Yesterday I blogged that getting the bonus on Party Poker was easy because they have the lowest rake requirement for any bonus, which I am sure I remembered from playing $25NL Holdem was $1 pots. Well I logged onto Party last night and along with my current philosophy looked for some Omaha Hi-Lo Limit action. Well there certainly was plenty of people on the O8B 50c-$1 tables (which is a pleasant change from just about every other site) so I put myself on the general waiting list and was soon seated at one of the tables.
The first hand then promptly went past the $1 pot level with the blinds but I noticed that no rake was taken. I quickly realised that Party must have a different rake requirement for this level of limit games - oh well, what was the rake point? It took a few hands and then I finally found out, the rake was taken at a $5 pot. Not too bad and half of Pokerstars requirement for a FPP at that level.
I played for just under two hours and ended up just +ve, I mean just because I was in profit by less than one small bet. This is not the recommended hit rate for making money playing limit poker which is one big bet an hour. The thing was though, I was playing really well and I mean really well, I was playing the winning hands spot on and even folding nice hands when the flop came out dangerous and then watching the turn and river proving I had made the right decision,
What I soon realised was hitting my earning rate was the rake that Party were taking, the rake at $5 was 50c. That is a 10% rake, which seemed to be consistently applied at the later rake points too (i.e. $1 at $10 pot). Now that is one nasty level of rake and is twice the level that Pokerstars take at the same stakes. At a similar level of rake to Pokerstars, I am pretty sure my earning rate would have been far nearer the one big bet level.
Oh well, I ended up being involved in just under 50 raked hands so I am already a quarter of the way to the $20 bonus being mine. So it could be argued that my earning rate was actually $5 for two hours and $2.50 per hour, which is nearer two and a half big bets. These bonuses can certainly help your bankroll building rate, even when they are a modest $20.