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 you do play the game for money and seek to make some or all of your income from poker, you should be looking to move up in limits and play in the bigger games. Bigger games mean bigger money right? Unfortunately you generally find tougher competition and less loose wild players at the higher limits as well. This means that you need to continue to evolve as a poker player and improve your game as you move up from limit to limit. It seems natural that the more poker you play, the better you should get at it. There are some traps that people fall into on their way to the big game though and some players never find their way out.
An easy trap to fall into as an online player is what I refer to as “The MultiTable Trap”. This is when a low limit player continues to add more and more tables to his daily routine instead of focusing on moving up the ladder to the real prize. Low limit grinders may find that they can beat 1/2 limit holdem for 1 big bet or more per hundred hands. They start to think about playing 6 tables at once. How about 8, 10, or 12 tables at a time. Before long they have 4 monitors hooked up to their computer and they’re playing 16 tables at once. While this may be a decent income, I guarantee you’re not improving your poker. There is very little time to think when you play this many tables and zero time to learn anything. You are playing ABC poker against very poor opposition. Your bankroll will grow and you will have the money to move up in limits before too long assuming that you can maintain your winrate with that many tables. Unfortunately your skill level will not be ready and you will find yourself back in the kiddy pool trying to recoup your losses over and over.
A similar pit fall is what I refer to as “The Rakeback Trap”. This is when a player focuses on how he can earn the most rakeback rather than trying to get better. This often involves playing too many tables or playing short handed poker. Rakeback is a great way to pad your bankroll and anyone serious about online poker has to be taking advantage of it. Just make sure that you treat rakeback as what it is. Something extra. This trap is especially tempting when you get to the 5/10 games. You can easily make a decent living playing break even poker and collecting rakeback at these levels if you play a few thousand hands per day. Focus on getting better and rakeback will simply become and after thought to what can be made in the high stakes games.
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 is a full time online poker player and makes the majority of his income from his online play and rakeback at Players Only. To sign up for a Rakeback account of your own visit Rakeback Solution.
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