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.

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 you do play the game for money and seek to make some or all of your income from poker, you should be looking to move up in limits and play in the bigger games. Bigger games mean bigger money right? Unfortunately you generally find tougher competition and less loose wild players at the higher limits as well. This means that you need to continue to evolve as a poker player and improve your game as you move up from limit to limit. It seems natural that the more poker you play, the better you should get at it. There are some traps that people fall into on their way to the big game though and some players never find their way out.

Most online players play more than one table at a time. This is fine as long as you keep in under control. A lot of online poker players find that they can double their win rate by playing 2 table at once. Why not quadruple your win rate and play on 4 tables at a time? This is probably fine too but some players take it way too far. There are players who play 16 table at once at the micro limits and make decent money. The only problem is they never seem to get any better. This what I call "The MultiTable Trap". Your bankroll will grow but you will not continue to learn and improve as a poker player. This means that when your bankroll is ready to move up to the next limit you probably will not be. Players who fall into this trap often spend years bouncing between the micros and small stakes getting pounded every time they try to move up to the tougher games. This is a tough place to be and in the long run you will probably find that you'll make more money if you focus on becoming a better poker player.

Another related trap is the rakeback trap. While rakeback is great and should be taken advantage of by every serious online poker player, you should treat it as what it is; Something extra. Players often get caught up in earning as much rakeback as they can rather than trying to get better and move up. I often see players playing online who stop moving up when they get to 3/6 or 5/10 limit hold'em. These limits will allow you to make good money just in rakeback if you play enough tables, but, again the real money is in the big games.

So remember, if you want to make the real money it isn't in playing sixteen tables tables at a time at the micro stakes. It's in the bigger games. Rakeback and multitabling are great ways to increase your winrate. Just make sure that you don't go overboard and stop improving your game.