• Weekly & monthly $60,000 rake race
• Get 33% rakeback
• Support software (HUD programs) are allowed

Tips and Tricks for a Successful Start

You can start playing as soon as you have received your $50+$100 starting capital from PokerStrategy.com.

The next steps

• Set up your software
• Find a good table: FL, NL, SnG
• Climb up the limits
• Learn to start playing at multiple tables
• Clear your $50+$100 starting capital

You can find more tips for getting started at Cake Poker and talk to experienced players at the Cake Poker Forum at PokerStrategy.com:

Go to the discussion forum: Tips for getting started at Cake Poker

Set up your software

There are a number of extras (four-colored cards, for example) that you can activate in the software. The next section will show you how this works and what you might find helpful while playing.

Using a four-colored deck
Even the most experienced players can miss a flush because they didn't see the cards right. You can avoid mistaking a spade for a club by using a four-colored card deck.

• Open the Lobby (the main window)
• Click on Options
• Click the Cards & Chips tab in the next window
• Activate Four Color Deck
  

Other useful settings
There are few other settings in the Cake Poker software you might find useful.

• Go to the Lobby.
• Click on Options.
• Click on the first tab, Table, and then activate Always Auto Post Blinds & Always Auto Muck & Always Wait for Big Blinds.

Your blinds will now automatically be posted when it's your turn to post. You will also automatically muck your cards after each hand. The third setting means the software will wait until the Big Blind comes to you before asking you to post.

Find a good Fixed Limit table

Your poker career begins with table selection, and can end because of your table selection if you do a poor job of it. Here is how you can find a profitable table:

Step 1: Find the right limit
Click Ring Games in the main lobby. Then click the Texas Hold'em, Real Money and Fixed Limit buttons.

You should use a table filter to help you find the right table, or you might have trouble sorting through all the tables.

• To do this, go to the Texas Hold'em Game Filter (on the bottom-left).
  
• Under Table size activate the 9 and deactivate the other options.
• Enter $0.1/$0.2 for the Min and Max under Stakes
• You can then close the filter window.

Step 2: Open a table
You can now see all available tables for Fixed Limit $0.10/$0.20. Open a table by double clicking on it.



Step 3: Take a seat at the table
An empty seat is easy to spot. Just look for the message Seat Open.

With a single click the seat is yours. Select the amount of money to take to the table and join the game. It's that easy.

If you find a good table, but all seats are already taken, you can join the waiting list for the next available seat by clicking Join Wait List.

Finding a table for NL Hold'em

Finding a NL table is just as easy.

Step 1: Find the right limit
Click Ring Games in the main lobby. Then click the Texas Hold'em, Real Money and No Limit buttons.

You should use a table filter to help you find the right table, or you might have trouble sorting through all the tables.

• To do this, go to the Texas Hold'em Game Filter.
  
• Under Table Size activate the 9 and deactivate the other options.
• Enter $0.01/$0.02 for the Min and Max under Stakes
• You can then close the filter window.

Step 2: Open a table
You can now see all available NL $0.01/$0.02 tables. You can open a table by double clicking on it.



Step 3: Take a seat at the table
An empty seat is easy to spot. Just look for the message Seat Open.

With a single click the seat is yours. Select the amount of money to take to the table and join the game. It's that easy.

If you find a good table, but all seats are already taken, you can join the waiting list for the next available seat by clicking Join Wait List.

Finding a Sit and Go

Sit and Gos have their own area at Cake Poker. A number of different types of tournaments are offered, but not all are worth playing. The next section will show you how to find the right tournament for you.

Step 1: Find the right limit
Click Tournaments in the main lobby. Then click the Sit n Go, Texas Hold'em and No Limit buttons.

You can now see all available NL tournaments, but they aren't all the type you are looking for. Use the filter to discard the unwanted tournaments.

• Go to the Tournament Filter on the lower left.
  
• Use the same settings as seen in the screen shot below
• You can now close the filter window.

Step 2: Open a tournament
Now you have a list of all tournaments that are suitable for the strategy you learn at PokerStrategy.com. If you still see any tournaments for less than 10 players, just ignore them.

Double click on a tournament to open the tournament lobby.



Step 3: Register for a tournament
Double check that you've selected the right tournament and click Register on the bottom right.

A new window will open for you to complete registration.

Now all you have to do is wait. The tournament table will open automatically as soon as registration is closed.

Getting started in Fixed Limit and No Limit Hold'em

Wait for the Big Blind to come to you
You've made it to the table, but you aren't getting any cards yet. The software will ask you if you want to post a Big Blind out of turn to join play immediately.

You should only do this if you are in the cut off, meaning the seat directly next to the dealer (or if you are sitting in the Big Blind). If not, be patient and click Wait for Big Blind.

Here's a quick review of the positions at a poker table: A table with 10 players has 10 positions. The four groups of positions are: early, middle, late and the blinds.

Once you're at the table, you can tell the software to automatically post your blinds each round. To do so, simply click auto post blinds.

How to leave a table
Once you're ready to stop playing, turn off the auto post blinds function.

You can sit back and wait for the Big Blind to come to you and then simply close the window.

Moving up the limits

Poker is fun; it's even more fun when you make money. This won't happen over night; you have to work your way up the limits. But don't worry, it's not that hard when you follow these tips:

Always play 9+seat tables
The basic strategy you learn at PokerStrategy.com is based on full-ring games. This means the table has either 9 or 10 seats.

There are so many adjustments you have to make to your strategy when you play short-handed games (tables 6 seats), that this strategy no longer works. You will learn how to play in short-handed games later on when you gain access to the advanced articles and videos at PokerStrategy.com.

Play the limit you can afford
It's pretty simple: If you want to be successful, manage your bankroll. This means only playing limits you can afford to play at.

Impatience can kill your poker career. It's only natural to want to progress quickly, but don't lose control. You can find help in the PokerStrategy forum and psychology and bankroll management articles:

Go to the Psychology Forum at PokerStrategy.com

Or browse through the Psychology section:

Psychology Articles

Or go over the articles on bankroll management one more time:

Bankroll Management for Fixed Limit

Bankroll Management for No-Limit

Bankroll Management for Sit and Gos

Multi-tabling
Once you've gotten used to the software and become comfortable with using the Starting Hands Chart and post-flop play, you are ready to give multi-tabling a try.

This can increase your profit substantially. The operative word here is "can." It might also do the exact opposite. Multi-tabling requires a few adjustments and a bit of practice.

Start by adding just one table. If things go well, you can start playing at 3 or 4 tables simultaneously.

Clear your $50+$100 bonus from PokerStrategy.com and receive 33% rakeback

A bonus can be like a boost of nitrous gas for your poker career. It's (basically) free money with a single condition - you have to do something to get your hands on it. Here's how:

How to clear your $50 starting capital
You earn points when you play poker. At Cake Poker these points are called Frequent Player Points (FPPs). The more you play, the more points you receive.

Once you've downloaded the software correctly with Sign up code: PS50 via PokerStrategy.com and entered your nickname here, you will receive your $50 within 48 hours.

Cake Poker will retract the $50 from your account if you have not played in any real money games within the first 2 weeks of receiving your starting capital, if you generate less than $50 rake within 150 days of getting your free $50, or if you are inactive for 6 months. 

Once you have earned more than 1,000 FPPs at Cake Poker, the $50 are all yours.

Frequent Player Points (FPPs) are earned any time rake is taken from a hand. You will receive 1 FPP for every $1 in rake taken when you were dealt cards. For example, if your table was raked $1.25, you'll earn 1.25 FPPs. When you play tournaments and SnGs, you will receive 7 FPPs for every $1 in fees.

Once you have received your $50 starting capital, you can also start to clear the $100 bonus.

How do you clear the $100 bonus from PokerStrategy.com?
You receive your first bonus of $100 automatically when you register at PokerStrategy.com. But you have to earn a certain number of Frequent Player Points before the $100 are transferred to your account.

The bonus will be credited to your account in $5 increments for every 83.33 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) earned. You have 90 days time to clear the bonus.

After collecting a total of 1,670 Frequent Player Points, you will have cleared the entire $100 bonus.

You can check your current bonus balance in the Cake Poker software's cashier.

A quick summary:

• You earn Frequent Player Points automatically as you play poker.
• For every 83.33 Frequent Player Points you earn, a $5 increment will be transferred to your account.
• You have 90 days to clear the entire $100 bonus.

How do you release the $600 First Deposit Bonus?
Once you've cleared the bonus, you can get your hands on another $600 by taking advantage of Cake Poker's First Deposit Bonus offer.

By simply making a deposit, you will get a bonus of 110% of the amount deposited. Deposit $50, for example, to get a $55 bonus. Deposit $550 to get the full $600.

After depositing, you can see your bonus balance in the "Cashier" window. You have 90 days to clear your First Deposit Bonus.

The bonus will again be credited to your account in $5 increments steps for every 83.33 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) earned.

The bonus can only be cleared after you have cleared the $100 bonus from PokerStrategy.com. They cannot be cleared simultaneously.

Be careful: You have to use your own money to take advantage of this offer, but make sure you can afford to do so. You could, as an alternative, make a deposit and then withdraw the same amount after having cleared the bonus.

Receive 33% Rakeback
At Cake Poker you will additionally receive a 33% refund of your rake. If you generate $100 in rake, you will receive $33 paid back to your account.

Rakeback will be paid weekly on Thursday (latest Saturday) for the amount that was raked between Wednesday (of the previous week) through Tuesday.

To see how much rakeback you stand to receive, click on "My Account" in the lobby and then on "VIP Status" on the left. The list is updated at the end of every day.

Your profit is two-fold: You earn money while playing poker and earn money for playing poker.

Please note: If you received your free $50 from PokerStrategy.com on Cake Poker, you need to make a minimum deposit to qualify for 33% rakeback.

Ideally you should always be clearing a bonus when you play poker. The first one is the $50+$100 bonus from PokerStrategy.com.

You can find lucrative bonus offers for all partner rooms in the poker room section:

The most lucrative poker bonuses