.| UrbanNerd |.

This week we will deal with

- How to make a profit from deposit bonuses
- How to win consistently by following the 80/20 rule

- How to make a profit from deposit bonuses

Poker sites usually offer deposit bonuses of 20-25% about once per month. This means if you deposit $100, you get an extra $20-$25 for free as long as you see the required number of hands. The number of required hands is usually 6-7 times the deposit bonus amount. For example, to earn a deposit bonus of $20, you must see between 120-140 hands. The EASIEST way to make money is to deposit the maximum amount for the maximum deposit bonus AND play the 1/ 2 limit tables very tight. For example, if the maximum deposit bonus of 20% is $100, then you should deposit $500. Then you have to see 700 hands at the 1/ 2 limit tables in order to earn the $100 bonus. As long as you play very tight, you can come out even on the tables and still make $100!

Many different poker sites offer this monthly deposit bonus, which means you can do it every month for every site and make more than $500 per month without much risk. Pacific Poker is the ONLY site that offers an instant bonus of 25% up to $100 for new players. This means that as soon as you deposit $400 in a new player account, you get $100 added to your account without playing a single hand!

- How to win consistently by following the 80/20 rule

In the game of online poker, 20% of the players win 80% of the profits in the long term. The foundation of poker is the starting hand. In order to win consistently in a ring game (full table), you should see about 20% of the flops (+/- 2%). If you force yourself to see 20% of the flops, you will find yourself playing very tight with premium starting hands. Below is a quick chart to help you rank starting hands.

Group 0: AA KK (Always raise pre-flop)
Group 1: QQ JJ AKs (Always raise pre-flop)
Group 2: TT AK AQs AJs KQs (Always 2 bet/call)
Group 3: AQ 99 ATs KJs QJs KTs (Late position, Use judgment)
Group 4: 88 AJ KQ QTs A9s JTs AT A8s (Late position, Use judgment)
Group 5: KJ 77 QJ KT QT JT A7s K9s Q9s T9s J9s (Late position, Use judgment)
Group 6: 66 55 44 33 22 A5s A6s A4s A3s A2s (Late position, Use judgment)
Group 7: A9 K9 98s 87s 76s Kxs(?) T8s(?) 97s(?) 86s(?) 54s(?)

Next weeks column will deal with “Making More Money through Multi-tabling”.
Until then, money won is better then money earned!