Hey RFC Members, this month I want to discuss one of two minor changes that you can make today, which will yield great positive results to your poker bankroll. The first one is Rakeback:

I know I touched on this topic briefly in my article from last month, but I feel that it is extremely important and would like to take this opportunity to really go into details and show the numbers behind it. If you are serious about making from poker then having a rakeback program is a MUST. If you are not playing with rakeback then you are basically giving away free money and I'm sure most of you don't want to do that.

Below is a table that shows average rakeback returns for different levels of play, from full table (9 handed) to 6 max. The numbers were taken from a regular rakeback calculator and I've used the standard 30% rakeback for these examples. Also, please note that I have used NL Holdem, but if you are looking to calculate Limit Holdem, then a general rule of thumb is to double the NL levels. For example .50/ 1.00 NL is equivalent to 1 / 2 Limit & 1 / 2 NL is like 2 / 4 Limit etc ….

If you look at the above table you will see that at only 10 hours a week part time you could be getting back over $1000 a year playing the .50/1.00 NL level and over $1600 a year at the 1 / 2 NL level and this is for only 1 table. What if you were playing 2 tables at a time? What about 20hrs a week? A full time player playing 40hrs per week, 4 tables at the 6max 1 / 2 NL level will see  a yearly rakeback amount of over $26,000. Not a bad base salary for playing poker all day!!!!

Rakeback usually applies to tournament fees as well, so all of you Sit'n Go players should be able to capitalize on it. For the SNG tournaments, it's a much easier calculation. Usually the rake is 10% of the buy in so for example on a $10 SNG you will pay $1 rake, $20 would be $2 etc …. For the table below I have shown the amounts based on a player that only plays 10 SNG tournaments per week par time:

Although this example shows a relatively low amount of SNG's per week, it should be used as a guideline on what to expect in rakeback revenues on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. I know a lot of you are playing well more then 10 a week so your rakeback will be a lot more then the above example. An online pro playing 150-200 SNG's per week( which is attainable playing multiple tables and turbos)  at $50 can expect anywhere from $11,700 to $15,600 on an annual basis just in rakeback alone.

Bottom line , whether you are a casual part time player or a seasoned pro , you should be using rakeback. If you are playing cash games or SNG's & tournaments you should be using rakeback. It's basically free money given back to you every time you play. It's a great way to increase your poker profits without having to improve your game.

I hope that many of you see the benefits of getting set up on a rakeback program. Although part time it may not seem like much , but an extra $500 or $1000 at the end of the year in your bank account instead of the poker sites, seems worthwhile to me.

Look out for Part 2 of this article in next month's newsletter, where I will discuss the other small change that everyone can do to greatly improve overall profits and bankroll. This small adjustment may just be the most important thing that you can do and it doesn't even involve improving your poker game. Until next month … I will keep you guessing.

Shawn (BT323) - RFC Poker Coach

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to Victory" - William Hazlitt