Just finished up at the tables...

I just finished up playing poker. My bankroll didn't move much. I am at $411.84, but I could have been down instead of up. I just wanted to give you a quick update! Have a great night.

Brandon Mark

Back in the game!

Poker is such a tough game. I am loving it right now. I have been playing the past several days as much as I could. I have not posted on this blog because I had some poker goals I wanted to hit and was running out of time to hit them. I adjusted my goal from getting to $600 before rakeback to only $400. I should get over $100 in rakeback. I had to adjust my goals obviously due to my massive downswing before my previous post.



I could easily get frustrated or discouraged by slow progress. The truth is, I have to celebrate each step forward. Each sprout shows improvement. I will continue to focus on improvement. I am going to go back and hit the tables as soon as I am done with this post. Hopefully I can earn alittle bit more rakeback. Each dollar counts!

Current Bankroll: $402



on the felt,

Brandon Mark

Back down ...

This is very frustrating mentally. My bankroll is back down again it's at $270. I have played several sessions without posting on here. It has just been horrible. I started out running bad, then got impatient and started playing bad. I am going to be positive and say that I am on my way back, my bankroll was all the way down to $225. My old plan for this month was to hit $600 before rakeback. Now my goal is to get to $400 before rakeback. I am about to log on and play for a few hours. If I am not too tired I will come back and post to let you know how I do.

Brandon Mark

Building a Bankroll With Rakeback

As I mentioned in a previous post. I will go into more detail on rakeback. I know that I have readers on this blog who are very new to poker. Some may already be playing without rakeback and are unaware of what it is. I can give you one piece of advice before we go any further. Do NOT open another online poker account until you finish reading this article. In this article we will review:

- What is the Rake
- What is Rakeback
- Why you should have it and how to get it

So let's assume you go open an online account over at Full Tilt. You sit down at a No Limit cash game. You start playing with the people at the table, you win a little they win a little. Have you ever wondered how the poker site makes there money? After all you are not playing against the site you are playing against other players all over the world. This is where the Rake comes in. The Rake is a small fee charged by the online poker rooms for hosting the games. How they charge this fee is really genius and most often goes unnoticed by you the player. This fee comes from every pot won. Usually it ranges from 3% up to 10% ( I would not recommend playing at a site that charges more than 5% ). The reason this fee is undetected is because it's so small and it is taken from the pots so the losers don't care because they didn't win the pot and the winners are usually focused on how much they won so they never detected that small rake being removed. It is a great model for the players and the casinos. We as players have a place to come together and play and the online poker room has an incentive to provide us a good place to play.

Now that we know what the Rake is let's discuss what Rackback is. Most new players have no clue what Rake is much less Rackback. If Rake is the money that you are giving to the online poker room from each pot that you are placing bets in. Then Rakeback is when the online poker rooms give you some of that money back. Of course they do not give you all of this money back they give you a precentage that usually ranges from 27% up to 35% of the money that you have paid in rake fees. Online poker rooms do not have to give you Rakeback. In fact if you are new to poker and you go straight to the online poker room and sign up for an account chances are good you will NOT get Rackback. How can you get Rackback? We will discuss more about that in a moment. First up, most people wonder why are the online poker rooms giving you a precentage of your money back? That is a great question the primary reason is because they are in competition with each other. Giving you part of your money back each week or each month is a great incentive for you to keep playing at their online poker site. Getting 30% back of your 5% that you have contributed to the racked pots may not sound like much. However, most online players play 2 up to 24 tables at a time. This quickly adds up to a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars a month. I know of a player playing $20NL 4 tables at a time about 20 hours a week and earns between $100 and $300 a month in Rakeback. There are even players who earn a living from their Rakeback. These players are known as Rakeback Pros. This is possible when a midstakes player is a breakeven player but at the end of the month has earned $2000+ in Rakeback alone. So basically Rakeback is just a rebate given back to your from the money the poker room has earned from you.

To get Rakeback you just have to sign up through a Rakeback site like www.PokerBankrollClub.com. Pokerbankrollclub, has specifically negotiated rakeback deals. Once you are signed up then you open a new online poker account start playing and you will be earning Rakeback as you play. Now there are a few things you want to look for when signing up with a Rakeback site. You want to make sure they have plenty of rakeback deals. Let's face it you will most likely play at more than one online poker room over the course of your poker career. If you move to another online poker room you want to make sure you can get Rakeback there as well. Something else to look for, see if they offer rake races. This is another great perk which can help you build you bankroll as well. A Rake Race is a competition among the players of a particular online poker room. Where the player who generated the most Rake thus earning the most Rakeback wins. It's not usually too difficult for small stakes players to at least get into the money on these races. This means you have the oppurtunity to win more money for doing what you already plan on doing playing poker. You prefer to find a rakeback site that offers weekly races instead of monthly races. This gives you more chances to win. Something else to consider when looking for a rakeback site. Be certain they offer good accurate statistics throughout the month. If they have a members area where you can view how much Rakeback you have earned throughout the month and at which sites that is a plus.

A final word, it does not make sense for someone looking to build an online poker bankroll not to have Rakeback. Rakeback, will help you leverage your bankroll if you are a winner and it will insulate it if you are a losing player.

Recommended Rakeback Poker sites: Full Tilt
Full Tilt is a good poker site to earn rakeback if you play $100NL and up. Their rake gets to be pretty expensive if you play below that level. Although they only offer 27% rakeback they have the best selection of higher stakes gaves over all of the other poker sites that pay rakeback.

Recommended Rakeback Poker sites: Cake Poker
Cake Poker is recommended for the player playing $10NL up to $100NL. They offer a great rakeback at 33%. They have plenty of games running most of the time at the lower stakes. The higher stakes don't have has many games to choose from.

PokerBankrollClub.com, is the recommended Rakeback site. This site has one of the largest selections of online poker sites that offer Rakeback. They also have weekly rake races you can participate in. They have accurate real time statistics in your very own members area where you can view how much Rakeback you have earned at all of the online poker sites you play at. They will even give you a bonus if you refer friends who earn Rakeback. PokerBankrollClub.com, will help you mazimize your bankroll growth.

Build your bankroll,
Brandon Mark

Such a Mental Game

Poker is such mental game. It really is not even funny. My Bankroll feels like it's in a full on stall. I am not upset, angry, or tilted. It just a matter of knowing you have to do your best to make the right plays. Even the right plays can cost you money in the short term. However, in the long run you will come out ahead. My bankroll is currently at $412.52. I still have a goal of getting to $600 by the end of the month plus rakeback. I hope to earn at least $100 from rakeback. When you are working to build a bankroll I don't think there is anything else more useful then having a good rakeback deal. I will discuss that more maybe in the next post.

Hope poker is going well for you,
Brandon Mark

Biggest swing so far in my bankroll

Yesterday my bankroll dropped all the way down to $320 and 5 hours later when I quit playing I was back up to $449. It was unbelievable! I went to my favorite cigar lounge and enjoyed a Blanc Cuvee while playing 4 tables. I just finished and I am up to $515.00. I am not sure if I am going to be playing anymore tonight. If I do I will post again and share a couple of interesting hands with you. I am in a hurry right now... so I got to run.

Brandon Mark

Taking dip

You know taking a dip is fun if it's in the bath tub, in a pool, or maybe skinny dipping in a lake. On the other hand it is never fun when it's your bankroll. I played a short one hour session yesterday and now my bankroll has taken a dip to $406.00. Ouch! If I don't get interrupted in the next few minutes I will be firing up another session. My fiance is making plans for us this evening so I will play until she comes back with some plans. Hopefully I can make a recovery.

Brandon Mark

Short sessions didn't go so well

I played a couple of short sessions since my last post. My bankroll has dropped to $430. It's very frustrating but in some ways I still realize. I am missing the basics. I am on the waiting list for 4 tables at $20NL. I am going to spend this session just focusing primarily on my Pre Flop Play. I will keep you posted and give an update on this session. I should have about an hour to play in this session.

Brandon Mark

Comeback and Rakeback

Bankroll at $450

Since my poker marathon I have played two session that have gave me two more buy ins plus I got my rakeback. My current bankroll is at $450 and some change. I am still frustrated with my game and see my self making some major mistakes. I have some leaks and I think the past could of sessions my biggest leak has been not adjusting to the table play. Some times the tables are super tight or super loose. There hasn't been a whole lot in the middle lately. The good news is that I can easily exploit these if only I would adjust quicker to the table play. Also I have to take note if the table changes and I have to be certain I change up my play as well.

A side note I recently added my blog to the poker directory www.pokerweblogs.com. If you haven't go check em out.

See ya at the felt,
Brandon Mark

Finish my Poker-a-thon

I just finished up 4 more hours for a total of 10 hours since I woke up this am. My bankroll finished up at $190.46. When I started I ran horribly and dropped my bankroll all the way down to $120. Needless to say it was a very unusually volatile session. I am tired and I am headed to bed.

Good night,
Brandon Mark

Starting the third leg

I have done well although running pretty bad. I am up alittle but not by much. My bankroll is currently at $165.40. I would love to run well on this last stint. That could be possible since there is a greater chance there are players playing tired and drunk on a Saturday night. I will continue to play a tight game looking to get my money in with good cards.

So far today I messed up earlier by slow playing and getting out run at the river. On my second leg I didn't slow play almost nothing but I got rivered on about 3 big pots. However, I am not going to complain. In the long run I will eventually beat the players that are winning on the river. I will be back to tell you how finish tonight.

See ya on the felt...
Brandon Mark

Bankroll at 134.00

I am satisfied with my play. I am down alittle bit. I didn't bluff much at all but I did slowplay 3 big hands and got out run. I woulld have most likely been up had I not slow played. But overall my play was uneventful for the first 2 and a half hours. I am getting something to eat and then I will be logging back in. I need to pull another 3 hours stint.

Thanks for following...

Poker Marathon Begins

I have been wondering how many hours I wanted to play today. I think I can realistically play about 9 hours of poker today. This will be fun and challenging. I plan to play about 3 different sessions at about 3 hours a piece. I will update this blog on each break. My bankroll is currently at $142.41.

The biggest challenge I have had is sticking to ABC poker. This is clearly costing me money. So today I plan to do alot of folding and not much bluffing. If I can take my bankroll back up to 200 dollars I will step back up to $20NL. I would love to speculate where my bankroll may be by the end of the day but I know that it can literally be anywhere from 0 to 500 dollars.

I think I am situated well, I just had a good juicy hamburger from a local cafe. I am sitting in a cushy, quiet cigar lounge. I have a nice cigar picked out that I am going to enjoy. For those of you into cigars it's a nice smooth creamy Ashton Cabinet. That's my favorite mild cigar.

I am not sure if I am going to play one or two sessions here. I will just wait and see how I feel. The only thing I hope is that I don't run really bad. I am O.K. if I just break even. Only time will tell so come back and read the update.