Conservative Crust Poker

It has been argued that players involved in rakeback programs should not adjust their style of play. While this may be true in trying to prevent players from entering the mindset of juicing the pot for the sole purpose of generating a higher rake, it might not be true as a blanket statement. There may be an instance where table conditions dictate adjustment in posture for the lone purpose of collecting pkr rakeback.

A poker player may be well served playing weak-tight when building a bankroll and playing in an extremely aggressive game. In theory, the poker table should be full. Rake should hit the maximum allowed most of the time, and the table stakes should be the lowest stakes possible under the rake structure you are playing in.

We sit at a .25-.50 no limit table at FullTilt Poker. Worth noting, the max rake at a full table of this stakes at Tilt is a maximum of $3. While the .25-.50 NL table is not the bottom of the rake structure, this table is better able to generate the max rake more often. The .10-.25 cent table is the true bottom of the $3 max rake tables – for the record.

The table conditions are quite loose and wild, with the flop occurring a majority of the time, and the rake maxing out more often than not. If we fold each round of our blinds, we lose 75 cents per orbit. This means in thirty-six hands, we lose $3 to the blinds. Each time the rake reaches maximum, we are credited with 33.3 cents in rake – providing the table is full. At 27% rakeback, which is the most allowed by FullTilt – we earn 9 cents.

In unrealistic circumstances, if the rake caps for every hand played, we realize a net gain of five cents per orbit. We lose seventy-five cents per orbit to blinds, while making eighty cents per orbit from rakeback at a 27% rate.

In more realistic circumstances, even at the wildest of tables, no pot is maxed in rake every hand, nor does anyone fold every hand. However, if half of the hands reach a maximum rake, we make 40 cents per orbit in pkr.com rakeback. If one hand additional hand reaches less than max rake, we make five cents. So, we count on 45 cents in rakeback per orbit at this table.

Add to the mix that while we do not want to play out of the blinds, we will gladly play from position. When we do so, we end up stealing the pot preflop one in three times, which nets us $1.25 per steal on average. A second time we lose $2 and the third time, we gain $5. Over the course of an orbit, our net profit including rakeback is an average profit of $1.11 per orbit. This makes a compelling case to play weak tight on a wild table.