This is a calling to all of the low-limit poker players out there. You need to step away from the tables for a couple of minutes and take an honest look at your situation. It won’t take long, and I promise the games will still be juicy when you get back.

Want to know a secret? I know you better than you think. In many ways I am you. I know your aspirations because I have them. I know your hopes, because I have them, too. I know how every once in a while it pops in your head that you’ll be that lucky person who wins the big tournament and gets to shake off the hassles of working or going to school to run the tables all day. It’s a great dream; a dream that inspires many players to grind it out at the $.10 tables until they’re ready to “take a shot” at a higher limit.

I also know that you’re aware it’s not going to happen. You’ll have good days and you’ll have bad days. You may even have enough success to move up a level or two. But you won’t make the money you need to play the high-stakes games you’re dreaming about. And this is going to frustrate a lot of poker players, so much so that many will leave the game.

There are two big reasons why you’re not going to get out of low limit poker, one you can change and another you have no control over:

1. You don’t have the discipline. You’ve read the books and forums and are clear on proper strategy. But at the tables, all that knowledge disappears. It doesn’t happen every hand, but there is always one or two where you make an obvious blunder. And then it snowballs until you feel like you have to learn everything all over again.
2. The rake is too high. Low-limit poker players are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to raking. The percentage going to the house about pot size is almost criminal. And it’s keeping you from building your bankroll.

So how will you get out of the lower stakes? The first step is learning the discipline to beat the game. It’s great that you’ve read the books. Now you have to apply it in real-time, and learn to adjust strategies as the games change. Common advice is to play more and more hands until you get it right, an easy task when you’re playing cashcity99 online. A better strategy would be to take a step back and play fewer tables and fewer hands. Concentrate on one or two tables and think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Once you understand why it’s profitable to call, raise or fold in given situations, you’ll be able to play more tables and make fewer and fewer mistakes.

As for rake, there isn’t much that you can do except getting a good Rakeback deal and move out of the lower limits as soon as possible. You need to find the low variance, low rake games with enough bad players to show a profit and build your bankroll quickly. In the next few days, I’ll discuss some of the more profitable poker games online.

In the meantime go back to your games. Forget that your poker situation is most likely a losing venture. Other players have gotten out of the lower limits, right? It can happen again…