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Executive Decision Number 2
Friday, June 20th 2008 6:25 pm |
I have reached a level ($0.05/.10) that allows me to play at most sites, and clearing the Stars is bonus is happening at a snail’s pace, so after doing some research and looking at a few different sites, I have made another executive decision. I want to have the ultimate guide to building a bankroll, so I must be willing to change any time I see an option that is significantly more profitable, and I have definitely found a way to make more money. I’m leaving Stars and moving to Cake and Full Tilt. I’ve outlined a few of the reasons why I’m sure it’s more profitable to play on Cake and Full Tilt here for you, though non-U.S. players may have a few more options and find somewhere even better.
To find my options, I checked Poker Scout to find sites with enough traffic to ensure that I could multi-table games up to $.25/.50, so I wouldn’t have to do too much more switching sites and bouncing around. I’m in the
Stars was out because there is no rakeback available and the player rewards system is very weak for lower limit players. I earned a total of 31 FPP’s in the entire time I played there, paying $14 in rake with nothing to show for it. Cash game players absolutely must have rakeback as they get into the higher levels or they are throwing far too much money away, so I wanted to move to a site where it was available, and it looks like the Stars bonus takes too long to clear at the micro-limits, so I might as well switch now.
Full Tilt is still an option, but the micro-limit games appear to be a little tougher there than on a few of the smaller sites. The ability to use tracking software might make it worthwhile to play there, and I already have a max percentage rake back account on Full Tilt, so I would say that this is the place to play if you need to use tracking software and have become very comfortable with it or dependant on it, but only if you can get rakeback. You can get 27% rake back (the maximum allowed) at Pro Grinders if you don’t already have a Full Tilt account.
Absolute and UB are having some issues right now, and I don’t know what's happening with them right now, so I’m a little cautious. I also have accounts with both sites that do not have rakeback, so I am happy to skip them. Either site might be a good place to play at the lower limits, but from past experience I think the games are a little tougher on those sites than they are on the sites that are newer and/or attached to sports books.
Cake has been one of my favorite sites for a while now, and I know the games are incredibly soft. With 33% rake back and a pretty good player rewards programs on top of that, it’s hard to pass it by. The only negative (many consider it a positive) is the inability to use tracking software on the site. They forbid any sort of HUD, and allow you to change your name once a week, which is nice for regulars who are solid and don’t want the world to know who they are.
The games are soft for two reasons. The site is attached to a sports book and many of the players are sports bettors, who are notoriously bad and inexperienced poker players, and the lack of tracking software keeps many of the grinders away. The grinders who do play on Cake can’t play 12 tables and take up tons of seats like they do on some sites, so it keeps the traffic a little lower than many of the other sites on the list, but there are still more than enough tables to play.
If you aren’t currently using tracking software, or don’t need it and can take notes instead, Cake is probably the best place for you to build your bankroll. Pro Grinders can offer 33% rake back paid directly to your account every month.
BoDog used to be a favorite of mine, but traffic has been dropping a little bit recently, and the games have gotten tougher. If you go through the hassle of setting up some third party software, you can do some tracking, but it doesn’t work smoothly and the games aren’t soft enough to make it worthwhile to play there without tracking software. I also had a cash out that took almost six weeks recently from BoDog, which annoys me, so I haven’t been playing there much, and the games aren't as soft as they used to be.
In the interest of learning and being able to recommend the best site, I will be playing on Cake and Full Tilt and comparing the win rates. Right now I think it could go either way, but I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to find out that one site is twice as profitable as the other. Research like that has made me lots of money in the past. I once discovered, about five years ago, that I was making more than twice as much money playing sit and go’s on Party Poker as I was making playing all the other games, so until Party abandoned U.S. players, I played the SNG’s there much more than any other game.
*EDIT - The rake structure is in fact much higher at Full Tilt than it is at Cake for the games I am playing. With a bonus to clear it might not matter as much, but there's a bonus on Cake as well, so I'll probably play on Cake until I have enough cash to play the $.10 / .25 games on Full Tilt and then look at whether I want to play at Full Tilt or not.For now it's Cake all the way. Thanks to motomania for pointing out the ridiculous rake structure, which you can chek out for yourself HERE.
I’ll also be buying Hold'em Manager once the bankroll hits $250, as it will be indispensable on Full Tilt. I'll be doing a breakdown of the bonuses in the next day or two, and playing as much as I can to try to get a little sample size by the time I go to Vegas on the 26th.
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Comments
That's nice to know about the rake at full tilt, I'll have to rethink playing there until I get to the higher levels.