Bi-weekly Rakeback Payments

SunPoker is proud to announce starting this month (Sept 2008) your player's Rakeback will be credited twice a month (Bi-weekly). 

 

First Credit on the 20th reflecting earnings generated between the 1st - 15th of the month. 

Second Credit on the 5th reflecting earnings generated between the 15th - the end of the month.

 

For grandfathered players before March 1, 2008: Rakeback credited on the 20th will be 30%. The credit on the 5th will be based on MPP's earned for the month plus the additional percentage due for the first half of the month. For Example: If you earn 8000 MPP's between the 1st - 15th in September that is 34.8%, however 30% only will be credited. Then if by the end of the month you generate a total of 11K+ MPP's the credit posted on the 5th will be 38.8%. + the 8.8% times your first half rake (38.8%-30%=8.8%).

 

 

 

If your looking for great poker promotions, you have come to the right place. At SunPoker we are constantly coming up with new ideas to keep things fun at the Sun:) Below you will find of our current offerings, be sure to check back regulary for many more to come.

 

 

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Poker Rants from Poker Alex

Alexander Jagodik AKA "Poker Alex" is an accomplished Internet and land based professional poker player with numerous cashes in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and European Poker tour (EPT). He is the Poker Host at SunPoker.com Internet poker room. SunPoker.com is part of the Cryptologic Network. You can contact Poker Alex with your poker questions at Alex@Sunpoker.com. 
 

 
"I only lost $500" - 9/1/2008
 
I have a friend that deposited $500 a couple of days ago and started playing $15/$30 fixed limit. He won $1500 in the $15/$30 game then moved up to $30/$60 limit and won $2000. He took the $3500 and moved up to $50/$100 ran that into $10,000 and immediately moved up to $200/$400 He ran his bank roll up to $50,000. He did this all in eight hours. What an amazing run! The deck truly hit him in the head.
 
I called him the next day to see how he was doing. He said he was very sad his bank roll was gone. He dropped the 50K in a twelve hour session. Then said "oh well I only lost $500".
 
This example brings me to this month’s topic bank roll management. I feel it’s the most important part of playing online poker. Winning players have good bank roll management skills and losing players almost always have poor bank roll management skills.
 
The first point of bank management is not to play over your bank roll. This is the single biggest mistake in online poker. I recommend the following bankrolls.
 
In Texas Hold’em No limit you need at least 50 times the maximum buy in for the table. The maximum buy in are often 100 times the big blind so compared to the big blind the required minimum bankroll is 5000 times.
 
In fixed limit Texas Hold’em a reasonable bankroll should be at least 500 times the big blind. So in my friends’ case before he moved up to $200/$400 he should of had a bank roll of $200,000. He had only 5% of that. So I am not surprised he went bust.
 
In multi table or sit-n-go tournaments online your standard deviation will be very big. There will be long periods of time when you won’t cash. To play multi table tournaments a reasonable minimum bankroll is 200 times the average buy in.
 
If you follow the guidelines above and have good skills you have a chance of becoming a winning online player. You will be less stressed and be able to play online poker more often. Never move up to a higher level until you have the proper bankroll above. If you lose some of your bank roll, move down a level until you regain the bank roll.
 
If you don’t follow my recommends here, you have to be aware of that the risk that you will go broke will be relatively big. So take my advice, It's a lot more fun to have money in your account.
 
I will be back on the tournament trail in October in Baden the site of the CAPT tour and European Poker Championships (Poker EM). We are running satellites to these events on SunPoker.com daily. In addition to poker in Baden we are going to have the sickest party in Baden has ever seen. I will have more details in my October rant. 
 

 
WSOP World Series of Poker 17% off sale for Europeans - 6/1/2008
 
Poker Alex here with another quick rant about online and land based poker. I have just noticed that I can save 17% on my WSOP buyin from last year by paying in Euro's.
 
The US economy is such a slump that last year the buy-in for the $10,000 USD main event was € 7482 euros. This year the buy-in would only cost you € 6376, a saving of 17% over last year or about € 1100 euros cheaper. The savings can easily pay for your hotel.
 
Although The Belliago raised there rates for the WSOP it is still cheaper for those who pay in euro's over last year. It's not just the WSOP that is on sale but all of the USA.
 
I believe the number of Europeans will go up this year due to the cheap buy-in this year. I will go as far as the final table will have more non-us players than US players.
 
Playing almost exclusively in Europe last year I have notice that the standard of play in Europe is much better than in the States. I found the tournaments and cash games much tougher than those in the states. I am really looking forward to play all those US fish again.
 
One thing better in US land based poker rooms the rake is only $3 per hand. In most European poker rooms be prepared to pay as high $20-$25 per hand. Most nights the house is the only winner in the poker game.
 
I will be in Vegas starting June 12, 2008 with the Fearsome Foursome and other Sun Poker players. Make sure you come by and say hi to the 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Poker Alex.
 
Don't forget your last chance to qualify for the Fearsome Foursome this Sunday June 8th, 2008. One $12,500 package guaranteed only 18 have entered the $200 satellite so far. Also starting July 1st SunPoker.com will be starting a $150,000 cash and Premiership tickets packages race. Make sure you take part in this great promotion. 
 
Good Luck at the Tables! 
 
 
My take on Sit-N-Go Tournaments - 1/1/2008
 
Poker Alex here with a quick rant on online poker sit-n-go tournaments. I started playing a lot of these lately had some great success.
 
You need first to consider is what buy in sit n go you will enter. The rule of thumb I use is to never enter a sit n go that is more than 10% of my bankroll. This means that if you want to play a $50 single table sit n go you should have a bankroll of at least $1000. Playing above your bankroll is the number one reason players go bust. You need a reserve funds to overcome a bad run of cards. I feel with this strategy you can with stand a bad run of cards and still have money to reap the good run when it comes.
 
When you enter a sit n go, I recommend you play more than one at a time. When you are playing a sit n go it can become quite boring during the early stages. This will cause you to lose focus and possibly make bad decisions.
 
Now that you know what the buyin should be what type of Sit-n-go should you play? There are 4 structures of sit-n-go tournaments on SunPoker.com. I define these tournaments in order of the skill required.
 
Regular 10 player tournaments need the most skill to win these tournaments. I recommend 10 players instead of 9 and 6 players. The extra player usually doesn't hurt your chances of winning and adds 10% more to the prize pool. The blinds go up slowly every 10 hands. This gives you enough time for skill to show up in the tournament.
 
Thunder tournaments are more of a gamble. The payouts are the same as a regular tournament but the blinds go up every five hands. You are forced to push with marginal hands. You don't have a lot of time to wait for the premium hands.
 
Double your money sit-n-go tournaments are my favorite type to play. You don't need a to be expert in these sit-n-go's to win money in these tournaments. In these tournaments half the field is paid out. An average player can make money playing these tournaments with less volatility.
 
The last sit-n-go tournament is the all in lottery. There is no skill to these tournaments. In these tournaments you get a chip and chair. All players go in the first hand and the best hands wins. They are fun to play and if you win you receive 10 times your buyin. The fees are low in these tournaments and the percentage the house holds is lower than most casino games.
 
There are three different stages in a sit-n-go tournament each is played differently if you are going to succeed. But before I sit in a tournament I do a little research on the players. I go to www.skarkscope.com before I sit in. Shark scope tells you the lifetime profit of a player. I want to see who the winning players are. I don't want to play in a sit-n-go with more than three winning players.
 
In the early stages I play as tight as possible. I call this the observation stage. The blinds don't hurt me and this allows the maniacs to bust out so I don't have to worry about them. I usually only play AA, KK, QQ. When I do get in the pot I usually raise the size of the pot (min 4x BB) I don't want marginal hands in against me. I want to have the perception of a very tight player. It will help me with stealing blinds in the later stages. I play this way for the first two levels. Make sure you observe other players starting hands and which ones fold to raises.
 
In the middle stage I use my tight image to start picking on other tight players and start stealing blinds. At this point you want to become aggressive. I also like to put pressure on short stacks. I rarely tangle with big stacks unless I have a premium hand. If I have less than 10x the big blind I will push with 99,1010,JJ,QQ.KK.AA,AK,AQ. You should usually avoid bluffing large stacks and short stacks, as both are more likely to call.
 
In the late stages I always pick on the short stacks and stay away from the big stacks. Most players that are short stacked at this point try to limp into the money. You usually can pick up their blinds rather easily.
 
Once you make the money I like to play tight for the first 5 hands. Most times players play aggressive once they hit the money. I let them fight it out hoping to move up one position. After that I play rather aggressive and hopefully catch enough flops to win the tournament. 
 
 
My tips for Re-Buy Tournaments - 12/1/2007
 
Starting in December we are adding re-buy and add-on on select online poker tournaments. In this months poker rant I am over what is a re-buy tournament and what strategy I use in these Internet online poker tournaments.
 
In a re-buy tournament you can buy more chips anytime your stack falls below your starting chips. In most tournaments you can re-buy the first hour of the tournament. After the first hour you can add-on. You can buy the add-on regardless of the amount of chips you have. My strategy has always been to play loose/aggressive. I always re-buy on the first hand of the tournament. It is to your advantage to have a larger chip stack than most players on the table. Re-buy tournaments are about accumulating a large stack of chips before the break, you want to take gambles and give yourself opportunities to double and triple up.
 
Some players think that if they double up in the first couple of hands, they will have the same stack as the people who did the re-buy at the beginning of the tournament. If you re-buy at the start of the tournament and then double up with one of the players that also re-bought at the start, you'll have quadruple the stack of players that didn't re-buy. If you don't feel comfortable with this strategy, you might want to watch the table save your re-buy until somebody at the table re-buys or doubles up. Once they do make your re-buy the very next hand.
 
At the break you should always add-on. You want to keep up with the other players who added-on. Also chips equal power, big stacks are more intimidating to the smaller stacks.
 
After the re-buy and add-on period I recommend switching gears and playing tight/aggressive style, as you would in a regular freeze out tournament. Keep in mind that many players will not shift gears appropriately once the re-buy period is done watch out for this and use this to your advantage.
 
Next month I will be reporting on the SunPoker.com Fearsome Foursome's results at the EPT Prague. The next round of qualifiers for the Fearsome Foursome starts December 1st, 2007 on Sunpoker.com. We will be traveling to the EPT German Open in Dortmund. 
 
 
The worst finish in history - 11/1/2007
 
Poker Alex with a rant, I've just returned from a month long poker trip in Europe. I had my worst finish in a poker tournament ever. I was out of the tournament in two minutes and 15 seconds. I was so mad that I almost cried. Then I remembered how stupid Mike Matusow looked when he cried when he was knocked out of the 2006 WSOP.I decided crying was not an option.
 
It was a weekend of bad luck. The casino was offering a $5000 bonus for the first royal flush in the cash games. There was an empty seat next to me that a player wanted to move to. The dealer said to him that he should wait till the blind reaches that seat and take the big blind in the seat in a few hands. The next hand dealt was the royal flush, hit next to me. If the player moved then the royal flush and $5,000 would have been mine. The player that hit the royal flush gave everyone at the table $100, which was a really nice gesture.
 
The next day was the EPT Baden Open. I went to bed early to get ready to play 14 hours the next day. I got the casino early to talk to some players about the playing at SUNPOKER.com and joining my poker playing team the Fearsome Foursome. The team is playing at the EPT Prague in December. Qualifiers for spots on the team are going on now at Sun Poker. You can become a member of the team by winning the Fearsome tournament Finals on November 4,11 or 18th. One seat to the EPT Prague, airfare and accommodations will be given away at each of the finals. The team was a great success the last time it was together. We had 6 team members make the final tables at WSOP events. The biggest cash was $275,000 by Brian Jensen of Aallborg , Denmark.
 
Back to the EPT Baden Open Austria and my worst finish ever. The first hand I was dealt 33 in the big blind. There were two other players that the called the big blind. I decided to put in a small raise to $300 to steal the first pot. Many players don't like playing the first hand and you usually can steal the first hand. The flop came down Q, 3,2 rainbow. Great flop for me I was in the drivers seat. I checked my set. The first player put in $1500 and second player called. I smooth called. I put one of the players on AQ. It seemed like he wanted to re-raise me but he only called the bet. The next card was a 7 of diamonds and I bet $1500 wanting to keep the players in. The player I put on the AQ folded. The next player called. Then I put him on AQ. He just called. The river was a 9 of diamonds. The player put in $3000, I said to myself "0oh no" not a runner runner flush. I had to call, I was pot committed. He turned over the flush.
 
The very next hand I pick up AA I had $3300 left and was steaming. I was the small blind with two callers, I pushed all-in. One player folded. The player who beat me with the flush last hand called with 88. He flopped an 8 and my tournament was over. I was first player to walk the hall of shame. I never want to be that guy again. From now on I will not play my first hand no matter what. My friend Paul (AKA Chicken) is right, that with AA you win allot of little pots and lose allot of big pots.
 
The next tournament I will be playing in will be the CPC in St. Kitts. There's still time to qualify for this tournament, just log onto the Sun Poker software for satellite times. After the CPC I will travel with the Fearsome Foursome to the EPT Prague. Qualifying dates for the EPT Prague are Nov 4, 11 and 18. Hope to see you there for some great poker action and a few beers. 
 
 
My weekend in St Martin! - 10/1/2007
 
Poker Alex with a Short quick rant, I’ve just returned from a weekend of poker in St Martin. I played in two local poker tournaments. I was in St. Martin promoting the Caribbean Poker Classic for SunPoker.com. Make sure you try to get there, it will be a lot of fun! There are plenty of satellites going on everyday.
 
In the first tournament, I easily finished 4th with a nice payday. I was looking forward to the $15,000 guaranteed tournament the next day. The field was really soft, so I was licking my chops :). It was just a $75 buy-in and I expected a huge overlay.
 
I started with $2500 in chips and after the first hour I had over $25,000 (There were re-buys the first two hours). I easily had the chip lead. I felt like I bonded with the cards. Every out I needed I got. I started thinking maybe live action poker is not fixed.
 
The law of averages then took over. I went card dead for the next two hours. I managed to limp into the final table 3 spots away from the money. It was a long final table the chips just went back and forth for almost two hours.
 
I was able to double up a few times and was able to get to the bubble with $60,000 chips. The player two to the left of me only had 2k in chips. There is no way I can’t make the money with the blinds at 5 and 10k.
 
The very next hand I was the big blind. I already decided not to play a hand until the money. I had a 6,7 suited. I had one player call my big blind, one of the tightest at the table. I already decided any bet after the flop I was folding. I didn’t play 7 hours to go home empty handed. The flop came down 2,3,7 rainbow. I just checked. The other player checked also. The turn comes a 6. I now have two pair; I know I have a big lead. I decided that I would end the hand, by going all in for 2/3 of the other players chips. There is no way he could have called. He went into the tank. For about 3 minutes, then called and turned over pockets 4’s I was in heaven. Down came the 4 on the river and I was out, without a payday. The guy with the 2k in chips didn’t even thank the other player for knocking me out. Oh well that’s poker.
 
I will be at the EPT Baden on October 6th and the Swedish Poker Championships on October 19,2007. Satellites are running now on SunPoker.com to these events. If you see me at any of these events make sure you introduce yourself. I’ll be the good-looking one with the Sun Poker gear on. I really like meeting our players at live events. I’ll even buy the beers.