Please tell me your poker room choice

I have played at PKR the most, but also at bodog and fulltilt. As so many, I cant get rakeback at PKR or FT cause I am linked to an affiliate - no idea which one, when I signed up I had no idea about the online poker world at all - And dont know how RB works at bodog, dont play there much anyway.

I am playing more volume, and am thinking of changing to a room where I can get RB, or maybe pokerstars. I know they dont offer rakeback. Or maybe another room has advantages I dont know about.

I was wondering how the CC community sees the advantages or disadvantages of various rooms, and why

What rooms do you like, and for what reasons?

What rooms would you only play at if they were the last rooms on earth, and why?

How important is RB to you, and why?

RB vs no RB, and can no RB still be a +ev situation?

Thanks

As far as rb and FTP, have you contacted rbpros?

As far as what room I'd recommend.... it depends on what you're playing (ie. on some sites you won't find the volume of traffic you might be hoping for).
If I had to pick only one site to play on it'd be Fulltilt. If I was rolled for high buyin MTT then Pokerstars would be probably a close 2nd.

WVHillbilly said:

As far as rb and FTP, have you contacted rbpros?

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yep, they said its a no-go, as I am already linked to an affiliate.

I had considered having my wife register, and play her account, but I dont think I will do that cause I am just too scared of somehow being found out.

When I registered, I had no idea of online poker. so I guess I clicked a link and - wham - I am linked for life........

fletchdad said:

yep, they said its a no-go, as I am already liked to an affiliate.

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Ok just making sure. As far as a recommendation, I don't have one but since your in germany the world is your oyster. Try a few places out and pick one you like where you get rakeback.

Poker Orifice said:

As far as what room I'd recommend.... it depends on what you're playing (ie. on some sites you won't find the volume of traffic you might be hoping for).
If I had to pick only one site to play on it'd be Fulltilt. If I was rolled for high buyin MTT then Pokerstars would be probably a close 2nd.

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NLHE pretty much my only game. I am mainly SnG and MTT, but have been going back to cash. But ATM SnG 1st, MTT 2nd and FR 3rd.

I will be getting PT3 or HEM soon and may play more FR then.

I've had the same issue regarding Full Tilt and rakeback and I am fully considering leaving FT for that reason alone. Anyway, I have been looking around but all the site "reviews" are just shills. Has anyone had a positive experience with Cake Poker? (BTW, I play SnGs and MTTs)

Used to be Full Tilt a lot but I get rake back on Cake so lately it has been cake more.

I prefer FTP. Have played a lot on PokerStars when I first got started on-line. Switched over to FTP and liked it a little better. About the same games with just a little bit more of a wait than PokerStars for SnG's.

Liked the feel (look) of the software and seem to have more success on FTP. If you play MTT you have less people playing which makes it go faster. PokerStars I have been in tournaments that were 7 to 8 hours before the final table.

That is more than I would like to invest time wise. I'd sacrifice the smaller payouts for spending less time playing.

RFTB3 said:

Used to be Full Tilt a lot but I get rake back on Cake so lately it has been cake more.

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How is the SnG and MTT game selection on Cake? I'm looking to switch from FT for rakeback as well.

i like cake sites the best

Full tilt for me.

Site I feel most comfortable on.

natsteel said:

How is the SnG and MTT game selection on Cake? I'm looking to switch from FT for rakeback as well.

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I find that there are games at levels for everyone mostly starting at $1 and going up from there. Everything from Heads Up and 6 seated SNGs to shootouts, and MTTs ranging from 2 tables to a few thousand players. So selection wise, Cake offers a lot of possibilities.

However the problem is that Cake is small and whereas on FT I can sit in a SnG or a HU and have it fill up in about 30 seconds, I've sat at a table say for a 10 person or 30 person SnG and waited upwards of 45 minutes for a game to fill up.

I've found HU start quicker than SnG and MTTs and Cake is very dependent on peak times. (I tend to play late morning and late night so maybe I'm missing the peak times)

The tables and levels are there but finding the players can be tricky during all but peak times. Cash games are almost always full on Cake though.

I do play mostly Heads Up lately on Cake...I wait about 5 minutes for a game to start or just look for one with someone sitting. Cash games you may have to wait list.

Long story short I'm getting 33% rakeback on Cake and any rakeback is better than no rakeback. So if you don't mind waiting a bit for a game to start and don't need instant SnG go action its well worth it to go for the rakeback.

natsteel said:

How is the SnG and MTT game selection on Cake? I'm looking to switch from FT for rakeback as well.

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I find it to be very limited. I play the occassional mtt on there but there's never enough of them to even multi-table (ie. I'll play a $25 or $30 mtt, along with a $6 bounty MTT.. but there's really nothing inbetween & not much there imo). I've only bothered to play a few sng's. Don't particularly care for 10plyr. tables. (players seem to be weaker in the micros than on Fulltilt... ie. $10sng)

Not sure why rakeback is so important when cash games are the least played. Personally I couldn't give a hoot for RB, points or any other 'incentive' to spend spend spend in order to produce more profit for the poker site. I don't play on sites with 10 seat tables and irrespective of room reviews, play at the site I win at the most. Which happens to be AP/UB.

Pothole said:

Not sure why rakeback is so important when cash games are the least played. Personally I couldn't give a hoot for RB, points or any other 'incentive' to spend spend spend in order to produce more profit for the poker site. I don't play on sites with 10 seat tables and irrespective of room reviews, play at the site I win at the most. Which happens to be Absolute Poker/Ultimatebet.

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So what you are saying is that you dont want to win as much money as you can?

marginal said:

So what you are saying is that you dont want to win as much money as you can?

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?????? elucidate please.

Pothole said:

?????? elucidate please.

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Rakeback is money. Without rakeback you miss out on extra income. It is really simple.

FTP and Pokerstars for me

i don't mind iPoker either (titan + celeb etc..)

but Fulltilt has the best software/look/playability for sure!

But you don't win it,,,,you earn it, effectively working for the site. On some sites you just have to be dealt in the hand, on others you have to put money in the pot. It's there to encourage small to mid stakes players to play, eg. on FT, high stakes rake is $1 per pot, yet it is 5% for small stakes until it hits the max. If high stakes was the same, you could retire just on the rake back.

Pothole said:

But you don't win it,,,,you earn it, effectively working for the site. On some sites you just have to be dealt in the hand, on others you have to put money in the pot. It's there to encourage small to mid stakes players to play, eg. on FT, high stakes rake is $1 per pot, yet it is 5% for small stakes until it hits the max. If high stakes was the same, you could retire just on the rake back.

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And people play entirely for rakeback so what is your point? Seriously, I have no idea what you are talking about now plus your figures are wrong. HU on all games rake is capped at 50c and depending on the number of people at the table the rake can be anywhere from 1 to 3 dollars on the higher stake games.

So how do u play MTT's hu? read the OP

Pothole said:

So how do u play MTT's hu? read the OP

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Are you trying to fk with my head? Please explain to me everything cause I am obviously confused. All I was trying to point out was that your disregard for RB is not a smart thing regardless of what format you are playing.

btw, ftp has HU mtts but I have no idea what is going on anymore.

No sir, I am not trying to fk with your head. My 1st post in this thread just questioned the logic of joining a poker site purely for rakeback. eg. The Titan network may well have a sweet rackback deal, but it has 10 seat tables and you have to contribute to the pot to obtain rakeback. At other sites, you just have to be dealt in the hand and let the other players go at it to get rakeback. I don't disregard rakeback, but would never join a site just because of it. However much rakeback you generate for yourself, you generate more for the poker site, nothing in life is free, except the air we breathe, until governments find a way to tax it.

Jay since I know you're in germany and don't get RB on FT I would recommend the following:

#1 Pokerstars:

• great number of games available at every stake
• FPP (FrequentPlayerPoints) work (in a way) like RB but everyone gets them.
• Fast and easy cashout and player to player transfer options
• Money added CC buy-in games Sundays 19:30 CET. (as for now)

#2 Carbon (Merge Network)

• ok number of available games during European core game hours (8:00-0:00)
• VIP point system qualifying for extra freerolls
• small stake money added Mtts with great overlay
• CC freeroll Wednesdays 22:00 CET(could change to 23:00 as from july)
• CC money added buy-in Thursdays 22:00 CET (could change to 23:00 as from july)
• Freerolls capped at 1.5K entrants
• - sometimes cash-out takes up to 6 weeks (I heard) depending on the option you choose.
• Not many cash tables
• Not many tables or different games (stud / OH / O8) to select
• akward HH display (doesn't matter when you have PT or HEM though)
• "softer" than PS or FT

+I would also recommend setting up accounts on all sites CC offers freerolls and / or money added buy-ins at (try to get RB on the new ones).

+ I would set up accounts on all sites where OFC (online-forum-challenge) events are held (don't forget to preregister) - search cc for "OFC".

As for the RB thing in general: It's free money - so why not take it if it's available, you'll pay enough rake nevertheless.