99 Poker Tips

If you want to register at Players Only and benefit from one of the largest rakeback systems in online poker, then all you have to do is follow the steps below in order to register through Poker Rakeback Online and get 35% of your generated rake.

Be careful, if you already have an account with Players Only, you’re not eligible to sign up through these steps. Instead, you should give us an e-mail telling us about your situation and we will do our best and get back to you with an offer.

How to get Rakeback from PlayersOnly

First, follow THIS LINK and sign up for an account at Players Only. Make sure you do this after clicking the link above, and make sure you don’t use the Refer a Friend program offered by Players Only.

After you do that, come back here and fill out the form that you can find below (if you have an account with us, please sign in first).
Click here to find out more about the $16,400 in prizes that Players Only is giving out this May!

Once you have registered for an account, you will receive the 35% rakeback. Please note that, as per network policy, you are only able to receive rakeback for one account in the Merge Gaming Network (the network that Players Only is a part of).

Poker Games and Other Bonuses

Players Only offers poker games like Limit Hold ‘em (with limits ranging from $0.25/$0.50 up to $50/$100), No Limit Hold ‘em (from $0.10/$0.20 to $10/$20), Omaha or Omaha 8/b.

The deposit options are through Visa, Mastercard, Cash transfer or UseMyWallet, and you can withdraw money through Check or UseMyWallet.

Apart from the sign up bonus, Players Only also have other promotions, such as the Gold Card 500 and the Gold Card. Make sure you check the other PlayersOnly Poker Bonuses.

Cake Poker is a part of the large network of online poker websites – Cake Poker Network. Apart from the sign up bonus, you also benefit from other promotions and bonuses, such as the Gold Card 500 or the Gold Card.

Unlike other poker websites, who pay your rakeback every month for the previous month, Cake Poker offers your pay every week, on Thursday.

Cake Poker offers a wide range of games, among which we can find Limit Hold ‘em (with games ranging from $0.25/$0.50 right up to $50/$100), No Limit Hold ‘em (from $0.10/$0.20 to $10/$20), and also Omaha or Omaha 8/b. Need some extra help? Take a look at some of the other post like how to improve your poker game.

How to Receive Rakeback from Cake Poker

If you want to get back some of the money that you invest in playing poker, here’s the perfect way to do it.

You can get back part of you rake from Cake Poker just by signing up and following the simple steps below. Just be careful: if you already have an account with Cake Poker, please DO NOT go further. Just let us know and we’ll propose something else.

To get your rakeback just sign up on Cake Poker. First, delete all your cookies. Then, use THIS LINK to sign up and enter 33RAKEBACK in the referral code’s field.

After that, just get back on Poker Rakeback Online and complete the registration by filling out the form below. That’s it.

More Promotions

In addition, make sure you don’t use Cake’s Refer a Friend program when signing up, or else you won’t be able to collect your rakeback. Also, any Russian players may play on Cake Poker, but their rakeback cannot be paid.

Cake Poker Features

Cake Poker has frequent updates to their software and are adding new features all of the time. In their latest round of updates, they have added the following features:

Synchronized Tournament Breaks – For any tournament that is longer than 1 hour, all table in the tournament will receive a 5 minute break at 55 minutes past the hour.

Tournament Filter – Cake has introduced a new and improved poker tournament filter that helps you easily pick out how many tables you want to have playing, whether or not you can rebuy and minimum/maximum tournament buy in.

You can also filter by the poker game, no one likes accidentally entering a tournament for a different poker game then you are expecting.

Mobile Poker – Cake poker is one of the only online poker rooms that offers mobile poker for players who have a Windows Mobile device. It is very easy to set up. Just use the web browser on your phone and type in http://mobile.cakepoker.com/m to download their software.

Deposit/Withdrawal Options

You can either deposit or withdraw cash from Cake Poker through the following methods: Visa, Mastercard, Moneybookers, UseMyWallet, Neteller, check or eWalletXpress.

Tip #9 – When to go All-In

Going all-in in Texas Holdem is always one of the most risky decisions to make. This is simply because you are out of the game/tournament if someone else has a better hand.

People who play poker online tend to abuse the power of the All-In move. Either they take it too lightly, or they simply think they can always bully other people into folding.

That’s why I think that this is one of the most important online poker tips.

When you should go all-in

The first rule of going all-in is this: only go all-in before the flop if you don’t have many other options left. I would venture to say that this would be when you are left with about 3 to 4 big blinds in chips. At this point of any poker tournament you are playing, you want to have enough chips left to make other players fold mediocre starting hands that could otherwise beat you.

Folding out until you only have 2 big blinds left will get you into trouble because you will most likely have to beat at least two other players. Unless you have a string of terrible starting hands (I’m thinking no better than 9-5 offsuit), you should be able to go all-in and make it a 50/50 showdown with a 3x big blind raise.

The best situation to try this is when no one else has called the big blind before you. The closer to the dealer you are, the better. If you only steal the blinds, then you are doing your job as a poker player to give yourself time and more hands to play.

This scenario gives you the best chance to give yourself enough chips in order to see more hands and wait for the right time to make your move.

Other scenarios to go all-in

There are very few times where you should be going all-in before the flop with pocket aces. That’s not to say you don’t raise with aces because you will certainly only want 2 opponents at most when playing with aces. The exception to this rule is when someone else has a significant raise, think 4x the big blind or higher. Only do this if you are risking more than half your overall chips to re-raise the player.

Letting this person go to flop with a call can be dangerous as you may be setting yourself up for an early exit. Two pairs, flushes and straights are not that uncommon for you to have your aces cracked.

A post-flop scenario for going all-in in Texas Hold’em is when you are unable to afford a loss, hence making yourself extremely short stacked. Simple rule is that you don’t start betting all of your chips if you aren’t sure you are going to win the hand. Going all-in in these situations will give your opponent pause and stop them from completing their hand on the turn/river.

Risking all of your chips in this fashion is not without risk, though. You must be aware of any potential straights or flushes on the board, or anything else that may be able to beat your hand.

If you raise pre-flop and someone else calls, you can be fairly certain that he isn’t going for a low/medium straight possibility. Being able to eliminate these kind of options for your opponent’s hand can help with your decision to be confident about putting all your chips in the center.

What not to do – Situations you should avoid

I’m going to be honest; there are way too many online poker players that will go all-in at the drop of a hat. A lot of times, these players look very impatient like they are playing mobile poker and have there attention elsewhere. Others who do this simply think they can bully everyone else out of the hand. This act will only accomplish a couple of things in certain scenarios.

Let’s say that I call or had a small raise pre-flop, something that wouldn’t scare many other players away. The one mistake I see players make is going all in because they have the top pair plus an ace.

7 times out of 10, you’ll scare everyone else away and seriously stunt your ability to make a serious dent in another player’s chip stack. 1 out of 10 times, you’ll get a sucker that also has top pair. The other 2 out of 10 times, you’re going to be in some serious trouble. Two pairs is something that you won’t often come back from and if you made it cheap for other players at first, you’re digging your own grave.

The big mistake I see people making in Texas Hold’em is going all-in when it isn’t warranted. When the risk vs reward doesn’t make sense, like going all-in to win a small pot, the outcome is easy to see: You are going to negate possible big wins when everyone else folds and the only time you are going to be called is when someone else has you beat.

Going all-in can be a powerful statement to everyone else at the poker table. Abusing this power by not treating the move with respect will earn you many more disappointing moments then you need to endure. Using the all-in move to win blinds and small pots is not necessary, unless you are already in dire straights.

You game will improve, as well as your winnings, if you follow the advice on this and other articles found at 99pokertips.com, such as classifying your poker opponents.

Tip #8 – Surviving a Bad Beat

Texas Holdem Poker is a great form of gambling because you can control most of the facets of the game, unlike many casino games that are out there. You can give yourself every advantage to come out on top and dominate the players without the skill set to play poker online.

But, Texas Holdem is still a game of probabilities and probabilities are driven by odds. Your odds of winning a particular hand are governed by the luck of the draw. This means that inevitable you will run into situations where you had no business losing to an inferior opponent.

People say that Texas Hold’em poker is game of skill, but even if you are the master of skill and strategy, you can’t be assured of winning each and every game you throw your money at. You will inevitably have a rock solid read on a player and do everything right, just to see the lucky donk catch a 10% chance on the river.

Learning how to emotionally deal with these bad beats will often mean the difference between being just another online poker player and being a skilled poker professional that can move on and still win some money.

Surviving the Bad Beat

What is a bad beat? That depends on who’s defining this. An online poker website will usually consider a hand a “bad beat hand” if a player loses a particular hand with a full house or better.

Personally, I think that a bad beat is any hand where you go in with a significant tactical advantage over your opponent, say anything higher that a 75% probability of you winning the hand.

Here’s an example: Let’s say that you and your opponent are sharing a hole card and you have a higher kicker. If you were to both pair the shared card after the flop, you have a significant advantage. A bad beat would occur if your opponent pairs their second card on the turn or the river.

This is on the lower end of receiving a bad beat. Unless one of the two of you were all-in, the betting action on the turn or river should alert you to this possibility.

On the other hand, if anyone every gets runner-runner to win the hand. This is always considered a bad beat since statistically they will have had less than a 10% chance of winning on most occasions.

How are you supposed to deal with the frustration of losing a big hand in this fashion? The biggest mistake that most players make is to get really aggressive after losing to a bad beat.

More than half of the time I see this scenario take place online. The person either makes a big move to try to recoup some of their loses or will go all-in. This can work if there is only a couple of players left at the table. But the good players will recognize a move of desperation and will go for the jugular to take you out.

The best move is to be patient and wait to make your next move. If you opponent made such a reckless call in the first place, you will want to set them up again in the same situation. Lucky players are only lucky for so long before they go broke.

This means don’t get frustrated by these players when they eventually win one. You want to put yourself in these situations as often as possible because this is how you build your chipstack.

How to Survive when You Don’t Receive Good Card

There will be bad games and there will be bad days when you will be dealt bad cards one after the other and you will not be able to do anything about it. However, you strategic skills can help you losing the minimum possible amount.

When things are not going right and you keep getting cards in your hand, you tend to hurry into making your decisions. You think about getting over with the game fast. You should try to maintain the same attitude towards getting any two cards in your hand.

If a player knows you aren’t getting any cards, they will try to push on you and get you to fold more often, especially on your blinds. This means that you should participate in a hand occasionally even if you are getting rags.

The word which can best describe the best strategy in case you get the bad cards is ‘patience’. When you get the cards and realize that they too weak to pull off even a small win, you should avoid letting it show on your face. Instead, look at the positive side.

You probably aren’t the only player who is being dealt bad cards at a table with 9 or 10 players; there must be other players on the table who are not in such a strong position themselves. You should focus on what is happening on the table, recognize the game plans of each of the players and try to make most of their weaknesses.

The best way to try a stick it out for the long run in this scenario is to try and steal blinds and the occasional hand in order to make sure your don’t get blinded out and end up having to make a weak decision to have to go all-in.

Try to keep your game tight. Don’t chase the bad cards, don’t make too many bets. Keep a lid on things and don’t let you weakness show. You don’t want to loose portions of your beloved chip stack in an effort to try your luck. There may be another player on the table who will play loose and bet on the bad cards, but don’t be tempted, you are not that strong either.

Think of strategy. The thinking should be done with the cards and the size of your chip stack in mind. Normally, the larger the size of your chip-stack, them more risks you can take. But in case you have a weak hand, you will not want to lose your chips why taking too many unnecessary risks.

This makes the strategy all the more important. Act normal, keep your emotions inside. In case the other players get an idea of you weakness, they will not waste a second before trying to exploit it.

If you think that with progress of the game, better cards are going to come to you and improve you hand, hang on in there. And don’t only think about the strength of your hand. While you are sticking in there, playing it tight, keeping an eye on the cards that others are being dealt is essential.

As I said before, games are meant to be driven by luck and there are times when you cannot do anything but loose. But presence of mind and an intelligent strategy can make you loose the minimum and keep you fit (financially) for the coming games.

Party Poker is a very well respected online poker site that has been online since 2001. Party Poker is one online poker site that players can go to knowing they are going to be able to get in on a lot of great poker games any time they feel like they want to play. Back when they allowed US players, they were the world’s largest online poker site. They still have a lot to offer their customers, though.

From the moment a new player goes to the Party Poker site they will see that it is a very busy and popular online poker site where players from all over meet up to enjoy playing poker in a great environment that can be counted on to entertain them and offer them a lot of opportunities for as long as they remained logged in and want to play.

Games: Party Poker is most known for its ability to offer online poker players some of the best Texas Holdem games online. The Texas Holdem games here are always in full swing. Some of the other games available for player to enjoy at Party Poker include Omaha, 7 card stud, and many other poker variations. One thing a player can count on with the games here is that there is always going to be some great competition and plenty of table choices which have various numbers of players.

Promotions: One of the first things that will capture a player’s attention when they check out the promotions section of Party poker is that this site offers many different bonuses and promotions. There are a very impressive number of promotions here which allows players to get in on a lot of opportunities.

One great promotion is the Bad Beat Jackpot. This promotion will allow players to have the chance to not feel so bad when they lose. Any player interested in this or other great promotions will want to read all of the information on the promotions section of the site so they make sure they understand the rules and conditions of the promotions. Also for new players, you can receive a 100% Welcome Bonus Party Poker worth up to $/£/€100.

Software: Party Poker also makes sure its players can enjoy an error free gaming environment so they can concentrate on playing poker and having a great time rather than dealing with problems and issues. The graphics at Party Poker are also great and leave players feeling like they are sitting at a real table.

Party Poker also offers their players the ability to download the software on to their computers, or choose the instant play feature which will allow them to play directly in their web browser.

Customer Support: Party Poker also offers players all of the customer support they could want from the online poker site they play on. The customer support team can be reached by email and by telephone. They are available to assist their players 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is also a helpful FAQ section that can answer many of the players more commonly asked questions.

Site Navigation: Party Poker is a very user friendly poker site that makes it a point to include a lot of helpful information on their site so players can stay well informed of how things work on the site.

Deposit Methods: Party Poker provides players with many ways to deposit their funds into their online poker account so each player will be able to find the best one for them. The accepted deposit methods which are available at Party Poker include credit cards, NETeller, FirePay, Western Union, eChecksby, wire transfers, IGMPay, bank drafts, money orders, cashier’s checks, and checks. This gives players all of the choices they should need in order to make their deposits in a way that will work the best for them.

Update – As of 1/1/12, Bodog’s poker room will no longer accept players from America. If this affects you, please check out their new sister site called Bovada. This poker room is actually exclusive to US players; players from elsewhere in the world will still be able to play at Bodog’s tables such as Canada, England and European countries.

Online poker rooms have become very popular with almost all of the average poker players. They are now able to go online and enjoy play just about any type of poker game at whatever rate they want to play. The benefit is that you don’t have to make a particular schedule in order to play poker.

However, players want to make sure they find the best online poker room possible so they will be able to get everything they can out of the entire experience. Bodog Poker is one of the very respected and popular online poker sites that have a lot to offer online poker players.

Not only is Bodog’s poker room one of the most popular poker site you’ll find, they are also one of the most helpful. They have a section for beginners that teaches them how to play with several helpful articles.

When you play online at bodog, you can learn valuable skills that can give you an edge at you home game against your friends. Playing online will help you break some of the bad habits you might have developed in your poker game.

They also have tournaments taking place all day every day. These range from smaller entry fee tournaments for beginners with lots of players to some of the best high stakes poker tournaments you’ll find. Best of all, you can get an entry into the 2010 WSOP main event. If you enter the satellites and win the free entry into the larger satellites, you could potentially win a seat for less than $50.

Games: The games available to players at the Bodog poker room allows them to enjoy the poker they want in an environment they feel comfortable with. They make sure they offer the popular types of poker for their players to choose from. Players can get in on such poker games as Texas Holdem, Omaha, stud, and variations of those games. Bodog also has other gaming sections where players can enjoy casino games, as well as place wagers on sports and horses. This allows players to take care of all of their gaming and wagering needs at one place.

Promotions: The Bodog poker room also realizes the importance of keeping their players feeling as if they are appreciated. This is why they make sure they offer their players many great bonuses and promotions for them to enjoy. One of the bonuses new players will appreciate is the 110% deposit bonus. Another great thing about Bodog is that they also offer a lot of exciting freerolls and tournaments for players to really get into.

Software: Bodog offers its players the ability to enjoy online poker stress free. The games run fast which is one thing any online poker player will appreciate. They also have great graphics and a lot of customization options so players can be more in control of the way they play poker. The software also provides players with a secure environment. Bodog wants to make sure their players don’t have to worry about anything except having a great time while they are playing poker on their site, so they make sure to provide all the security measures players will need.

Customer Support: The customer support team at Bodog strives to show players that they are a very important part of the poker room. They make themselves available to the players 24 hours a day so players know they are going to be able to count on getting the answers they need right away. The customer support team can be reached by contact form, live chat, and telephone. The team will get back to them quickly and try to do everything they can to assist them with all of their needs.

Site Navigation: Bodog also excels when it comes to their online poker sites design and layout. It provides players with the ability to access the areas of the site they want to. With simple top link navigation and well written, helpful content, Bodog provides players with all of the simplicity and information they need. This is great for those players that don’t have as much experience and need a little help getting through the process.

Deposit Methods: The Bodog poker room wants to offer players all of the options they need in order to deposit their funds I a way they are comfortable with and a way that works the best for them. The accepted deposit methods are bank cards, credit cards, phone cards, eWalletXpress, and Western Union.

Sign up today and you will be able to enjoy great games on an environment that is conducive to excellent poker opportunities and competition. You may even win a seat at the WSOP Main Event!

Tip #7 – The importance of planning out your poker game

Planning is undoubtedly the most important part of any long-term activity. You have to know what you are going to do, what your priorities are, what are you expecting out of the whole event and many things like that.

Poker is no exception to this. Poker is a long-term game, in which you are looking for long-term gains. These gains will not be achieved if you don’t plan carefully. Your goal, you motive your expectations should be well thought of and fixed. Be it pre-flop or post flop, there are always things to plan and strategize.

Planning how you will play during a tournament

You should know exactly how you want to play before you get started in a tournament. The best players always mix up their games, but they go into a tournament knowing exactly how passive or aggressive they want to be.

The place that this is the most important is when you are playing early hands in a tournament. Online, this sets the tone for the other players and they will want to try to classify you as soon as possible. If you are aggressive early in a tournament, players notice.

Playing Aggressive

The one time I suggest being aggressive early in a game is when you are surrounded by tight players who are just trying to survive. Since the blinds aren’t too expensive at first, you can make a probing bet to see the other people reactions.

If you play really loose and someone calls you on your early bluff, you’re going to have a hard time chasing people out later.

Playing Passive

If you are playing very few hands at first, people will take notice about the hands that you do play. This can give you an advantage. You should know that if you play a hand you would normally fold and do this out of position, nobody should call you except the players that have something good.

Then, watch the flop; if nothing comes up (specifically no face cards) raise them. If they just call that, recognize that you may be running into a monster. Players will tend not to raise and will let you bet into them in this situation.

Midway Switch

In every poker tournament that I have won, I have employed a tactic that I call the midway switch. This is the point of the tournament where I have survived where others have been knocked out and have a little bit more chips than I started with.

The plan is to intentionally change the way I am playing. For me, this usually entails going from playing cautious but confident to playing very aggressive seemingly out of no where. This throws most people through a loop for several hands.

From another persons standpoint, I might have pocket Aces or am sitting on the lucky horseshoe. I certainly must have something because I didn’t play that way before.

This tactic does one of two things for me. Either it propels me into the chip lead or it may mean that I give away a lot of my chip stack if someone can’t fold their hand.

I have had players tell me that they were thinking about folding their good flush after they caught me because it completely caught them off guard. I have also gotten people to fold top pair by keeping my foot on the betting pedal. That last bet on the river has chased many people away.

Planning your style of playing the hands you receive

The most important aspect of planning starts when you get your hand. At this point, you have to decide what kind of hand it is. It may be a strong hand, a drawing hand or a weak hand. According to the type of hand, that you have, you have to make your strategy for the rest of the game. The main thing to decide here is whether you want to go ahead with the game or leave it.

In case you want to continue with the game you have to make up your mind about the kind of hand you want to make. This may be a set, a straight or a flush. Once you have reached on the decision about the type of hand that you want to make, you should then observe your opponents for once. Try to make out how skilled they are and whether bluffing will be successful against them. And as it is unlikely that you are the only one strategizing on the table, you should try to work out which player can try to bluff at the flop.

At this stage, there is no way of knowing if you have the best hand and so you have no option but to wait till the flop for that. However, you should try to work out the probabilities. You can have an idea of the kind of hands people possess by the kind of moves they make.

Opponents may be tight or loose, aggressive or passive, according to the hand the hold. The more experienced you get, the better idea you will be able to have about the hands of the players. The less experienced players give away the strength of their hands very easily with their moves and expressions and thus you should try and take advantage of this weakness.

As the game progresses, you get a better idea of the kind of hand you are developing and thus you can be clearer about what you want to do with it. You may want to go passive, build up the pot, and try to take on a player or go straight for the pot. Consider all the possible options that you have at this stage and take the appropriate decision.

Another factor which will help you in making the decision is the size of the pot. Is it worth taking the risk? You should consider the loss that you will incur if you go ahead and loose and compare that with the size of the pot.

If your odds of winning are good, your hand is strong enough, your opponent seem to be weak and if the pot is worth it, then take the risks and try to win most of it. Or else, you should settle for the small amounts and stay back without risking too much. Because in poker it’s not about winning every game, it’s about emerging a gainer in the long term.