Poker players of all skill levels, male or female, absolute beginners or seasoned pros will benefit greatly by taking advantage of good rakeback offers from different online poker rooms. Rakeback promotions are similar to poker bonuses, but unlike bonuses, there are no time limits and you will always get a certain percentage of the rake you generate back at the end of the month. However, it pays off to browse around several sites before you take your pick, as the methods of calculating rakeback vary quite a bit. Here’s an example.

When an online poker room collects rake, they simply calculate it based on the size of the pot. If the site’s policy is to take a five percent rake, they just pull five percent from the pot over the course of the hand. The collection stops upon reaching $3 or $4, or whatever the rake cap is.

If you’re participating in a rakeback program, this doesn’t help you. You need the rakeback site to know exactly how much you personally contribute so they can pay you your rakeback.

Fortunately, sites have ways of figuring out just how much rake you contribute. One such method is the contributed rake method.

How the Contributed Rake Method Works

The contributed rake method concerns percentages. Whatever percentage of the pot you contributed to; you have contributed a proportional amount of rake.

If you play a $60 pot of which you put in $6, you contributed 10 percent of the pot. You paid 10 percent of the rake for accounting purposes. In this case, if the House drags $3 from this pot, you get credit for 30 cents of rake.

What Rakeback Sites Do with This Method

The rakeback site will apply this calculation to every hand you play over the course of the month. At the end of the month, they will tally the rake you have earned and apply your rakeback percentage. You receive a refund for that number in your poker account at the end of the month. Read a full Rakeback FAQ for more detailed information.

Benefits to the Contributed Rake Method

The contributed rake method is useful because it allows people who play a lot of pots to get the full rake credit they deserve. Action players tend to play more pots. As a reward, they get more rake credit under a contributed rake method.

Under another method, a player who puts much less at risk might get an equal amount of rake credit. If you are the kind of player who likes action and tends to see a lot of flops, turns and rivers, the contributed method is probably what you want.

Posted by Administrator at 13:46

paddypowerpoker.com today announces the full Side Event schedule for the Irish Open 2008. The weeklong festival of poker surrounding the €3 Million Guaranteed Main Event will feature hold’em and omaha tournaments as well as the first ever Irish Open Ladies event.

The festival begins on 19th March with the Super Satellite to the Main Event, with the Main Event itself starting the following day. Good Friday will then see the cards being dealt at the inaugural Irish Open Ladies event, a €330 no limit hold’em freezeout.

Nikki Newman, Head of Poker at paddypowerpoker.com, is delighted to be introducing the new event. “I am very excited about it. I have always felt something of a personal compunction to help bring more women into the game. Colette Doherty, Irene Tier and Jenny Heggerty, showed us just how much power there is in the Irish ladies game. So what better backdrop could there be for a ladies poker event than the Irish Open itself!”

The schedule is rounded out by the €1,500 No Limit Hold’em Freezeout, the €400 Pot Limit Omaha Rebuy and finishes with another new event, the No Limit Holdem Double Chance Scalp (€270+€30+€30), which takes place on Easter Monday and promises to be a real crowd pleaser.

Irish Open 2008 Schedule

Date Event Entry Reg
19th March Main Event Super Satellite €300 €30
20th March Irish Open Main Event Day 1A €4,200 €300
21st March Irish Open Main Event Day 1B €4,200 €300
21st March Irish Open Ladies NLH Freezeout €300 €30
22nd March €1,500 NLH Freezeout (2 day event) €1,500 €150
23rd March PL Omaha Rebuy €400 €40
24th March NLH Double Chance Scalp €270+€30 €30

The Irish Open 2008 will take place in Citywest Hotel, Dublin, from the 19th to 24th March 2008 and registration for the event is already underway. Players wishing to register and pay online for any of the Irish Open events can do so now at www.irishpokeropen.com

Online qualification for the Main Event is also in full swing at paddypowerpoker.com with a packed schedule of daily feeders leading to Sunday Grand Final Satellites.

Posted by Administrator at 10:26

PokerStars today announced the first ever real money No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament to be held in the People’s Republic of China. The ‘PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau: Asian Poker Open’ USD $2,500 buy-in Main Event, which is being run in conjunction with the Galaxy Entertainment/Grand Waldo Casino group and First Impression Ltd., takes place from November 22-27 at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino on the historic Chinese island of Macau.

The luxurious Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino is one of Macau’s newest five-star hotel resorts and will offer APPT players and their friends and families an opportunity to explore one of Asia’s most fascinating locations. With its wealth of Chinese temples, Portuguese monuments and beautiful gardens, Macau’s historic centre has been designated a World Heritage site.

“The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is honoured to be bringing the sport of tournament poker to Macau”, said Jeffrey Haas, president of the APPT. “Macau is already the world’s gaming capital and this historic event diversifies its global attraction by including the APPT’s unique brand of poker tourism. It’s a significant step forward, not only for the APPT, but for the growth of poker in Asia.”

Several of the most well-known and celebrated poker players are slated to attend the ‘APPT Macau: Asian Poker Open’ including the high profile Team PokerStars ambassadors and several of the world’s top online players. In addition to the USD $2,500 Main Event of the APPT Macau, there will also be a USD $15,000 High Rollers Event and a selection of smaller satellites and side events available. Players from across the world can qualify for all APPT events free at www.PokerStars.net, with online satellite tournaments running daily.

”Poker is experiencing tremendous growth in Asia and we are very excited to be a part of this growth, particularly as the first casino to host live poker in Macau,” said Gary Woollard, general manager of Galaxy Grand Waldo Casino. “We are very honored to work with the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour and First Impression Ltd. to make this a successful event.”

“PokerStars is committed to the growth of poker as an international sport,” said Sarne Lightman, director of marketing for PokerStars Asia Pacific. “Through our association with poker events such as the European Poker Tour and the APPT, we are able to offer players a unique chance to play and travel across much of the world. Adding Macau to the APPT schedule is a very exciting step forward. There is global interest in the “Las Vegas of Asia” and we are very proud we can offer players this amazing experience.”

The APPT launched this August in Manila, Philippines, with a second event in Seoul, Korea in September. Season 1 will conclude in December with the Grand Final in Sydney, Australia. All APPT events are filmed for television with the programs distributed globally. More information on the APPT can be found at www.appt.com.

Posted by Administrator at 14:14

paddypowerpoker.com today announces details of Paddy First, their brand new incentive for players who qualify for the €3 Million Guaranteed Irish Open.

If the player who wins the 2008 Irish Open qualified online with paddypowerpoker.com they will win the golden ticket of poker – free entry to Europe’s premier poker tournament for the next 5 years.

Paddy First

If a paddypowerpoker.com qualifier wins the 2008 Irish Open they will receive free entry into the Irish Open for the following 5 years.
The highest finishing paddypowerpoker.com qualifier will receive free entry to the 2009 Irish Open, even if they do not win the tournament outright.
Everything about the Irish Open will be bigger in 2008. The buy-in has increased to €4,500, the capacity has expanded to 1,000, the prizepool has risen to an enormous €3 Million Guaranteed and now the biggest ever bonus incentive for qualifying on paddypowerpoker.com has been launched.

Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com, is confident that the prize will be won. “In 2007, Thomas Finneran from Galway outlasted more than 70 online qualifiers to finish 7th out of 708 players. The previous year Sligo man Pat O’Callaghan also came close to the top prize, finishing 14th out of 339.”

“Thomas and Pat have blazed a trail and shown that our online players can compete with the very best in the world. My money is most definitely on one of our guys taking home the Terry Rogers trophy this year. As Paddy First we will look forward to welcoming him or her back for the next five years!”

Qualifiers are already underway on paddypowerpoker.com with a packed schedule of daily feeders and fortnightly Grand Final Satellites.

Posted by Administrator at 12:21