Archive for the ‘Multitabling’ Category

How Costly is it When You Tilt Online?

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

The concept of tilt is something most poker players are aware of, but the severity of the effect is only realized by a few. Taking a bad beat or two then losing your composure during a poker game is called tilt. When another player gets under your skin it can also happen.  You tend to make plays you wouldn’t normally make which end up costing you money when on tilt. Often these plays cost you a lot of money. When playing live in a casino or card room, you only lose control at one table at a time then usually can regain your composure after just a few hands. Playing online on 6 to 8 tables a once is a different story.

There are many advantages to playing online like multi-tabling and faster dealing, which allows you to play far more hands than live play. If you’re playing your best poker this is a great way to make money, until you tilt which can cost you a small fortune. You will more than likely tilt for 3 or 4 hands in a live game in the ten minutes it takes for you to calm down. During a game online in ten minutes you may see 60 or more hands go by. Chances are you will make more mistakes and lose more money if you are tilting for 60 hands. Poker players tend to become more agitated when this happens, instead of calming down, costing them more money. Of course losing money will cause a player to stay on tilt longer and so the cycle continues. These situations can be identified.

If you are normally a tight solid player but find yourself playing fast and loose, chances are you are experiencing tilt. If you have lost several hands in a row this can be a sign. If you’re losing a lot of chips you may be tilting, so you better do something fast.

Taking a walk, as easy as it sounds, or taking a ten minute break, can help you regain your composure. The problem is, if you stand up every time you lose a big hand you’ll spend more time walking than playing poker. Tightening up and paying close attention to your game is a more realistic solution. Talking to yourself, as crazy as it may sound, may help plays make more sense after losing a big pot. If you ask yourself, “Does it make sense to raise with Ace Four Suited under the gun?”, and your answer is no, then you should probably fold. You can also fold a few borderline plays that you may otherwise take a chance with. You may be surprised at how many mistakes you can save yourself from just by talking to yourself.

Whatever the answer for you is while on tilt the most sensible thing is to do whatever works for you to get your head back in the game. Your bankroll may take a big hit otherwise, especially if you’re multi-tabling.

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Finding the Answer to Multi Table Tilt

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Tilt is a concept most poker players are aware of, but the effect it actually has on their bottom line is realized by few. When you lose your composure at the poker table due to a bad beat or two, this is called Tilt. When another player gets under your skin it can happen, causing you to make plays that you wouldn’t normally make. These plays not only can cost money but sometimes a lot of money. At a casino or card room, if you lose control, thankfully it’s only at one table at a time, so you can maybe calm down and regain your composure after a few hands. When playing six to eight tables at once online, what then?

Faster dealing and multi-tabling are a couple of advantages when playing online. It is possible to play ten or twenty times the amount of hands that you could using live play. When you’re playing your best this is a great way to make money, but it can cost you a fortune when you’re on tilt. In a live game, if it takes you ten minutes to calm down you will generally tilt for three or four hands. Sixty or more hands can be seen in ten minutes when playing online. Chances are if you are tilting for sixty hands you will make more mistakes and lose more money. Instead of gradually calming down when this happens poker players tend to become more agitated causing them to lose more money. The cycle is hard to stop once it starts because losing more money will cause you to stay on tilt or become worse and so on. How can these situations be identified?

Some degree of tilt is probably experienced when a normally tight solid player begins playing fast and loose. The number of hands lost in a row is another thing to look for. You may not realize you’re on tilt, but if you are spewing chips, you better do something fast to calm down and stop the bleeding.

Taking a walk is an easy answer. Taking a ten minute break can help you regain your focus. The problem is if you’re playing eight tables and you stand up every time you lose a big hand you’ll spend more time walking than playing. Tightening up your game and paying closer attention to every play you make is a more realistic answer. Talking to yourself may help. “Does it make sense to raise with Ace Four Suited under the gun?” If you answer no to your own question then fold the hand. It may also be wise to fold a few borderline hands instead of taking the chance. Talking to yourself may sound crazy but you may be surprised at how many mistakes you avoid by doing it.

Everyone has a different answer when it comes to tilting. Doing whatever works to calm you down so you can get back in the game is the solution. You need to do it quick if you are multi-tabling or your bankroll will take a serious hit.

Visit Rakeback Solution for the best Rakeback rates and Rakeback Promotions.

Multi Table Tilt – How Much is it Costing You?

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Most poker players are aware of the concept of tilt. But few realize how much of an effect it actually has on their bottom line. Tilt is when you lose your composure at the poker table generally due to a bad beat or two. It can also occur when another player is getting under your skin. When you’re on tilt you make plays that you wouldn’t normally make. These plays cost money. They often cost a lot of money. If you’re playing live in a casino or card room you thankfully only lose control of one table at a time and may be able to calm down and regain your composure after only a few hands. But what if you’re playing online and you have six to 8 tables open at once?

Playing online affords many advantages like faster dealing and multi-tabling. This allows you to play ten or even twenty times the amount of hands as live play. This is a great way to make extra money when you’re playing your best poker, but when you’re on tilt it can cost you a small fortune. If it takes you ten minutes to calm down, you will generally tilt for three or four hands in a live game. If you’re playing online, you may well see sixty or more hands in a ten minute span. If you are tilting for sixty hands, chances are that you will make more mistakes and lose more money. When this happens, instead of gradually calming down, poker players tend to become more agitated, and lose more money. Losing more money will cause you to stay on tilt or become even worse and the cycle is hard to stop once it starts. So how do we identify such situations?

Generally if you’re playing fast and loose when you’re normally a tight solid player, you’re probably experiencing some degree of tilt. Another thing to look for is if you’ve recently lost several hands in a row. You may not realize that you’re on tilt, but if you’re hemorrhaging chips you better do something to calm down and stop the bleeding.

The easy answer is to just take a walk. Get up and take a 10 minute break and regain your focus. The problem is that if you’re playing 8 tables, and you stand up every time you lose a big hand, you’ll spend more time walking around than playing poker. Another, more realistic, answer would be to tighten up your game and pay extra attention to every play you make. I like to talk to myself to make sure that all of my plays make sense for a few minutes after losing a really nice pot. “Does it make sense to raise with Ace Four Suited under the gun?”. If the answer to my question is no, than I fold the hand. I also try to fold a few borderline hands that I may otherwise take a chance with. It sounds crazy talking to yourself, but if you try it you may be surprised at how many mistakes you save yourself from making.

The answer to tilt is different for everyone. The common solution is that you need to do whatever works to calm you down and get back on your A game. If you’re multi-tabling, you need to do it quick or your bankroll will take a serious hit.

Visit Rakeback Solution for the best Rakeback rates and Rakeback Promotions.

Don’t Let Multitalbing Or Rakeback Slow Your Growth As A Poker Player

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

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 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.

Visit Rakeback Solution for the best Rakeback rates and Rakeback Promotions.

Dont Get Caught in the Rakeback or Multitable Trap

Friday, September 11th, 2009

As poker players we have a lot of different goals when we play poker. Some of us play strictly for the fun of it. These players’ goal when they sit down at a poker table is to have a good time and share some laughs with their friends. They may have a couple of beers and a cigar and be completely happy if they walk away losing a few bucks. That’s OK as long as that’s the reason you play poker. Some of us play for money. These players’ sole purpose for playing the game of poker is to turn a profit. In reality most of us are some sort of combination of the two.

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.

The main thing that I often see happen to up and coming poker players is that they begin to play too many tables at once. These players believe that they can continue to make more and more money by adding more tables at the same limits. This may be true but there is a limit to the amount of tables one person can handle. The real drawback here is that you stop learning and improving your game. If you find yourself playing 16 tables of 1/2 limit hold’em for months on end, you have fallen into the multitable trap. Its time for you to drop down to 2 to 4 tables at a time and start moving up in limits. Multitabling is a great way to increase your dollar per hour income. Just make sure that you don’t stop learning and getting better at whatever form of poker you’re playing. Moving up should be your primary goal. The real money is in the big games and 20 tabling .50/1 is never going to get you there.

Another related trap is the rakeback trap. While rakeback is great and should be taken advantage of by every serious online poker player, you should treat it as what it is; Something extra. Players often get caught up in earning as much rakeback as they can rather than trying to get better and move up. I often see players playing online who stop moving up when they get to 3/6 or 5/10 limit hold’em. These limits will allow you to make good money just in rakeback if you play enough tables, but, again the real money is in the big 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.

Visit Rakeback Solution for the best Rakeback rates and Rakeback Promotions.