Rakeback vs Table Selection
 

I originally signed up with Stars as they had the biggest pool of players and I figured it was the best option for finding 'soft' tables. On top of this, in my time zone I'm regularly playing around 3am US time so there's only ~30K total players on Stars. (Typically, there's ~100K in peak hour). Nevertheless, its still possible to find an attractive ring game and I'm doing very nicely on Stars at 25NL.

What is bugging me though is the amount of $ I'm losing in rake at the small limits. So the question I have is - is it worth moving to say FT simply for the rakeback? From what i hear, FT ring games also seem to be a little tougher? Added to this significantly fewer players so table selection will be tough.



.Z

Re: Rakeback vs Table Selection
 

Hi Zorlac,

-I used to play on PS too, 25NL ring and 4.40/180 SNG; I start playing around noon Eastern Time (US) and made the switch to Full Tilt (reason being 600$ bonus+rakeback).

-When it comes to "player base", the most noticeable difference between the 2 sites is found in SNG's, not so much in ring games: 180's at Full Tilt take ages to start.

-I think players on Full Tilt are slightly better, yes. Some are really good. But there's plenty of fish too. Most of the time I can find 4 or 5 tables that fit my needs just fine, instantly. And 5 tables is about all I can handle at the moment.

-When it comes to rakeback: I played 27.6K hands this month, and have 62$ RB pending (still clearing the first time deposit bonus, which gets deducted from rakeback). So normally it'll be a bit more - just to give you an idea what to expect.

-I ran bad when I first started out here, lost 17 buy-ins in about 10 days time; but the deposit bonus and rb really did even out the bad run (and I learned to play longer, on more tables).

-Do I prefer rakeback over FPP reward system? Absolutely. I'm not whining about running bad or rigged sites, I'm man enough to admit I play retarded at times too (well, losing confidence doesn't really help). It's just that those extra 2.5 buy-ins at the end of the month fit me a lot better than a Moneymaker poster or a far-away supernova status.

-Just a thought: maybe sign up through an affiliate, check out for a while if you fancy the action, and then decide if you want to make the switch or not?

Re: Rakeback vs Table Selection
 

ive switched to AP in the past 60 days or so. rigged/superuser rumors aside,

...you have to ask yourself if you could see players' cards, would you sit at a 25NL table? i think not...

i moved there for the RB and reloads. i gotta admit, i like the "cushion" much more than stars' traffic.

however, no amount of RB+bonus would ever even out a 17 BI swing. dont kid yourself.