Why did you start the Best Poker Sites website?
I used to run a small network of poker sites, but I sold them all earlier this year. I had plans to leave the poker industry entirely, but I decided to do one more site.

What would make the Best Poker Sites website a success?
I would consider the site a success if I could get a loyal following of readers at our poker news blog, build out the strategy section a little bit more, and add to/refine the poker toplists section, so that every sort of online poker player can receive good advice on where to play.

What has been the biggest surprise since you started the website?
I had forgotten how long it takes for a new poker site to start receiving significant traffic from Google. All of my old sites were fairly well established and received a fair amount of traffic, but the first six months with this site were discouraging as I felt like I was adding useful, unique content, but nobody was reading it. The past two months have been a lot better.

Do you play a lot of online poker? What is your game? Stakes?
When I was younger I was pretty hardcore into the $10-$50 SNGs at PokerStars as well as the $20 180-mans, but now I am a little busier so I play mostly recreationally. When I do play I usually get a couple hundred hands of Rush Poker in before I get back to work.

Have you tried any of the training sites or read any books to improve your game?
When I first started I read a TON of books… Super System I/II, Mike Caro’s Tells book, a lot of the Slansky books, as well as a lot of the books that the pros wrote (or just put their name on) that weren’t so great. As far as the training sites go, I have accounts at most of them as I have reviewed a lot of sites, and they really are helpful even if you are just a casual player.

What poker websites do you frequent the most?
I do a “Weekly Roundup” every Friday on the news blog, so I spend a lot of time throughout the week reading sites like PokerNews.com, PokerListings.com, and PokerNewsDaily.com so I can find interesting stories to highlight. Besides those I like to follow the PocketFives forum and check up on the CardPlayer POY rankings from time to time.

Do you have a favorite poker pro? Or one you despise?
I’m sure a lot of people would answer this the same way, but I really like Phil Ivey. I’ve always enjoyed watching teams/individuals who completely dominate their sport, and it’s fun to follow his results. I don’t really despise any pros, but I guess I’d say any of those guys who played the WSOP Ladies’ Event this year – I thought that was pretty low.

What online poker site offers the best bonus and/or rakeback at this time?
If you are looking for upgraded sign-up/reload bonuses I would definitely check out PokerListings, as they almost always offer something that is above and beyond sites’ normal bonuses. Most poker rooms cap rakeback at a certain percentage, so almost all of the rakeback sites offer the same deal. However, if you’re a high-volume rakeback guy I would check out the bigger rakeback sites like RaketheRake.com because they will always offer “rake races” in addition to the maximum allowed rakeback percentage.

What advice can you give to a beginning player trying out an online site? What advice/steps can you give a beginner trying to maintain and build a bankroll?
I would advise them to stick to one of the two major sites (Stars or FTP) and start slow. A lot of new players who have won a few bucks at a home game like to deposit a couple hundred dollars and figure they’re about to start printing money, but more likely than not they end up redepositing in a few days.

Even if you are winning at your local casinos, I would start playing online at half the stakes you normally play live. If you need more action you can always multi-table.

Do you have anything else you would like to share with us? Random or not.
Not really, you asked some great questions. Keep up the good work, your site is looking good!

When a hand of poker is played, a percentage of the total pot is taken by the online pokerroom that operates the game. That commission is known as “rake” and it’s the way that the pokerroom makes its money. If you play a hand, it means that some of your money will go to the poker operator in the form of rake. Now, if you play a lot of hands, you will contribute plenty of dollars towards that rake.

Now here’s where things get interesting. Some great souls will make sure that you get a piece of your rake money back. Hence the term “Rakeback”. Could it be any simpler? Rakeback makes sure that you get your rake….back.

Imagine this scenario. You go to the supermarket a couple of times a month and you spend quite some dollars while there. Now imagine if that supermarket would offer to give you some of your money back at the end of the month. Would you say no? Would anyone say no?

Do you say no when the government gives you a tax return? Do you turn down a discount while shopping for that brand new plasma tv? No. You would not. You would take that money and run out of the store while giggling like a child.

You would gladly take your money because getting money back is great, in whichever way, shape or form that it may be. So why is it then that a lot of online poker players do not have rakeback accounts? If you’re playing at Full Tilt Poker for example, you could get 27% rakeback. Ultimate Bet players can get 30% rakeback. I could keep going on but I think that you get where I’m going with this.

If you’re a high roller and you’re making a sweet living from playing online poker, I could understand that you don’t need rakeback. You probably swim around in cash already and getting 30% of your contributed rake means nothing to you. But for those “regular joes” out there (like me) who are just starting or who can’t live off of poker yet, it would be very dumb to not get some of your money back.

More money means playing more hands. More hands means more chances for you to win. More winnings mean you guessed it…even more money. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that picture. Your money is right there. All you have to do is sign up for a rakeback account and make sure that at least you get some of it back at the end of each month. Don’t you deserve it?

One of the best ways to increase your poker bankroll is playing online poker and taking advantage of the download and sign up bonuses where you are going to receive a dynamic, bankroll building depositor’s bonus, and continue to receive bonuses as you play. Titan Poker gives you $50 free and a huge deposit bonus when you come in as a new player. The bonuses at Titan don’t stop there and each one increases your bankroll without you putting a lot of money into it from your own savings.

You will need to figure out exactly what limit you can play comfortably, with your starting bankroll, and adapt to a strict discipline in following and staying within your guidelines. You should never jump up a limit or two, even if you have had a good run, until you know you are completely ready to make the move and your bankroll can handle the downside of variance. Many people feel that a few days of winning should let them take a shot at a higher limit. While playing a higher limit with a win from a previous session is not a bad thing, it should only be exactly that, a onetime shot with your winnings. And if you win in that session, put it in your bankroll and step back down to your regular limit. Don’t move up in limits until you know you can fade the heat and don’t be afraid to move back down if it isn’t going well.

Another way to continue to build your bankroll is playing at Full Tilt Rakeback. With Full Tilt Rake back calculator you can calculate your savings and know how much money you will get back every month. Since you are playing poker and giving up part of your hard earned dollars to each pot in rake, be sure to take advantage of receiving rakeback and defray the costs.

You may be concerned because you own a Mac and want to play internet poker but everything appears to be geared towards a Windows Operating PC. Mac Poker is available and you don’t have to spend a chunk of your poker bankroll to utilize it.

Once you have taken all the steps to build your bankroll and set up your goal and game plan, keep in mind that starting in limit, rather than no limit, may be the best move for you. Winning the first few pots in limit will keep you in the game and able to win more pots vs. playing no limit and losing all of your buy-in, plus your win, in one hand because of a mistake by you or a lucky draw from an opponent.

If you manage yourself, as well as your bankroll, coupled with deposit bonuses and rakeback, you should be able to build your bankroll into a nice sum that will allow you to move up in limits in a timely manner. And remember, there’s always a game tomorrow, you have plenty of time to work on your game and your bankroll. Keep your focus on your game, not someone else’s.

A lot of the world is rife with rakeback opportunities, really. Take taxes for one: play the game right and keep track of everything and you can get an income tax return. Similar idea, maybe not as fun as playing poker, paying taxes, but the rakeback principle applies.

Frequent Flier miles are rakebackish, buy one get one free coupons are sort of like rakeback.

A lot of the world is rife with rakeback opportunities.

But imagine if it all was as easy as a rakeback program! Imagine if instead of braising your brain in the absurdities of intricate tax code crap for days, the government showed up at your door, made sure your kids were real and everything was on the up and up, then just gave you the cash. That’s it, check if everything is cool, give out the money then off to the next thing.

Ha!

Maybe the whole kharma/dharma thing is like rakeback, a “what you sow so shall you reap” type of idea. Maybe, the unstoppable force of evolution is pushing us inextricably in the direction of this rakeback. Maybe it is just a matter of time before IRS agents are helpful multi-lingual customer service driven employees who let reality speak for itself without paperwork.

Or maybe it’s just a nice way to up EV playing poker. Either way, I’m a fan.

See when you play at your favorite poker room, you pay rake as a service fee from all cash game pots and tournament entries. The Rakeback.com mission is quite simple; to help you save money with rakeback by lowering this cost of playing poker. The more you play, the more money or rakeback will be returned to you. In addition, if you aren’t signed up to a particular poker room, they have several poker rooms, like Full Tilt rakeback and UltimateBet rakeback with extraordinary signing bonuses. So you can make money with the bonus AND the rakeback. Its like doubling-down with 11 in blackjack!

Are you unsure of the whole rakeback process? They have a well attended forum to answer any of your questions. Why not make money playing poker through Rakeback.com?

A good synopsis of their site is explained below.

The PokerBRB community is dedicated to aid poker players in bankroll building. We believe that poker is fun when played right and together with equally minded in a competitive environment. Therefore we aim to provide you with all the necessary information you need to become a skilled and successful poker player.

At PokerBRB we aim to gather the best information available online regarding all aspects of online poker. Most forums or web sites try to stop their users from submitting links to other poker related sites, because these sites are considered as competitors. Our view is that all links to articles and general information should be available for the PokerBRB user. Please send us a mail or post a link in the PokerBRB forum if you have poker related information you believe should be shared with the PokerBRB community.

• PokerBRB Rakeback
  Great rakeback deals
• PokerBRB Competitions
  Bankroll boosting competitions
• PokerBRB Forum
  Interact, exchange, share and learn
• PokerBRB Blog
  Poker articles and PokerBRB news

So if you need to build that bankroll up a bit, and want to have fun while doing it, then check out PokerBRB.com. They will welcome you with open arms and help you on your way.