Since I been so busy with making the poker forum look better, adding reviews, and etc. I will be playing very little poker but I will focus on one room that I really like, which is Minted Poker. Not enough players to do anything serious but enough players to have fun in a freeroll. Early tournament play you can easily build your chip stack because there is so many weak players. However, once you get deep into the tournament it’s time to take things serious, tighten up your play, and watch for the weak players.

I have learn from going bust with my learning bankroll. I now know what poker game I want to focus on and what type of games I really enjoy. Next thing to learn is to in force bankroll management. Keeping the bankroll growing and limiting loses is the most important thing I want to focus on now. To do this, I will be playing at one online poker room for now on until my bankroll grows and I feel comfortable enough to move my bankroll around on other poker rooms. I hope you all learn from me, from your own mistakes, and keep improving your poker skills and growing your bankroll.

A few things I like to think about is how the site’s software make me feel when looking at it’s design. Does the look of it help me relax over the other poker rooms? I must say one of my favorite poker rooms does not give me that relax feeling when looking at it’s design. This does affect my playing yet I still play there for a few reasons. I’m not going to name the room or the reasons why I still play there because I am not trying to put down a room or make one seem better than another.

However, I believe that if you know the poker game you want to “master” and a training site to teach you just that. The next step is to find an online poker room that suits your needs, have weak players, and make you feel relax so you can play longer, enjoy playing, and make more profits if you haven’t already found a poker room. This will surely help you not only boost your profits but help you make smart choices while playing poker when you in those big pots or late in a tournament. It’s a lot better than playing on tilt (on edge).

I think the color and table design style of a poker room has something to do with the way you perceive that poker room to be a relax feeling or whatever you may feel. So to close this up, I just want to say remember to compare online poker rooms to control your emotions and the way you play. Cheers to being a profitable poker player.

Yesterday I let you all know about the starting of satellite tournaments to win a live main event tournament seat. You may want to use the PokerStars Bonus Code 2010 or grab your UltimateBet Rakeback to really hit those satellite tournaments hard. Play one or more at the same time until you win a seat. If you can’t manage to win a seat, at least you will finish in cash for a nice boost to your bankroll.

However, the most important thing to know when it comes to poker is knowing which game or games you enjoy playing so you make less mistakes and more smart choices. For example, if you really into cash games. Don’t hop into tournaments just because you COULD win a seat to the main event. That is one of the fastest ways to kill your bankroll. Losing your whole bankroll is not going to help you make money playing poker online.

Before attempting to hop into these serious satellite tournaments. I recommend joining a poker training site to improve your multi-table tournament poker skills. This will at least give you a fighting chance to win the seat if not a fighting chance to place in cash to give your bankroll a nice boost or to recap your loses from all the tournaments you entered to learn how to be a better tournament player.

All in all, I think everybody should find out which poker game is best for them and find a poker training site to help improve your poker skills in that poker game. As long as you stay learning you on the right path to being a serious poker player.

Also by focusing on tournaments you can clear your poker bonus much faster. Last year the top online poker player made a full time living playing poker tournaments. She won 1 out of every 20 tournaments. Picture if one of those tournaments was a WSOP satellite tournament. Reach the final table or place high in the WSOP main event and most likely you will receive a contract deal with one of the online poker rooms.

This is why live tournament events like this is so important for any poker player. You can always use UB Referral Code to win a WSOP satellite tournament on UB.com to meet the poker brat himself Phil Hellmuth. Who wouldn’t want to meet him and maybe get a chance to be on the UB.com poker team with him. Even though I am sure some of you don’t like him but if 100% of the people like you then you wouldn’t be well known now would you?

Now about the live tournament events, I know most online poker players have never played live and this may throw your game off just a bit for about 10 minutes until you feel comfortable about playing poker sitting at the table with other players and not behind your computer screaming you donkey after someone made a dumb call and won the pot. I must say playing poker live is a lot more fun than sitting at the computer because you get to see the people you playing against, you can learn to read them, and it’s always funny to see someone slowly go on tilt before you take all their chips.

Good luck at all the online poker rooms in those satellite tournaments to win your seat. I know I will be hurting after my seat!

The reason I like cash games is I play very little hands and win big pots. Although some times I play too aggressive when I think I have the win for a very large pot and end up losing most of what I won in the last hour. This is why poker training is very important and having the bankroll to do so.

The reason I like tournaments is really simple. You have a set amount you can lose vs cash games sitting at the table with whatever you want. The payouts of tournaments are really big. Although it does take some time to win or even cash in a tournament. It is still well worth it. Plus winning big tournaments can result in winning a seat at one of the major live tournament events.

Now my problem with sit n go’s and heads up. Sit n go’s I really don’t have a problem with them. When I first started playing poker sit n go’s was the only games I could win. I even won 8 in a row once. Only if I did that on minted poker I would be a millionaire right now. Now heads up I below through around $50 before I realize heads up play is just not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t lose every time I play a heads up but one on one is just not for me.

All in all, I have learned something over the past week. Cash games and tournaments is the way to go for me. Now back to my poker training and playing. I will keep you all updated on how its going or Ill just wait until the monthly poker stats report. Anyways, if you want to improve your poker skills. You can buy your membership to outstandingpoker or get free poker training. It doesn’t really matter how you learn as long as you improve your poker skills. Cheers!

*Use a rakeback Bookmaker.com bonus code when signing up at Bookmaker to receive 30% rakeback.

The dealt method is very easy to understand. Basically, the amount of rake generated from each hand is divided evenly among the amount of players who were dealt a hand pre-flop. The amount each player contributed to the pot does not matter when calculating rake using the dealt method.

For example, if $1.50 is raked from a 6-handed cash game table, then each player has generated $0.25 in rake using the dealt method. Similarly, if $1.50 is raked from a 9-handed table, then each player has generated $0.1667 in rake.

You can probably tell by now that the dealt method of rakeback calculation is beneficial to tight players who fold a lot of hands pre-flop because they will be earning rakeback for these hands without even contributing a single cent to the pot. In some cases it may even be possible to make a profit from the dealt rakeback method by folding every single hand if your table is very loose. Of course this is not a smart strategy because you should always play your monster hands, but it goes to show that playing an extremely tight style could be especially profitable if you sprinkle in some solid hands. Many online poker rooms use the dealt rakeback method including Doyles Room, Cake Poker and Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt is the largest online poker room that is currently offering rakeback to players. Full Tilt offers 27% rakeback to all players who sign up using a rakeback provider’s Full Tilt referral code.  Along with the 27% rakeback, all new players receive a Full Tilt poker bonus worth up to $600. If you think the dealt rakeback method is right for you then I highly suggest registering a rakeback account at Full Tilt Poker because it is in my opinion the best poker room online.

The dealt rakeback method is very advantageous to tight players because they will be earning rakeback even when they fold pre-flop. Rakeback can turn a super tight player who loses a few dollars per hour into a winning player because it is possible to receive a great amount of rakeback than the actual amount of rake you contribute to the poker room when rakeback is calculated using the dealt method. Every online poker player should sign up for a rakeback account because it is free money that the poker room is giving back to players who are in the know. Now that you have read this article you are one of these players so you should never sign up for a non-rakeback account again in your online poker career.

The contributed method is likely the fairest way to calculate rake for each player because the amount of rake you have actually contributed to the pot is the amount that you are said to have generated. This means that the percentage of the total pot you have contributed in chips will also be the percentage of the rake you are said to have generated.

For example, if you are playing a $1/$2 cash game and you raise to $10 pre-flop from early position and the small and big blinds call you there is now $30 in the pot. After the flop you bet another $20, the small blind folds and the big blind calls making the pot $70. On the turn you fire another $50 into the pot and once again the big blind calls making the pot $170. On the river you bet $200 and the big blind folds. If say $3 was raked from that pot then you would have generated 47% of the rake which is $1.41. You would then earn rakeback on this amount which would equal $0.423 if you were playing at a site that offered 30% rakeback. As you can see from this example, your rakeback depends on the amount of money you contribute to the pot when using the contributed rakeback method.

The contributed rakeback method is advantageous for loose aggressive players who like to see a lot of pots and push opponents off of hands. The more money you have going into the pot the bigger your rakeback payment will be every month using the contributed rakeback method. This is in contrast to the dealt rakeback method where the rake is split evenly between every player who was dealt a hand regardless of whether they folded pre-flop or bet until the river.

Some online poker room that use the contributed rakeback method include Carbon Poker, Betfair Poker and PKR Poker. PKR is probably the best online poker room that does offer rakeback using the contributed method.  PKR offers 30% PKR rakeback, which we highly recommend. If you do decide to sign up for PKR rakeback, you must enter a rakeback specific PKR bonus code when making your first PKR deposit.  PKR is a great room with amazing 3D software and they are quickly becoming a top online poker competing with the likes of Full Tilt and PokerStars.

I feel that the contributed rakeback method is the more accurate method and the better ones for poker rooms to use because it rewards the players who build pots and in turn builds the rake, which is how the poker rooms make their money. A player who can break even playing a loose aggressive style can be a very profitable player if they are on a rakeback account at a contributed rakeback poker room.

So I have put money in full tilt poker and cake poker. Since I pay $15 a month for outstandingpoker membership to learn how to play no limit texas holdem cash games. I think I should put the knowledge to good use. Also, for those of you that don’t have $15 a month. You still can get free poker training to improve your poker skills. Anyway, lets get into my poker stats.

My Poker Stats

Absolute Poker: $0
BetUS: $0
Bodog: $0
Cake Poker: $90 (+$90)
Carbon Poker: $0.00 (-$0.06)
Doyles Room: $0
Full Tilt Poker: $125 (+$125)
Minted Poker: $0.38 (+$0.38)
Oddsmaker: $0.08
Pokerstars: $0.12 (+$0.08)
Power Poker: $0
Reefer Poker: $0
Spin32 Poker: $0
UB: $0
Yoga Poker: $0 (-$1.12)

Lets see what I can do with the money on full tilt poker and cake poker. Im setting the goal for cake poker at $120 and for full tilt poker $200. I also been playing freerolls on minted poker which seems to be pretty easy to cash. So ill set a goal for $25 and for yoga poker $25. Yoga poker is pretty easy to cash in the freerolls. I had made over $7 playing limit texas holdem poker but lost it all on a bad day.

Cheers to becoming a profitable poker player!

Pairs – Type 1 & Type 2

There are two types of paired starting hands in 7 Card Stud. The first is a pair that includes one of your hole cards and your upcard. In most situations you should always stay in the hand at least until 5th street when you get dealt a pair, even if it is lower than the pair another player is representing and betting on. The second type of pair is a pocket pair and it is considerably better than the one mentioned above. This is because the other players will assume you have a pair of whatever your upcard happens to be. These pairs can lead to two profitable scenarios. The first is getting 3 of a kind. If you have (33) – 6-J-3 the other players will assume you have a pair of sixes or at the most two pair. Appearances are everything in 7 Card Stud.

The other situation also uses appearances to your advantage. If you have (33) – 6 and get another six on 4th, 5th or 6th street the other players will automatically assume you have trips, especially if you have been betting or calling others’ bets. You might not scare everyone out of the hand every time but this scenario is +EV in most cases.

Drawing Hands – Type 1 & Type 2

There are two types of drawing hands in 7 Card Stud as well. The first is a straight draw and the second is a flush draw.

• Straight Draw – (8h-9s) – 10d
• Flush Draw – Three cards of the same suit

Statistically speaking, you have slightly better odds of catching your flush than the straight with the starting hands listed above. How you play these hands depends on:

• Position
• The action before you
• The competition

In most cases I will play either of these hands until 5th street. If there are any raises and my hand is not improving I will fold. Another factor that will prompt me to fold is the statistical chances of catching my hand. This is what separates the novice Stud poker player from the expert Stud poker player. Remembering dead cards and playing accordingly is very important in 7 Card Stud. Dead cards are the other players’ upcards, even the ones that folded. Here is an example:

• My Cards – (7-8)-6-10

If there are two players with a 9 showing and one that already folded my odds of catching the inside straight are reduced by 75%. This is why it is always important to remember folded cards in 7 Card Stud.

Sometimes this can play a role in hand selection as well. If I have (7-9)-7 and the other two sevens are showing on the table I might want to fold against a hand like (X-X)- K, if that player raises.

Strategies You Can Use In Stud HL & Razz

This lesson will start off with the “before you sit” factors. Due to the complexity of Stud HL and Razz poker, the novice to skilled player ratio is much higher than in Texas Hold’em. This will become apparent when you look at the “Plrs/4th” percentages. This number indicates the average number of players that stay in until they receive their second upcard. You can view this information right from the lobby at most poker rooms. The tables with higher Plrs/4th percentages will fall into one of two categories:

• Short-handed Tables – If a table only has 3-4 players the Plrs/4th percentage should be higher than a table with 7-8 players, this is true for any card game. The number of players at the table has a direct impact on hand selection.
• Soft Competition – If a table with 7-8 players has a Plrs/4th percentage of 50%+ this is a reliable indicator that the players at the table are either inexperienced, experienced players that suck or are having a very good run in regards to starting hands. It is not safe to assume that every player at the table is a fish though. Three players could be playing 3 out of 4 hands and the fourth player could be playing 1 out of 4 hands. It is safe to assume that the last player is doing most of the winning.

Another thing you should keep in mind is bankroll management. In both 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo and Razz you shouldn’t play at a table unless you have a bankroll of 40-50X the small bet. For instance, if you have a $50 bankroll, you should stick to $1/2 or less.

Remembering dead cards is another important tactic in both games. What is a “dead card”? A dead card is a card that was dealt to another player. If a player gets dealt (X-X) – 7 and folds, the 7 is a dead card. The same is true if the player stays in the hand. Any card that you can see that isn’t part of your hand is a dead card. Remembering cards is a more important part of a winning 7 Card Stud HL strategy but still comes into play in Razz poker.

The final lesson in this article is using the notes feature. The Stud HL or Razz poker community is relatively small, regardless of which poker room you play at. Over time you will be bumping into the same players over and over again. Every major poker room offers a “player notes” feature. If you notice a player likes to bluff a lot you should make a note of it for later sessions.