Saturday, February 12, 2011

Don't Let MultiTabling or Rakeback Slow Your Poker Growth

By Thomas Kearns


People play poker for a lot of different reasons. Some play for the competition, some for the social aspect, and some play for the pure fun of the game. When these players sit down an play poker they generally don't mind much if they loose a few bucks. This is the price of entertainment for some players. Other players play strictly for the money. This group of players is all business and have only one goal in mind. The reality of it is that most of play the game for some combination of reasons and money is on most of our minds to some extent or another.

If your main motivation at the poker table is money, you should be looking to improve your poker at all times and move up to bigger games. Bigger games are where the bigger money is at and if that is your motivation, you need to stay focused. With the higher stakes generally comes tougher competition. If you continue to evolve as a poker player you should grow as a player along with your bankroll so that you will be ready when you get to the bigger games. Unfortunately there are some traps for online poker players that often stunt the growth of a player and prevent them from ever making it to the big game.

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.

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 continue to learn and grow as a player you should be able to continue to move up the ladder to the big games. Rakeback will be a great boost to your bankroll but you should be thinking about winning at the tables first and foremost. Don't let this important point slip by. You may find yourself playing 16 tables at the micro limits for the rest of your career.




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