Low Stakes Poker Definition

Low stakes poker can be played as low as the 5-cent level, which would fit into an area that has become known as 'micro stakes' poker. There is no set range to classify micro stakes, but most experts consider anything from 5 cents to around $2 stakes to fit into the micro category.

Low stakes cash games almost by definition are supposed to be easy. After all, these games are often populated by some of the least skilled players that exist. Then as you play higher and higher. At lower stakes I’ve found fields filled with 0-2 and the odd 3 that is realizing the value of grinding low stakes to build a bankroll. However, for the most part, if your opponent doesn’t see or recognize the move that you are trying to make, then that move is ultimately worthless. Low stakes definition in the English Cobuild dictionary for learners, low stakes meaning explained, see also 'stake',steak',sake',stacked', English vocabulary. Low Stakes Poker Definition, lucky slots 777 iphone app, tournoi poker le cyclope, casino de monterrey incendio. Read our full review. Quick Navigation Top No Deposit Casinos Guide to No Deposit Codes No Deposit Explained Claiming Bonuses Redeeming Bonus.

Something that people often ask me is if it is possible to avoid coolers inpoker. Is there some magic way of sensing when you are facing a big setup hand?
How do the pros get away in these situations and not lose all of their chips? Iam going to answer all of these questions in this article.

What is a Cooler in Poker?

First off though, let’s talk about what exactly is a cooler in poker.
Cooler Definition:
A cooler is when you have a really strong hand in poker, such as a flush or a full house, but your opponent happens to have an even better hand. It is therefore almost impossible to fold and you are very likely to lose all of your money.
It is basically a trap where the person with the second best hand is convinced they have the best hand. And they are in shock when their opponent turns over the one or two hands that could possibly beat them.
Many people call these hands “setups” as well because it is almost like the handhas been created for you to lose all your money.
Love it or hate it though, coolers are, and always will be, an integral part of the game of poker. It doesn't matter if you are the best low stakes poker player in the world, you will still lose to coolers.In other words, the person with the pocket KK almost never folds and therefore they lose all their chips 80% of the time.

Why Do Coolers Matter in Poker?

Now, the main reason why coolers or setup hands matter so much in poker isbecause not only are you likely to lose a lot of money, but they can also putyou on tilt.
I have discussed the disastrous affects of tilt many times before on this blogand my top ways to fix it.
But suffice it so say, if you get enough cooler hands in a row in a short periodof time, almost anybody (even pros), are prone to going on tilt.
And once you go on tilt, most people start playing very poorly, deviatingmassively from their strategy, making all sorts of terrible bluffs and bad calls.
Now if this sounds like you. Don’t worry, because we’ve all been there. Any poker player who tells you that they don't tilt is either lying or hasn't played enough hands yet.
And so since coolers are undeniably a major trigger of tilt for most people, that is exactly why I wrotethis article.

How Can We Avoid Coolers in Poker?

So how can we avoid coolers in the first place in poker so that we never have toget into this disastrous state of tilt?
Well, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there really is no surefireway of knowing when you are facing a cooler in poker.
Now sure, you can learn to hand read better like I talk about in my free poker cheat sheet. And this will help you potentially sniff out a few of these coolers and perhapsmake a really good fold sometimes.

Make $1000+ Per Month in Low Stakes Poker Games With My Free Poker Cheat Sheet.

Are you having trouble beating low stakes poker games online or live? Are you looking to make a consistent part time income playing these games?

Example of a Big Cooler Hand in Poker

So let’s look at an example of a big cooler hand in poker now and ask ourselves, is thereany way to avoid it or to make a big fold?
Here is a cooler hand that was recently sent to me:

In this hand we are playing a 5cent/10cent blind 6-max cash game and this hand wasplayed on the iPoker network.
We have pocket 7♦7♠ in the small blind and there has been a limp from earlyposition and a small raise from middle position.
Once again, this is an excellent card for our hand because it gives us a fullhouse.
So I love the decision here to bet around half pot and continue forcing a likelyweaker player to come along for the ride with almost certainly a worse hand.
And since we have a full house, there are actually many hands in this player’srange which are drawing completely dead (no outs) or have very low equity.
Such As:

• Flush draws
• Straight draw
• Tx hands
• Over-pairs

So we go to the river and it comes with the:
9♣

Is There Any Way to Fold Versus a Big Cooler Like This?

So with all that street by street analysis out of the way, is there any way thatwe could have gotten away at some point in this hand?
Could we have somehow saved less? Maybe only lost 50% of our chips?

Low Stakes Poker Definition Francais

Honestly, the answer to all of these questions is no, no and no.
This is one of those spots in poker where all of the money is going to go in themiddle, no matter what.
It doesn’t matter how “good” you are. It doesn’t matter if you can read theirsoul like Phil Ivey.
There is no poker player on earth who is going to be folding here. You justdon’t fold full houses in Texas Hold’em!
And that really is the main point of this hand.
With huge coolers like this, the only thing you really need to ask yourself isif the roles were reversed (we have the T7 and they have the 77), do they foldto us?
You already know the answer to that question. No, of course they don't.
And that makes big cooler hands like this essentially a neutral EV (expectedvalue) wash in the end.
Since the roles will be reversed at some point in the future, you are reallyonly trading the chips back and forth in big cooler hands like this.
In the long run all of these cooler hands and setup hands will eventually eventhemselves out.
And since they aren’t folding to you when you have the best hand either, itwon’t make any real difference to your bottom line in the long run.

Don’t Let Setup Hands Put You on Tilt

Look, I know how hard these cooler setup hands can be to take in the heat of themoment. It is easy to get frustrated very quickly by your short term bad luck.
But if you can learn to take a broader perspective on these cooler hands andrealize that they basically all even out in the end, then you can learn to simplyshrug them off more easily.

'If you are playing for real money at online poker rooms then you are paying rake.'

No shocker there.

'At low stakes cash games you're paying relatively more rake than at higher stakes.'

Okay, that's also a well known fact I guess.

'Micro stakes no limit cash game players could be winning a lot more money at another online poker room due to a difference in rake structure!'

Now, that's interesting I'd say!

'What's a lot more money', you're asking? Well, even if you're already a fairly talented player winning 10 big blinds per 100 hands at 2nl on a Full Tilt Poker account without 27% rakeback then you can almost double your win rate by moving over to PokerStars. That's almost a full buy-in extra for every 1000 hands you play! If you would already receive 27% rakeback at Full Tilt Poker, than the difference would be small, but still in favour of Pokerstars.

Because a professional poker player and webmaster of PokerDataMining.net provided me with a lot of data, I was able write this article which will show you exactly how a different rake structure at PokerStars can result in such a big increase of your win rate when playing at the lower limits.

Since this review is fairly long I'll start by giving you a summary of which rooms take the least amout of rake from their low stakes players in table 1.

Recommended poker rooms for beginning and low stakes players:

Table 1: recommended poker rooms by limit.

Stakes	Best poker room	Download
2nl	PokerStars	Download PokerStars
5nl	PokerStars	Download PokerStars
10nl	PokerStars	Download PokerStars
25nl	Full Tilt and Cake Poker	Get rakeback at FTP or Cake*

* This link will take you to RakeTheRake, a big and reliable rakeback provider.

Interested in why exactly these rooms are so great? Then follow me through the rest of this article!

Poker rake structures

In another article that is a reference for rake structures of several poker rooms and networks I already explained that the rake structures used by online poker rooms differ by:

• the maximum amount raked (the rake cap),
• the pot size increments from which rake is taken
• and the way in which these rake structures account for the number of active players in a hand.

Not mentioned specifically is the fact that some rooms also just rake a higher percentage from whatever pot size increment is used.

Summarizing you can say a rake structure is better when:

1. The percentage raked from the pot size increments used is lower
2. The pot size increments from which rake is taken are larger
3. The rake cap is lower and this cap will also sometimes be reached
4. There's a higher degree of differentiation based on the number of active players in a hand (i.e., lower rake cap or larger pot size increments with fewer players in the hand).

Rake and rake structures at the low limits

So why exactly is all this more important for nano and micro stakes no limit players (2nl - 25nl) to pay attention to than for those players playing at a higher level?

First of all, the rake structures used at different poker rooms simply differ most from one another at the micro stakes levels.

Secondly, the maximum amount of rake (rake cap) is higher in terms of big blinds at the micro stakes. Because of this the rake cap will rarely be reached and you'll always end up paying the maximum amount of rake relative to the size of the pot. And because the rake you pay decreases your win rate, your win rate suffers most from rake at the micro stakes.

Furthermore, a difference in pot size increments from which rake is taken (point 2 from the 'better rake structure' list above) is only of influence on the average rake percentage when the rake cap isn't reached and will also be most relevant at small pot sizes (up to around $10). This is already illustrated in a figure in the article comparing the micro stakes rake structures of PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker. In this article I also showed that for 2nl, 5nl and 10nl games a 27% rakeback deal at Full Tilt Poker does not even compensate for the higher amount of rake you pay when compared to PokerStars' rake structure(!).

Hand histories

Although I already compared some micro stakes no limit rake structures in both articles mentioned (PokerStars' is better than Full Tilt's, even slightly with FTP rakeback, up to 10nl) I did not have information about pot sizes at the different low stakes levels to calculate the exact differences in the amount of rake charged by these rooms. I did some calculations with the assumption that pot sizes are equally distributed over a certain range (see tables 1 and 2 here), which is not true in reality. With the help of information supplied by PokerDataMining.net this 'problem' is now solved.

PokerDataMining.net provided information from 40.000 unique hand histories to FirstTimePokerPlayer, 10.000 hand histories each from 2nl, 5nl, 10nl and 25nl 6-max games at Full Tilt Poker with 6 active players in the hand and a flop being dealt. With these hand histories it is possible to calculate the true distribution of pot sizes at the different low limit games as well as the exact differences in the amount of rake charged between rooms when calculated using their own rake structures. This will show exactly which rooms suppress your win rate the least by taking rake, or the other way around, which online poker rooms rip off their micro stakes players the most.

Pot size distributions

The distribution of pot sizes at the different micro stakes has been determined by counting the amount of pots falling within a pot size range for a number of consecutive pot size ranges. By doing this 5 times for 2000 unique hand histories (10.000 total), a margin of error (with the minimum and maximum value as lower and upper limit) could also be calculated, see figure 1:

What does this figure mean?

• At 2nl and 5nl most of the pots don't even reach $1 and at 10nl this counts for almost 50% of all the pots.

• At 25nl the amount of pots of $10 or bigger is the largest: almost 20% of the total amount of pots. At these higher pot sizes a difference in pot size increments from which rake is taken does not have a great influence on the average rake charged. Therefore differences in average rake between online poker rooms will likely become smaller at 25nl when compared to lower stakes.

The average pot size turned out to be around 26 big blinds at all four levels.

Average rake

For all 10.000 pot sizes at a certain limit rake was calculated according to the rake structures of the following rooms/networks (click the room/network name to view rake structures on FirstTimePokerPlayer):

With these three rooms/networks most of the available rake structures at other online poker rooms are also covered:

Table 2: rake structure similarities.

The rake structure of...	is most similar to that/those of...
PokerStars	Everest Poker (at 25nl and up) Boss/IPN above 10nl (but most games in €)
Full Tilt Poker	All iPoker rooms All rooms on the Cake network Everest Poker (up to/incl. 10nl)
Merge Gaming rooms	Ladbrokes (at 10nl and up) Boss/IPN at 10nl ((but most games in €) Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker

Figure 2 shows the average rake calculated for all the 10.000 pots at every level using the three rake structures mentioned above. The rake is expressed as a percentage of the average pot size:

What does this figure mean?

• Rake charged at Full Tilt Poker is the highest at all the micro stakes. This is the result of the higher amount raked per dollar and the small pot size increments from which rake is taken ($0.01 for every $0.15 in the pot and at 25nl $0.01 for every $0.20 in the pot).

• PokerStars and Merge Gaming rooms charge the least amount of rake at 2nl. This is the result of the larger pot size increments from which rake is taken compared to FTP's rake structure ($0.01 rake for every $0.20 in the pot).

• At 5 and 10nl rake charged at PokerStars is comparable to Full Tilt Poker with rakeback. At this point it will be interesting to compare the equivalent rakeback percentages of the PokerStars VIP club and the Full Tilt promotions to see at which of both rooms playing poker would be cheapest. If you follow the link, you'll find out that this will depend a lot on your playing volume and how consistent you play. In summary: when playing very low or high volumes you would most likely be better of at PokerStars. Play anything in between and Full Tilt could be the better room.

• Only at 25nl does rakeback at FTP result in a lower amount of average rake paid from every pot when compared to the other rake structures (the lowest with on average 3.6% rake per pot to be precise).

Rake and your win rate

Rake has a tremendous negative effect on your win rate at the micro stakes. Take a look at the following calculation:

The average pot size at 2nl turned out to be $0.52 or 26 big blinds. At Full Tilt Poker the average amount raked at 2nl is 5.8%. This means that on average 5.8% x 26bb = 1.5bb per hand is taken from the table. Assuming that every player pays an equal amount of rake this would result in you paying approximately ¼ bb per hand in rake or 25 bb/100 hands.

Your poker win rate is usually expressed as the amount of big blinds (bb) you win per 100 hands. If your win rate would be 10 bb/100 hands, then you're doing very well.

Now compare the average amount of rake paid with a very good win rate, and you'll see that at the lower limits it won't be unlikely for you to pay multiples of your winnings in rake.

Example: say you are playing 10nl at Full Tilt Poker on a non rakeback account. The average pot size is 27.3bb and the average amount raked is 6.5%, which comes down to 29.6 bb/100 hands for you in a 6-max game.

To improve your win rate you want to play at another online poker room, because you are unable to get rakeback. The logical choice would be PokerStars since they take the lowest amount of rake (only 4.8%, or 21.8 bb/100 hands for you alone). With this move to PokerStars you would instantly be winning 29.6 - 21.8 = 7.8 bb/100 hands extra due to paying less in rake. That's $7.80 per 1000 hands or 1 full buy-in every 1282 hands. How cool is that?

For players already having a rakeback account at Full Tilt Poker the difference in rake charged would be negligible, but Pokerstars' loyalty program would be more beneficial than the iron man program at Full Tilt Poker.

As you can see from this example it can be worth it to take into account the amount of rake you pay when choosing where to play. You now know that rakeback can be nothing more than a marketing trick that doesn't necessarily result in a higher win rate.

PokerStars rakeback

You could say that the lower amount of rake paid at PokerStars when compared to Full Tilt Poker is essentially a form of rakeback. In a table it would look something like this:

Table 3: PokerStars rakeback.

PokerStars vs...	2NL	5NL	10NL	25NL
Full Tilt Poker	28.8%	27.0%	25.7%	4.8%
FTP + 27% RB	2.4%	0.0%	-1.8%	-23.3%

What does this table mean?

• The percentages are the amount of 'rakeback' you get by having to pay less in rake at PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker with or without 27% rakeback. For example, playing 10nl at PokerStars would be the same as playing 10nl at Full Tilt Poker with 25.7% rakeback.

• Rake charged at Full Tilt Poker is the highest at all the micro stakes. This is the result of the higher amount raked per dollar and the small pot size increments from which rake is taken ($0.01 for every $0.15 in the pot at 2-10nl).

• At 25nl playing at Full Tilt Poker with 27% rakeback would be the same as playing at PokerStars with 23.3% rakeback. So without taking FTP iron man and PokerStars VIP into account, it seems like PokerStars' rake structure can't compete with Full Tilt's 27% rakeback at this level anymore.

Rake and rakeback at the micro stakes - conclusion

PokerStars' rake structure is the best rake structure for micro stakes players up to 10nl. People playing these nano and micro stakes games at Full Tilt Poker without 27% rakeback could easily be adding 8 bb/100 hands to their win rate by moving to PokerStars.

At 25nl Full Tilt Poker with 27% rakeback is a very attractive option. Keep in mind though that rooms on the Cake network (with essentially the same rake structure) offer 33% rakeback instead of 27% for an even more attractive offer (but instead of 25nl they offer a level of 20nl games and their loayalty program could give a lower return).

Although the figures in this article do not take into account any benefits from bonuses and loyalty programs and the pot sizes as measured at FTP can be different at another room, I think this article clearly shows the significance of rake at the micro stakes as well as the rake differences between online poker rooms. Know that rake has a significant influence on your win rate at the micro stakes. Also realise that rakeback can be a deceiving marketing trick that doesn't necessarily result in a higher win rate for you but at the same time can definitely be worth it, even at the lower stakes.

Poker Videos High Stakes Poker

In summary these are the recommended rooms to play at if you want to pay as little rake as possible:

• 2nl players and low and very high volume 5nl and 10nl players play cheapest at PokerStars

• while medium volume 5nl and 10nl players as well as 25nl players should really visit RakeTheRake to open a rakeback account at Full Tilt Poker or Cake Poker.

Small Stakes Poker

Now, go play some poker and don't pay too much rake!

With special thanks to Jake from PokerDataMining.net for the time spent to collect and extract data for this article.

Low Stakes Online Poker

Further reading at First Time Poker Player:

• PokerStars VIP vs Full Tilt Poker rakeback (recommended)