haven’t played poker with goal of building a bankroll. I’ve just played because it’s fun. Now however I am motivated to attempt to build a bankroll again from scratch. Well not exactly scratch. A few months ago I deposited 20€ into my Celeb Poker account to start a SNG project where I wanted to see how easy or difficult it was to beat the 3€ Speed SNG’s. After playing 50 SNG’s I ended the project with a net profit of 30€ and decided to start playing cash games instead.

My bankroll is currently a whopping 30€ and I play 0,05/0,10 full ring (10 seats) no limit tables which is the lowest limit available at Celeb poker. My goal is to reach 100€ and then start combining cash games with low limit tournaments. Since I started my project I have played a total of 21 hours of cash game sessions and my net profit so far is -2,1$ (I had a rocky start and was down about 20$ after my first 4 hours of playing)

For your information tournaments are my online poker niche and for this reason I also have a Party Poker account where I play larger tournaments roughly once a week. My Party Poker account is purely recreational and therefore not included in my bankroll building project.

I will give a detailed weekly update on my bankroll building process on the poker bankroll blog. I will also keep you up to date on my Party Poker tournament progress. If you want to follow my online poker battles on a day to day basis, check out my thread on the PokerBRB forum:
Bankroll Building project

You can also find a diary of my SNG project on the PokerBRB forum:
SNG Diary 

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects