How to make more money playing poker online: part 2

In part 1 of this series I discussed how to take advantage of bonuses from the online poker sites. In this installment I will go over rakeback; what it is, and how to use it.

Rakeback

before you initially sign up at a site you should look around to see if the site offers rake-back through an affiliate.

An affiliate is a person, or web-site, that directs players to the poker site in exchange for some type of compensation. For doing this the poker site will give the affiliate a % of that players rake. For those of you unfamiliar with the term: rake is a percentage of the pot taken by the site/card-room, usually no more than 5%.

Most affiliates will entice you to sign up with them by giving you a % of your rakeback. If an affiliate is given 35% of your rake they may offer you 25%-30%. A lot of players consider the rake to be minuscule, and a small percentage of one particular player even more minuscule. The truth is that these minuscule amounts add up to a lot, especially if you play a considerable amount of poker.

Suppose, you play an average of 500 hands a day at $.50/$1 or $1/$2 limit, and each hand is raked $.40 on average. If there are 10 players at the table that means you are contributing $.04 a hand to the rake, doesn’t seem like much does it? Now, the affiliate you signed up through is giving you 25% in rakeback, or $.01 a hand, now it seems really insignificant doesn’t it?

Well, lets look at it long-term: $.01 x 500 hands is $5. Every day you are earning $5 from rakeback for doing nothing, IT'S FREE MONEY! Over the course of a year this would add up to $1,825; that’s a pretty good Christmas bonus. Imagine if you played a higher limit such as $2/$4 or $3/$6 where the rake averages $1, you would be earning $.025 a hand or $12.50 a day. How about if you are a $5/$10 or $10/$20 player, where the rake averages $3 a hand. You would be making $.75 a hand or, $37.50 a day!

By doing a little research and signing up through an affiliate a $5/$10 player could make an extra $13,687 a year.

Not every site offers rake-back but many do. The best way to find a legitimate affiliate (yes, some people will get your rakeback and never pay you your %), or to find out if a site offers rake-back deals is to ask people on an internet poker forum. I recommend pokerforums.org. By asking other players you will be directed to a site that has a good reputation.

An affiliate I highly recommend is raketherake.com. I use them personally and have nothing but positive things to say. You can use referral code RTR 26137 for even better deals.