Carbon Poker, the flagship poker room for the Merge Gaming Network, has been growing at a faster rate than any other online poker room in the world. An industry that is becoming more competitive and one sided with every passing day has seen Carbon Poker grow with rapid enthusiasm trying to catch up to the big boys. With solid software, excellent promotions, and a good community of players, Carbon Poker is not only an up and coming poker room, but a premier online poker venue for players around the world.
Carbon Poker Allows U.S. Players, Loose Play, and Promotions
Carbon Poker is helped by the fact that it allows U.S.-based players to play on their poker room. This advantage has enabled Carbon to acquire players that are often banned by some of the largest online poker rooms like PartyPoker. The only difficulty in playing at Carbon for American players is suppose to be depositing money on the room, but in the time after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act American players can still deposit on Carbon Poker with ease.
Making Carbon even more appealing to prospective players is the loose and fishy play found there. Fishy play means that there are a lot of inexperienced poker players there and the possibility of winning easily for seasoned poker players goes up. Loose play means that there are a lot of players being active in every hand leading to larger pots to be won. This type of loose and fishy play is a direct result of the Merge Gaming Network acquiring a number of large poker rooms from the Cake Poker Network in April 2010. The shift in poker rooms to the Merge Network, and therefore Carbon Poker, has only bolstered Carbon’s player traffic and reputation.
Carbon Poker also has launched a series of successful and lucrative promotions for its players as their traffic has increased. From a Bad Beat Jackpot that has reached into the millions to increasing the amount their guaranteed tournaments are worth, making them a popular site for those looking to cash in on some major tournaments.
Player Traffic Growth of Carbon Poker and its Software
It was mentioned above that Carbon Poker saw a strong shift in its player traffic recently with the Merge Gaming growth and this shift should not be ignored. As a whole the Merge Network is not yet in the top ten for top traffic poker networks, but it is growing annually at a rate over 100% when many rooms and networks are losing players. This makes Carbon Poker an excellent room to play on because there are always people to play against. Nothing is more frustrating then joining a poker room that has no players to go up against.
If Carbon Poker had a flaw it would be in its software. Visually and usability of Carbon’s software is amazing, but one feature that is alluding Carbon is the ability to play multiple tables at once. More and more poker players want to play multiple tables at once. Not just 2 or 3 tables but 8-12 at a time. This type of play helps cut a player’s loss percentages and increase winnings. Industry leading PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are set up for players to do this, but Carbon’s software only makes it easy to play about 3 tables at once. It’s a small flaw in the grand scheme of things, but it is part of the reason the legions of online poker pros have yet to fully adopted Carbon Poker.
No matter what, Carbon Poker is a room to watch in the coming months and years as it keeps up its momentum. For more information on Carbon Poker it is best to consult those who play there.
Following Basic Online Poker Bankroll Management There
When beginning to play online poker there is a set of rules that need to be taken and online bankroll management is one of them. Bankroll management is even more important than knowing when to play certain cards and when to fold them. A player may not even get a chance to play properly if their bankroll management skills are not up to snub. The first steps to bankroll management are:
Be honest when evaluating winnings in online casino
Only use between 1-3% of a bankroll per session
The player should never stop learning about poker
First Step In Poker Bankroll Management is to Simply Be Honest
The first step in understanding bankroll management is for a player to be honest with themselves. Keeping proper financial records and understanding when a loss is a loss even if the player cashes in a tournament or playing session is vital. This first step is important for players because without understanding what financial situation they are in they can quickly end up broke. To avoid going bust there is a simply formula to remember and not to fib on when evaluating.
Profits or losses in poker comes down to Winnings – Buy-ins = Profits/Losses. This appears straight forward, but if a player is asked by a friend how they did in a recent weekend of tournaments and said they won $400, but left out that they spent $500 in buy-ins, then they are not telling the truth as they actually lost $100. Buy-ins must include re-buy costs and also any add-ons purchased during a tournament. This simple formula will help any player discover how they are actually doing on the virtual felt. The key, however, is to do it and understand one’s limitations.
Step Two in Basic Bankroll Management is about Limiting Buy-in Costs
The straight up rule is to never exceed 5% of one’s current bankroll for any one session of poker. This includes tournament buy-ins and also cash ring game tables. It is better to start around 1-2%, but online poker has changed the way many people play in tournaments and also how much a starting bankroll should be. Many people put $50 on a poker room and play four $10+$1 buy-in tournaments and if they lose they stop playing altogether. This is not a good pattern.
By limiting to just 3% per session the fun and winning percentages of a player have a chance to grow. Variance in winning is a natural part of poker and by only buying in with a small portion of a bankroll limits the chances of going bust. This doesn’t mean that going bust isn’t a possibility, but keeping the percentage low will ensure that going bust is at it’s lowest possibly point. Here’s a helpful chart to calculate percentages of bankrolls:
1% – divide bankroll by 100
2% – divide bankroll by 50
3% – divide bankroll by 33
Step Three in Bankroll Management is to Keep Learning
The best investment in online poker bankroll management is in poker education. It is quite understandable that many people cannot afford the expensive cost of many poker books and online poker schools, but there is a way! DeepStacks University is probably dollar for dollar the best online poker school ever created. It still can be expensive, but for those who are members of the online poker community Pokerspace receive a steep discount. Pokerspace even has a free online poker school with poker tests and ranges in skill level from Basic to Advanced.
No matter what bankroll management should never be underestimated. It is as important as knowing how to play a certain hand. No one can play a tournament if they don’t have any money. Understanding bankroll limitations should always be in the back of a player’s mind.
