As poker players we have a lot of different goals when we play poker. Some of us play strictly for the fun of it. These players’ goal when they sit down at a poker table is to have a good time and share some laughs with their friends. They may have a couple of beers and a cigar and be completely happy if they walk away losing a few bucks. That’s OK as long as that’s the reason you play poker. Some of us play for money. These players’ sole purpose for playing the game of poker is to turn a profit. In reality most of us are some sort of combination of the two.

If, like me, you play strictly for the money than there are a few things that you should always be focused on. Moving up to the next limit and continually getting better at poker. If you continue to improve your game, your bankroll should continue to grow. With your increased skill and a bloated bankroll you should have no problem steadily moving up from limit to limit until you reach the big games. For online players there are some traps. I often see promising low limit poker players get caught up with focusing on the wrong things and they never make it out of the micro limits. Remember that the big money is in the big games and that’s where you want to be.

An easy trap to fall into as an online player is what I refer to as “The MultiTable Trap”. This is when a low limit player continues to add more and more tables to his daily routine instead of focusing on moving up the ladder to the real prize. Low limit grinders may find that they can beat 1/2 limit holdem for 1 big bet or more per hundred hands. They start to think about playing 6 tables at once. How about 8, 10, or 12 tables at a time. Before long they have 4 monitors hooked up to their computer and they’re playing 16 tables at once. While this may be a decent income, I guarantee you’re not improving your poker. There is very little time to think when you play this many tables and zero time to learn anything. You are playing ABC poker against very poor opposition. Your bankroll will grow and you will have the money to move up in limits before too long assuming that you can maintain your winrate with that many tables. Unfortunately your skill level will not be ready and you will find yourself back in the kiddy pool trying to recoup your losses over and over.

If you’re serious about making money playing online poker you should be taking advantage of rakeback. This is a percentage of the rake paid back to your poker account as a rebate. You have to keep rakeback in perspective though. Once players start to receive those rakeback payments they often fall into what I refer to as “The Rakeback Trap”. This is when a player focuses on how he can make the most rakeback rather than how he can improve his poker. This often includes playing too many tables, playing too long, or playing short tables. Remember that your main goal should be to make it to the high stakes games. Imagine how much rakeback you can make up there.

If you continue to learn and grow as a player you should be able to continue to move up the ladder to the big games. Rakeback will be a great boost to your bankroll but you should be thinking about winning at the tables first and foremost. Don’t let this important point slip by. You may find yourself playing 16 tables at the micro limits for the rest of your career.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker and receives Rakeback at Full Tilt from Rakeback Solution.