Learn Poker: RakeTheRake’s Guide to Keeping your Winnings

It’s all too common for online poker players – especially those who are fairly new to the game – to win a big tourney or collect a large wad of poker cash from a good run of games, get over-confident, and then almost immediately lose it all playing stakes and levels that they aren’t ready for. Sound familiar?

It comes as no surprise that online poker players are more inclined to gamble – and it’s all too easy to take some poker winnings and lose them on sports bets, casino games, virtual horse-racing etc. Several sites now incorporate online poker as part of their broader gambling platform, so players can immediately transfer their poker winnings to, say, roulette – this makes it all the easier for players to quickly lose their winnings.

Obviously all poker is gambling, but if you have the discipline and the self-awareness to know your skill level and not overreach, then you can make your long-term poker game more about skill and intelligence, and less about risk.

It goes without saying that the higher limits will usually be populated with higher-skilled players, and although this rule is not an absolute, it is so often true. As such, you should not be so eager to enter the higher limits as soon as you feel you can afford to financially; wait until you’re sure that you can match the higher skill level that generally goes with the higher limits. If you feel you need to polish up your game then find the best rakeback deal for you - one that offers some free poker training as part of the package.

The main thing here is to stop and think – have some sort of structure and set of rules in place for your online poker sessions. Take a break after any significant win or loss, and give yourself time consider your long-term poker game. It’s so easy to quickly lose the money you’ve won but in this instance that’s what makes it easy to avoid these common poker pitfalls. So lay down some rules and boundaries for your online poker sessions, invest time in poker training to up your skill level before competing at the higher limits, secure yourself a rakeback deal to maximise profits, and think about your long-term game.