If you enjoy poker and think you’re pretty good at it but never win, it could be that you’re simply not sitting at the right game.  Learning how to scout out the competition and find the right game is the key to winning at poker and becoming a long term success.  While knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em is a big part of playing the game, knowing which game to play in is probably the most critical.

In order to win at poker, you have to scout out the games that are beatable.   

This is also easier said than done, especially for people who simply to not have the funds to play for serious pots.  Your best bet is a low-stakes poker game against other recreational player who is below or at your playing skills.  These opponents are ones that enjoy playing a hand through without folding at the first flop of a Texas Hold’Em game.  But you need to remember that if you are playing in a casino, there will be a rake collected by the poker room.  They have to pay their employees somehow and in low-limit games, the rake can hurt.

Most casinos spread $2/$4 limit Texas Hold’Em games and the rake tends to cap at 10% or a max of $4 per hand.  For a $40 dollar pot, that $4 could be the difference between stepping away for the night or playing one more round.  If you as a poker player can make an $8 bet every hour, you might stand the change of the rake not hurting so badly when you cash in your winnings.

Recreational poker players tend to forget about the rake because it is not always advertised.  Or if they are new to the world of cash game poker, they may not have been aware that there was such thing as a rake.  More than likely this is the reason $2/$4 blinds are the most common spread in Las Vegas.   

Rakes are annoying fact of poker play and if you have the cash to absorb it in a $2/$4 game, then play away.  If you want to minimize the affect of the rake on your winnings, move up to a table with a slightly higher limit or even no limit.  You’ll still be able to get into the game, and the rake won’t hurt as much.  If you’re not sure that you’re good enough to move up to a higher spread game, play some online poker at a site that offers ‘play money’.  You can get some practice in and learn how to beat or bluff the competition.