Online Poker
The Online Poker Basics
Online poker is the news, and if you have not yet
gone to the tables there is a good chance you are
planning to at some point. Online poker can provide
a great deal of fun and for some become a launching
pad to professional status. However, before we let
our goals grow too lofty or allow ourselves to
stumble too casually into the game there is a
handful to be aware of not only for your own
protection in leisure, but also to get the most out
of spending some of your leisure time in the poker
rooms online.
Become familiar with the rake.
How do online poker
rooms make money? They rake it. An online poker room
makes money in pretty much the same way as one made
of chairs and felt. Online poker rooms will
establish a formula or a set of formulas that govern
when and how much money is taken out of the pot and
given to the casino or card room. At a low limit
table this may be something like 5% of the pot when
the pot is over $1. Most online card rooms post
their rake information somewhere on their website
(though not always in an easy to find place). 5% is
standard, but anything over is considered too much.
Become familiar with rakeback offers from online
poker rooms.
If you find an
online casino you want to try out and plan on
playing with real money, poke around online to see
if you can find a third party website offering a rakeback sign-up bonus with the online poker room of
your choice. A rakeback bonus will return to you a
certain percentage of the money raked from tables
you played over the course of a month. These offers
range from 27%-34%, and must be applied at sign-up.
The bonus money room online poker rooms is not
always what it seems.
To
attract new real money players most online card
rooms run any number of sign-up bonus offers. Most
of these take the form of ‘start an account with x
number of dollars and we will match it at y%. A 100%
or 150% sign up bonus is pretty common. While these
bonuses are indeed nice, they are rarely a bonus
up-front. In other words, opening a real money
account at whateverpokerroom.com with $200 will not
get you an immediate bonus of $200. The bonus money
must be earned as rakeback, which means it is
returned as a percentage of the money raked from
hands you have played. Some online poker rooms even
impose a time limit so that one will not get the
full bonus unless they play a certain number of
raked hands within a certain number of months. Read
the sign-up bonus information closely before opening
a real money account.
Read up on the security and accreditation; look for
signs of stability in an online poker room.
With the rapid and rise of
online poker not only has the possibility of fraud
and theft risen, but so too has risen the risk of
financially unstable online poker rooms. It would be
terrible to have a few hundred dollars sitting in an
online poker room account only to have the place
fold for lack of business or intention to cheat.
First, see if the online poker room is accredited by
a gaming commission –this information is usually
found as a logo and link at the bottom of the online
poker room’s website. If you cannot find a link to a
reputable gaming commission do not invest much real
money in the poker room. An online poker room can be
honest and accredited, but still fold and disappear
if unsuccessful. Go to the free and low-limit Hold’em tables during peak hours. If there are a lot
of empty tables chances are the online poker room in
question is not doing so well.
Online poker can be a blast, just be sure to play
secure and responsible. Information is your friend.
